The Fractal Organization

The world of management is in crisis - the old remedies no longer work and organizations are failing at an increasing rate. Although many talk of 'joined up thinking', few offer practical guidance on how to achieve this in organizations. The Fractal Organization sets down the practical implications of a well tested systemic approach to building organizations that are capable of surviving and flourishing in these turbulent times. "An excellent read...Many organizations fail at the mercy of their own ignorance. The author has done an excellent job in making ‘the science of effective organization’ accessible to management, providing them with a new knowledge to deal with the uncertainties that the markets place upon them." Stephen J. Brewis, Business Architect, British Telecom "...one of the most interesting, thorough and rigorous guides to management that I have ever read, ... introduces new insights in every chapter... carries a credibility which acts as a counterbalance to the sometimes difficult message which he conveys which is that a lot of mainstream management practice is at best ineffective and at worst downright destructive. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in management or systems thinking." Penny Marrington, Course Chair, Systems Group, Open University "In my opinion this book manages to present sound academic theory that is relevant and helpful to the practitioner in the business. I experienced several A-HA moments." Pauline Marsh, Strategy Director, CS&S International, BAE SYSTEMS "The insights of the Viable System Model have been open only to a select few for much too long. Hoverstadt has gone furthest in bringing these ideas to a wider audience...Management books have too often been serious but not practical, or practical but not serious. This book is both brilliantly serious and practical, and often entertaining too." Professor Peter Kawalak, Manchester Business School "Integrates mainstream management ideas with the systems ideas underpinning the VSM, and flows and reads well. As a starting point for developing understanding of the VSM in today's world this book improves greatly on all books that have gone before, I would certainly recommend it to colleagues, clients, and students." Dr. Robin Asby, Course Chair, Communication and Systems, Open University

The biggest challenge facing leaders today is the creation of organizations that are capable of surviving and flourishing in these uncertain times. How does one create an organization that is sustainable in the long run, how can organizations be ready for uncertainties that the markets place upon them, how can an organization be simply brilliant by design? This book leverages the proposed meta-theory for progressive organizational design and dynamics real-world reflections to create fractal-based sustainable enterprises of tomorrow. In this meta-theory all instances of organization, from the smallest, such as an idea or a person, to the largest, such as global markets and planet earth herself, are fractals: the essence of their way of being is repeated on scales both smaller and larger than themselves. There is however, a particular class of fractals, that of progress, of which The Fractal Ladder is an ever-present manifestation, which spawns organizations that are truly progressive and sustainable in nature. In the scheme of things this class of fractals is of critical importance, and to master its replication and to fully understand the impact it will have in creating sustainable and dynamic organizations is a practical necessity. Divided into three parts, Part I – Theory, will present the theory behind the Fractal Organization. Part II – Exercises, will translate key elements of the fractal-based world-view into practical activities and exercises at the personal and workplace levels. Part III – Reflections, will apply the basic logic of the sun-marked physical-vital-mental fractal to many practical problems and situations we are faced with daily to suggest ways to address them.

This book provides a theoretical basis to the arrangement of river basins and networks.

A deeply detailed discussion of fractals in biology, heterogeneous chemistry, polymers, and the earth sciences. Beginning with a general introduction to fractal geometry it continues with eight chapters on self-organized criticality, rough surfaces and interfaces, random walks, chemical reactions, and fractals in chemisty, biology, and medicine. A special chapter entitled "Computer Exploration of Fractals, Chaos, and Cooperativity" presents computer demonstrations of fractal models: 14 programs are included on a 3 1/2" MS-DOS diskette which run on any PC with at least 1 MB RAM and a EGA or VGA graphics card, 16 colors.

This book offers a fresh perspective on organizational development and change theory and practice. Building on their recent work in quantum storytelling theory and complexity theory, Henderson and Boje consider the implications of fractal patterns in human behavior with a view toward ethics in organization development for the modern world. Building on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s (1987) ontology of multiple moving and intersecting fractal processes, the authors offer readers an understanding of how managing and organizing can be adapted to cope with the turbulence and complexity of different organizational situations and environments. They advocate a sustainable, co-creative brand of agency and introduce appropriate, simple tools to support organizational development practitioners. This book offers theory and research methods to management and organization scholars, along with praxis advice to practicing managers.

Patterns of Strategy shows how the strategic fit between organisations drives strategic direction. It is essential reading for those who wish to understand how to manoeuvre their organisation to change its strategic fit to their advantage. The 80 ‘patterns’ of strategy help you explore options for collaboration and competition within your strategic ecosystem. A practical and authoritative guide, you can use it to plan and navigate your strategic future.

The Emerald Handbook of Management and Organization Inquiry provides new and innovative insights into the field of management and organization inquiry. It provides extensive coverage of the 7S structure that has been so transformational for the field: Storytelling, System, Sustainability, Science, Spirit, Spirals, and Sociomateriality.