Complexity Management

Aim/purpose – The paper aims to summarize approaches to complexity management by implementing particular logistics concepts within logistics strategies in global supply chains and to highlight a research gap in this regard. Additionally, complexity management concepts are presented. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the research objective, a systematic literature review was used. 11 research paper were analyzed with use of review protocol. Findings – Approaches to mentioned research problem are heterogeneous in current literature and there is a research gap in complexity studies in logistics, precluding further research, for example, on complexity measurement systems. Research implications/limitations – Identified research gap will require further studies. Studied area requires more empirical research, especially in the field of complexity measurement and management techniques in particular global supply chains. Originality/value/contribution – The paper summarizes current knowledge about logistics concepts helping to manage complexity in global supply chains and defines research gaps. There are no available literature summary of that kind. The article contains a full review of logistics complexity management concepts presented in scientific literature until the end of 2016.

This paper argues that chaos theory provides a useful theorectical framework for understanding the dynamic evolution of industries and the complex interactions among
industry actors. It is argued that industries can be conceptualized and modeled as complex, dynamic systems, which exhibit both unpredictability and underlying order. The relevance of chaos theory for strategy is discussed, and a number of managerial implications are suggested. To illustrate the application of chaos theory, a simulation model is presented
that depicts the interactions between a manufacturer of computers, its suppliers, and its market. The resuhs of the simulation demonstrate how managers might underestimate the
costs of international production. The paper concludes that, by understanding industries as complex systems, managers con improve decision making and search for innovative solutions.

Most attempts to use the potentials of information technologies in benefit of the fulfilment of the democratic requirements from the local to the global levels are based on the power of social networks and the utilisation of big‐data approaches. However, both the network itself and the portliness of data processing have fundamental limitations that need to be overcome when the size of the population is larger than a reduced group. As to cope with the related complexity, the network provides in certain conditions a characteristic structure which facilitates the emergence of new functional features, and consequently a system. It is this structure –the fibres of the systemic relations– and new functionalities concerning the circulation of data what change the portliness of data processing into an appropriate percolation and management of relevant information. By these means complexity and the corresponding information flow are managed at the lowest possible level while cooperation and higher level management is ready to cope just with the excess of complexity the lower level cannot manage properly by itself. But this is the very idea of subsidiarity whose application to the organisation of heterogeneous societies has been a foundation of decentralised government since the 16 th century in many different contexts. At the age of the global information society, the necessary management of global issues (environment, geo‐politics, inequality, etc.) requires both proper levelism and information management from the peoples to communities, to national authorities, and to international institutions. Stafford Beer's Viable System Model provides a suitable approach to deploy subsidiarity with the backbone of an information and communication infrastructure based on the acquisition, circulation and processing of relevant information to enable decentralised, democratic decision‐making.

Complexity is ubiquitous in modern engineering and project management. It is traditionally associated with failure. Also, complexity works! It delivers functionality, creativity, innovation. Complexity management contributes to the success of high-risk IT projects, helps better project understanding, allows for better prioritization and planning of resources. Managing negative complexity reduces project risk. Positive and appropriate complexity are catalysts for opportunities. This paper is a qualitative longitudinal study based on multiple industry project cases, consisting in the repeated evaluation of a set of complexity management tools. The tools were deployed in a classical process framework: plan, identify, analyze, plan responses, monitor, and control. The evaluated tools red-flag and measure complexity, analyze its sources and effects, and plan mitigation strategies. The study aims to provide project managers with methods for increasing project success rates and reducing fa...

Persönliche Meinung von Manfred Bundschuh: GAMMA ist ein Tool das Simulationen und Modellbildungen von vernetzten dynamischen Systemen ermöglicht - unerläßlich für Problemlösungen in dynamischen komplexen Systemen.

Abstract:
Das Bekenntnis zu einer ganzheitlichen Denkweise genügt nicht, um in einer komplexen Problemsituation, d.h. bei zahlreichen vielfältig miteinander „vernetzten“ Faktoren, ganz-heitliches Denken in praktisches Handeln umsetzen zu können. Dazu bedarf es auch handfester Methoden und Instrumente.

