Complexity framework for sustainability: an analysis of five papers Goran D. Putnik Department of Production and Systems Engineering, University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal Abstract Purpose ��� The purpose of this paper is to present an examination of the concepts and mechanisms of complexity and learning usability and applicability for management in turbulent environments as well as their examination through the Chaordic system thinking (CST) lenses and framework. Contributing to awareness of how different mechanisms could be interpreted as the complexity mechanisms and learning for sustainability of organizations. Design/methodology/approach ��� The methodology applied is a secondary analysis of the papers that present concepts, research thesis and case study on applications of the complexity mechanisms and learning for sustainability of organizations. Findings ��� Complexity and learning, applied through the CST, are enablers of sustainability of organizations. CST mechanisms are proved feasible and acceptable within the organization that seeks sustainability, which is an emerging requirement in nowadays turbulent environments. Practical implications ��� All findings contribute to further learning and growth in capability for application of the complexity mechanisms and learning towards sustainability in concrete organizations. Originality/value ��� The paper contributes to the perspective of organizational sustainability through complexity and learning approach. The complexity approach means in the first place that for going towards the sustainability the complexity should be increased, in opposite to the ���traditional��� management approaches. Additionally, the CST is seen, and validated through the secondary analysis of five papers in this special issue, as a model of complexity for management towards sustainability. Keywords Complexity theory, Sustainable development Paper type Conceptual paper 1. Introduction This paper presents a deeper insight into the five papers in this special issue, and how they implement the complexity theory and learning, more precisely the Chaordic system thinking (CST) features and mechanisms, as a model for complexity and learning management in organizations towards (organizational) sustainability. We will define a sustainable organization, or enterprise, as an organization or enterprise, informed by CST, where CST is providing the ���capabilities to survive crisis situations during its life cycle, going beyond the conventional [. . .] (organization���s ��� [GP] ) end-of-life state��� (van Eijnatten et al., 2007). Such organizations, or enterprises, we will call Chaordic organization (CO), or Chaordic enterprise (CE) (following van Eijnatten and Putnik (2004b)). In other words, this paper is to examine the concepts and mechanisms of complexity and learning usability and applicability for management in turbulent environments as The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-6474.htm Complexity framework for sustainability 261 The Learning Organization Vol. 16 No. 3, 2009 pp. 261-270 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0969-6474 DOI 10.1108/09696470910949971

well as their examination through the CST lenses and framework. The paper aims to contribute to awareness of how different mechanisms could be interpreted as complexity mechanisms and learning for the sustainability of organizations. The methodology applied is a secondary analysis of the papers that present concepts, research thesis and case study on applications of the complexity mechanisms and learning for sustainability of organizations. The analysis of the papers demonstrates that the complexity and learning (the analysis) based on the CST lenses, or framework, are enablers of sustainability of organizations. CST mechanisms are proved feasible and acceptable within the organization that seeks sustainability, which is an emerging requirement in today���s turbulent environments. In accordance with CST principles, the findings should not be interpreted as the rules to be applied, as this would be case of promoting ���traditional��� ���interventionist���s��� approach (i.e. promoting another controlling mechanism). Rather the findings should be taken as contributions, or cases, for further learning and growth towards solutions for sustainability in concrete organizations, which are ���in line��� with (organizational) complexity and learning organization (LO) ���teachings.��� The paper is further organized as follows: in Section 2, the paper presents the main features of the CST. In Section 3, the concepts and concrete applications in organizations presented in five papers from this special issue are analyzed through the CST ���lenses,��� or framework. For each paper the CST features and tools that are used or proposed in the individual cases or in the theoretical models proposed are identified. The paper closes with conclusions and references. 2. Complexity management framework following CST We address complexity as the organization���s state characterized by Waldrop (1992, p. 11, cited in van Eijnatten and Putnik, 2004b): . a great many independent agents who are interacting with each other . systemic interactions which can lead the system to spontaneous self-organization and . learning which takes place through feedback. CST[1] could be seen as a model of complexity management in organizations and a framework for developing and managing an organization or enterprise as a CO or CE, the CO/CE as ���inherently self-sustaining and ultimately self-transcending system��� (Fitzgerald and van Eijnatten, 1998, cited in van Eijnatten and Putnik, 2004b). In relation to the LO, CST could be seen as a ���meta-model to inform an LO seen as a complex adaptive arrangement of highly interacting communities of commitment.��� and as ���the goal state towards which an actual company ��� seen as an LO capable of self-organization and transformative change under hyper-turbulent conditions ��� might evolve��� (van Eijnatten and Putnik, 2004b). CST has been presented in a previous The Learning Organization (TLO) special issue, namely in (van Eijnatten and Putnik, 2004a). However, in this section we will present the basic CST properties and domain, as these will be used as the criteria for analysis of five papers presented in the next section. TLO 16,3 262