A Complexity Approach to Sustainability

Espinosa, Ángela; Walker, Jon

doi:10.1142/9781848165298

Cited by 48 publications

(83 citation statements)

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“…I have outlined a blueprint for organizing efforts for sustainability. Other authors have pursued a comparable approach (Espinosa et al, 2008;Espinosa and Walker, 2011). The present publication lends further emphasis to the aspect of recursion: I have tried to make clear that sustainability is an issue for agents at all levels, from individual to global.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizing for sustainability: a cybernetic concept for sustainable renewal

Schwaninger

2015

Kybernetes

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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to propose a holistic structural framework for a sustainable renewal that embraces all relevant contextsindividual, organizational, local-regional and worldwide. This should help humanity achieve a future in which society, economy and ecology are united in an evolutionary process based on multiple symbiosis. Design/methodology/approach-An integrative concept for sustainable renewal is presented, based on Beer's Viable System Model (VSM). The core of that concept is a recursive structure, which organizes the tasks necessary for such renewal. The approach is both analytical and synthetic, proposing a design for the levels of recursion, making up a coherent whole. Findings-A structure is developed that enables agents at all recursive strata to generate variety in balance with the complexities they face. The organizational architecture based on the VSM, applied to each one of those levels, ensures the necessary and sufficient structural preconditions for the sustainability of the system under study. Practical implications-The concept proposed here is ready to be used as a blueprint for organizing the efforts for sustainability. It can help decision makers understand that the quest for sustainable renewal is a recursive issue involving all planes, from individual to global. Originality/value-The quest for the ecological sustainability of planet earth at this stage is not at all successful. The cybernetic model used here organizes the efforts for sustainability in a more effective way than conventional approaches. It also delivers powerful clues for sustainable renewal that are new, in particular a key to the sufficient structural preconditions for sustainability. This paper is an extended version of the Ross Ashby Memorial Lecture delivered by the author at the European Meeting of Cybernetics and Systems Research, Vienna, 24 April 2014, under the title "Organizing for Sustainability".

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizing for sustainability: a cybernetic concept for sustainable renewal

Schwaninger

2015

Kybernetes

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“…In such a world, organizational self-monitoring and self-regulating are needed [85]. As businesses are multifaceted, adaptive systems, human organizations emerge, organize themselves, and adapt to deal with issues when they cope with disequilibrium and chaos [86]. To survive, a balance of subsystems' autonomy and organizational cohesion must be reinforced.…”

Section: Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving Corporate Sustainability: Toward a Practical Theory

Kantrabutra

2019

Sustainability

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The present study aims at exploring processual relationships between corporate sustainability predictors and sustainability performance, as informed by the Thai philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, and accordingly proposes a theory of corporate sustainability to fill in the fundamental gap in the literature. Based on a framework derived from the literature, multi-data collection methods and the framework approach to qualitative data analysis are adopted to explore the relationships at a sustainable enterprise in Thailand. Findings reveal six processual relationships leading to improving corporate sustainability performance directly and indirectly. Grounded upon seven established theories, the existing empirical literature and the findings of the present study, a coherent theory of corporate sustainability is developed to inform future theory building and guide future corporate sustainability research. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.

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“…Representatives of this school argue that humankind is now very close to the growth limits that Donella Meadows first outlined in 1972 (Meadows et al, 1972;Meadows, 1992;Meadows et al, 2004). They point out that the consequences of our present course are becoming increasingly visible in the current scarcity of food and oil, the crisis of the global financial systems, and the lack of faith we have in the dominant political and economic systems (Mebratu, 1998;Espinosa, 2011).…”

Section: Discourse On Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Squaring the Circle: In Quest for Sustainability

Shkliarevsky

2014

Syst. Res

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Development has been the main strategy in addressing the problem of sustainability since at least the mid-1980s. The results of this strategy have been mixed, if not disappointing. In their objections to this approach, critics frequently invoke constraints imposed by physical reality of which the most important one is entropy production. They question the belief that technological innovations are capable of solving the problem of sustainability. Is development the right response to this problem and is the current course capable of attaining sustainability? The article examines closely and critiques the principal theoretical objection to sustainable development that emphasizes physical constraints, and more specifically entropy production. It also offers a critique of the current approach to sustainable development. The article advocates a systems approach as a way to anchor a broad consensus in the ongoing sustainability debates.

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A Complexity Approach to Sustainability

Cited by 48 publications

References 0 publications

Organizing for sustainability: a cybernetic concept for sustainable renewal

Organizing for sustainability: a cybernetic concept for sustainable renewal

Achieving Corporate Sustainability: Toward a Practical Theory

Squaring the Circle: In Quest for Sustainability

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