The complex environments of today’s markets makes managing organizations in complexity and turbulence a concern for senior managers, and necessitate developing a dynamic strategic framework to cope with complexity in managing organizations. This paper demonstrates a study that was conducted to value a structured set of management principles and sub-elements by a panel of experts to develop a conceptual framework to manage in complex and very high dynamic environments. The panel consisted of 22 senior level managers of grade “A” companies in the construction industry in Qatar State using a two-round Delphi technique. The study developed two frameworks. The first framework is for managing complexity in the construction sector. The second one is the primary general framework, which forms a basis for a generalized framework for other industries. This study participates in developing valuable management practices in complex environments to tackle uncertainty, unpredictability, disorder, rapid changes and non-linearity, which would be of great help for leaders, senior managers and practitioners who operate in complex environments.

Complexity is ubiquitous in modern engineering and project management. It is traditionally associated with failure. Also, complexity works! It delivers functionality, creativity, innovation. Complexity management contributes to the success of high-risk IT projects, helps better project understanding, allows for better prioritization and planning of resources. Managing negative complexity reduces project risk. Positive and appropriate complexity are catalysts for opportunities. This paper is a qualitative longitudinal study based on multiple industry project cases, consisting in the repeated evaluation of a set of complexity management tools. The tools were deployed in a classical process framework: plan, identify, analyze, plan responses, monitor, and control. The evaluated tools red-flag and measure complexity, analyze its sources and effects, and plan mitigation strategies. The study aims to provide project managers with methods for increasing project success rates and reducing fa...

In complex adaptive systems, antifragility designates the positive sensitivity to volatility, caused by (exceptional or ‘black swan’) external stressors that intervene with the intended functionality of these systems. System Engineers can purposefully employ the concept antifragility to engender better systems. Prerequisite for this is the ability to adequately assess system changes and especially system improvements as the consequence of stressors. Albeit antifragility measurements do exist, their practicality is limited. This publication proposes a novel approach for antifragility measurement. A case study on a manufacturing SME depicts the antifragile spectrum rating of an SME to test the effects of system changes.

The dialogue between the actors of the food and agriculture system is in crisis, generating many problems of acceptance of innovation. This problem has clear elements of “wickedness” (Rittel & Webber, 1974). This chapter describes the work done by the Observatory on Dialogue in Agri-food System, an informal group founded in 2018 by a number of associations and individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, to define the problem and to devise solutions. The Observatory organized a series of professionally facilitated workshops and in-depth meetings that took place in 2018 and 2019. This activity involved a very diverse group of stakeholders and adopted a design thinking approach, which allowed to establish a reciprocal respect climate and elicit empathy (Massari, Allievi, & Recanati, 2020), to define the boundaries of the problem and to ideate possible solutions. At the end of the journey the group prototyped the ideas and summarized them in a manifesto, containing a shared mission and a set of specific objectives and actions to be recommended to agri-food system actors.

Upravljanje složenošću razvoja programske opreme modeliranjem dinamike projektnoga sustava
(Complexity Management of Software Development by Modeling Dynamics of Project System)

