用系统思维应对战略管理中的棘手问题

Tackling wicked problems in strategic management with systems thinking

STRATEGIC ORGANIZATION · 2021
被引 230 · 同刊同年前 5%
人大 A-ABS 3

中文导读

指出战略学者用还原论方法研究棘手问题(如全球社会生态问题)的局限,提出系统思维能更好地处理复杂动态,并给出三个具体建议:关注共演动态、过程洞察和临界点变革。

Abstract

Strategy scholars are increasingly attempting to tackle complex global social and environmental issues (i.e. wicked problems); yet, many strategy scholars approach these wicked problems in the same way they approach business problems—by building causal models that seek to optimize some form of organizational success. Strategy scholars seek to reduce complexity, focusing on the significant variables that explain the salient outcomes. This approach to wicked problems, ironically, divorces firms from the very social-ecological context that makes the problem “wicked.” In this essay, we argue that strategy research into wicked problems can benefit from systems thinking, which deviates radically from the reductionist approach to analysis taken by many strategy scholars. We review some of the basic tenets of systems thinking and describe their differences from reductionist thinking. Furthermore, we ask strategy scholars to widen their theoretical lens by (1) investigating co-evolutionary dynamics rather than focusing primarily on static models, (2) advancing processual insights rather than favoring causal identification, and (3) recognizing tipping points and transformative change rather than assuming linear monotonic changes.

战略管理系统思维棘手问题还原论社会生态问题