Introduction to the special issue on systems thinking and strategic management

Abstract

This paper summarizes the aim of the Special Issue and the insights from the papers submitted and accepted for it. On the one hand, systems thinking (ST) refers to perspectives, concepts, frameworks, approaches, methodologies, and interventions focused on understanding the interrelationships between entities or parts generating emergent behavior. On the other hand, strategic management (SM) has different schools of practice related to prescribing successful strategies (prescriptive schools) and to describing unstructured processes (descriptive schools), focusing on the process of developing strategies (strategy process) as well as the types of strategies (strategy content).

This special issue invited scholars to document the significant contribution of ST to SM and propose new avenues for research into its integration, such as the potential roles of ST in analyzing complex strategic problems, fostering strategic decision making through ST-assisted approaches such as games, embedding ESG in an organization’s strategy, and identifying approaches to use ST.

The Special Issue has 13 papers, which we structured into different sections. Section 1 introduces two papers discussing general frameworks to embed ST into SM. One of the criticisms to ST is that its approaches are too abstract and general. Consequently, we have three sections showing applications of ST using recognized ST methods or methods that adopt some of the particularities of ST organized by levels of systemic intervention: large systems such as innovation systems, meso-level ones, like organizations, and micro-level ones, such as decision makers. Section 2 discusses ST supporting innovation. Then, Section 3 synthesizes ST interventions into organizations, and Section 4 presents ST-assisted approaches to enhance decision making. The final section discusses a paper presenting principles for ST practices.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Martin Kunc: orcid.org/0000-0002-3411-4052

Catalogue record

Export record

Altmetrics