Socially sustainable work organizations: A chaordic systems approach

Abstract

This paper outlines an approach to socially sustainable work organizations. Socially sustainable work organizations have a dynamic ability to function both by repeating accustomed and by devising innovative solutions, and they maintain this operational viability by promoting the functional capabilities of their stakeholders. The organizational and stakeholder functional capabilities are founded on complexity stemming from the simultaneous uniqueness and integration of resources. It is argued that traditional socio‐ technical systems (STSs) approaches do not offer optimal foundations for achieving sustainability. Instead, a migration into chaordic systems thinking (ChST) is proposed. It is concluded that to promote social sustainability, a work organization has to be understood as a holon system in which development can only take place when also its members grow in their interior and exterior complexities. Complexity development is outlined as an emergent process; the importance of ‘un‐learning’ or dissipation is also explored. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fiddling While the Planet Burns: The Scientific Validity of Chaordic Systems Thinking

“…This note is the fourth in a series (Kira and van Eijnatten, ; Emery, ; Kira and van Eijnatten, ). I concluded my refutation of Kira and van Eijnatten's () inaccurate and erroneous criticisms by stating that their paper required retraction.…”

A Metatheoretical Evaluation of Chaordic Systems Thinking

“…ChST's multidimensionality is evidenced in its application to a wide range of organizational research settings. It has been used to study and discuss organizational renewal (van Eijnatten, ), organizational learning (van Eijnatten, ), socially sustainable work (Kira and van Eijnatten, ), leadership (Olmedo, ), manufacturing operations (van Eijnatten et al ., ) and OT (Wäfler , ).…”

“…ChST includes the basic concepts of opens systems theory including notions of self-organization (autopoiesis), adaptation, bifurcation, far-from equilibrium, feedback loops, strange attractors (Kira and van Eijnatten, 2008)…”

“…It is a multifaceted approach to organizational change that incorporates several perspectives. Kira and van Eijnatten say that, ‘The main contribution of [ChST] lies in its richness’, and they highlight its capacity for ‘combination’, ‘integration’, ‘broadening’, ‘fusion’ and ‘inclusion’ (Kira and van Eijnatten, , p. 748–9). However, while ChST has been proposed as a new, more inclusive and integrated way of conceptualizing change (Kira and van Eijnatten, ), it has not been systematically evaluated with regard to other theories of OT.…”

Prevalencia de Alcoholismo en Trabajadores de la Industria del Cuero-Calzado y su Asociación con el Nivel de Desestrés

“…El tema social asociado al concepto de sustentabilidad siempre ha sido considerado como un segundo actor, tras los temas econó-micos y ambientales [16][17][18][19] y, a lo largo de la historia, el interés por el tema ha pasado por diversos momentos. 12,20 El último impulso para situar el tema social dentro de las estrategias de las empresas vino solo después de algunos casos emblemáticos, como la crisis de Shell en Nigeria, asociada a problemas de derechos humanos, y de Nike y sus "talleres clandestinos" en Asia, a principios de la década de 1990.…”