Managing Complexity in Social Systems

Christoph E. Mandl, PhD in Operations Research at the ETH Zurich; Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business, Economics and Statistics, University of Vienna; Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna; founding member of the Global Association of Society for Organizational Learning Communities; founding member of the Austrian Society of Operations Research; former member in the Management and Technology Area, IIASA - International Institute of Applied System Analysis; Chair of the Panel "Monitoring 2004 - Implementation of Activities under the EC and Euratom Framework and Corresponding Specific Programmes".

Prelude: Scientific Journey into a Strange Paradigm.- Part I From Logic to Circular Causality.- Chapter 1 Perceiving Events, Patterns, and Structure.- Chapter 2 Homeostasis, Complexity, Emergence and Purposeful Behavior.- Chapter 3 Decision and Forecast: The Cassandra Paradox.- Part II Describing and Understanding Dynamics of Social Systems.- Chapter 4 Language, Syntax and Semantics for Describing Dynamics of Systems.- Confusing Stocks with Flows: The Carbon Credit Fallacy.- Chapter 6 Leverage Points as Technology to Change Problematic Dynamics.- Chapter 7 Sensitivity and Uncertainty: Locust Plagues and Price Dynamics of Commodities.- Chapter 8 Generic Structures, Systems Archetypes and Theories.- Part III Managing Intra-Organizational Phenomena.- Chapter 9 Shifting the Burden: When Organizations Become Addicted.- Chapter 10 Accidental Adversaries: The Enigma of Sustained Cooperation.- Chapter 11 Adaptation: Drifting Goals, Invisible Hand and Breastfeeding.- Chapter 12 Limits to Growth: Network Effect and Attractiveness Principle.- Chapter 13 Growth and Underinvestment: Aligning Performance and Resources.- Part IV Managing Trans-Organizational Phenomena.- Chapter 14 Policy Resistance: Rebound Effect and Other Paradoxes.- Chapter 15 Escalation: The Strength of Fear.- Chapter 16 Diffusion of Innovations: The Much Sought After Tipping Point.- Chapter 17 Market for Lemons: When Dishonesty Prevails.- Chapter 18 The Commons: A Tragedy?.- Chapter 19 Path Dependence: Segregation, Increasing Returns, Success to the Successful.- Coda: Managing Complexity - The Sense of Possibility.