In this paper, we describe how traditional systems engineering processes, such as those delineated in the ANSI//EIA 632 standard, are becoming inadequate for today’s complex systems, in which there is a rich set of interconnections and interrelationships between all of the systems in an enterprise. We further suggest that a new discipline (or an extension of the old discipline) is developing in...

BACKGROUND Embryo selection has been based on developmental and morphological characteristics. However, the presence of an important intra-and inter-observer variability of standard scoring system (SSS) has been reported. A computer-assisted scoring system (CASS) has the potential to overcome most of these disadvantages associated with the SSS. The aims of this study were to construct a predict...

We present a review of complex systems research which focuses on their similarities with self-organizing living systems. We classify the types of complex systems that relate to self-organisation and we discuss the overall requirements for self-organising modeling. As a novelty, the paper proposes a methodology to aid engineers in the design and control of adaptive complex systems. The methodolo...

This commentary addresses two points raised by Kitson and colleagues’ article. First, increasing interest in applying the Complexity Theory lens in healthcare needs further systematic work to create some commonality between concepts used. Second, our need to adopt a better understanding of how these systems organise so we can change the systems overall behaviour, creates a paradox. We seek to m...

Language arises from the interaction of three complex adaptive systems — biological evolution, learning, and culture. We focus here on cultural evolution, and present an Iterated Learning Model of the emergence of compositionality, a fundamental structural property of language. Our main result is to show that the poverty of the stimulus available to language learners leads to a pressure for lin...

Most research in the area of common property (common-pool) resources in the last 2-3 decades sought the simplicity of community-based resource management cases to develop theory. This was mainly because of the relative ease of observing processes of self-governance in simple cases. However, this creates a problem. Whether the findings of small-scale, community-based commons can be scaled up to ...

Complex Adaptive Systems, Publication 3

In this paper we consider the co-evolutionary dynamics of IS engagement where episodic change of implementation increasingly occurs within the context of linkages and interdependencies between systems and processes within and across organisations. Although there are many theories that interpret the various motors of change be it lifecycle, teleological, dialectic or evolutionary, our paper atte...

This paper discusses the body of knowledge known as complex systems theory and its relevance to manufacturing organizations. It begins by addressing the development of systems thinking, in order to explore the different views on how systems should be studied. This initial commentary provides an introduction to the concepts of the complex systems theory approach, along with its various metaphors...