Organizational responses to complexity: the effect on organizational performance

This paper uses a complex adaptive systems view to examine two different organizational responses to turbulent complex environments. We examined the internal make-up of eight organizations that saw their environment the same way - as rapidly changing, complex and requiring aggressive change strategies Half of these organizations chose a complexity absorption response to environmental turbulence, and half chose a complexity reduction response to environmental turbulence and complexity. The organizations pursuing a complexity absorption response outperformed those organizations with complexity reduction responses.