Znanje o proizvodu koje podrazumijeva informacije o karakteristikama, funkcionalnim značajkama i korištenju proizvoda, zajedno sa znanjem o razvojnim projektima proizvoda je karakterizirano kompleksnim informacijskim ovisnostima i neplaniranim promjenama zahtjeva. S obzirom na rast softverskih aplikacija u različitim tehničkim sustavima, kompleksnost ovih sustava i njihovog razvoja kontinuirano se povećava. Kompleksni projektni sustav može se definirati i kao skup aktivnosti u industriji razvoja softvera, gdje se znanje o proizvodu, raspoložive tehnologije, zahtjevi i drugi faktori dinamički mijenjaju tijekom procesa razvoja. Neplanirane promjene proizvoda često produljuju proces razvoja i projekte također, stoga projektni menadžment zahtijeva detaljno planiranje i učinkovito ostvarenje uzastopnih iteracija, otkrivajući pritom informacijske međuovisnosti, izmjene proizvoda i druge faktore za procjenu optimalnog trajanja, troškova i kvalitete. Postojeća pomagala za donošenje odluka i metoda procjene pružaju djelomičan uvid u znanje projektnih sustava te nisu kadra dati jasne smjernice koja metoda ili kombinacija metoda je pogodnija za upravljanje kompleksnim projektnim sustavom u stvarnom, dinamičnom okruženju. Kao rezultat toga, ne postoji sustavan način među postojećim tehnikama odlučivanja s kojim bi projektni menadžment  razriješio probleme upravljanja kompleksnim projektnim sustavima. Ovaj rad opisuje sustavni postupak za upravljanje kompleksnim projektnim sustavima, koji se temelji na spajanju dvaju metoda, s ciljem omogućavanja detaljnog uvida menadžmenta u dinamiku kompleksnog projektnog sustava. Prva metoda uključuje modeliranje kompleksnih odnosa između resursa i aktivnosti, koristeći preslagivanje tih elemenata s ciljem smanjenja povratnih veza. Druga metoda pruža uvid u dinamiku projektnog sustava izvođenjem simulacije temeljene na modelu dobivenog projektnog sustava iz prve metode. Odabrane metode, poznate su kao višedomenska matrica (MDM) i obojena Petrijeva mreža (CPN), u pravilu su korištene zasebno te kasnije povezane kako bi se unaprijed definirali učinci promjena u bilo kojoj fazi procesa. Dakle, glavna značajka ovog rada je uglavnom usmjerena na simulaciju dinamike projektnog razvojnog sustava s pomoću MDM i CPN modela, gdje kompleksni projektni sustav može biti analiziran u detalje, prateći promjene u stvarnom vremenu. Konačni rezultat pokazuje sveobuhvatan odnos između troškova, raspodjele resursa i vremena te omogućuje kontrolirano i učinkovito planiranje. Ti odnosi, potrebni za postizanje tražene kvalitete proizvoda, mogu se dobiti uzastopnim izvršenjem predloženih postupaka.


Ključne riječi: kompleksnost, projektni razvojni sustav, upravljanje kompleksnošću, proces razvoja softvera, modeliranje procesa, konverzija, simulacija, matrice strukturne ovisnosti (DSM), višedomenske matrice (MDM), obojena Petrijeva mreža

ABSTRACT The need for support related to the complexity management of systems engineering problems, specifically for requirements management and changes is especially necessary during the early stages of the systems engineering process. Indeed, these stages have a tremendous impact on the overall outcome of a project. If not anticipated at early stages, changes in requirements are leading to changes in the design and in the later implementation stages, resulting in an unexpected increase in costs (monetary, time, etc.). The framework proposed in this article for requirements change prediction consists of a three steps process. First, requirements are modeled using SysML with predefined relationships. Second, all the relationships between requirements in the SysML model are transformed into an adjacency matrix also named DSM. A higher order Dependency Structure Matrix is applied; this matrix-based methodology allows support in the prediction of which requirements will be affected after a change in a specific requirement. Third, the change propagation path is visualized. Using this framework, it is possible to predict the possible propagation of changes in requirements. In addition, it is also possible to identify the requirements that can be reused. This can help to save the time and cost for developing a new system.

Global, dynamic, and competitive business environment has increased the complexity in product, service, operational processes and human side. Much engineering effort goes into reducing systems complexity. We argue that the real issue is reducing complicatedness. This is an ...

... Helen PN Hughes1∗, Chris W. Clegg1, Mark A. Robinson1 and Richard M. Crowder2 1Socio-Technical Centre, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, UK 2Intelligence, Agents ... Biologists have long marvelled at the efficiency of ant colonies in finding food. ...