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Operational Closure and Self‐Reference: On the Logic of Organizational Change
Author(s) -
Schwaninger Markus,
Groesser Stefan N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.2111
Subject(s) - autopoiesis , closure (psychology) , counterintuitive , epistemology , organizational change , computer science , sociology , knowledge management , management science , political science , philosophy , economics , public relations , law
The concept of autopoiesis introduced by Maturana and Varela has, in the last four decades, triggered intellectual efforts for the understanding of phenomena of self‐organization in general. This contribution aims at conceptualizing and applying two aspects of autopoiesis— operational closure and self‐reference —in respect of social organizations. We formalize these concepts and demonstrate their power to explain change processes. This is achieved by means of a qualitative case study and a quantitative simulation model, which lead to counterintuitive insights about the dynamics of organizational transformation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.