The New Science of Management: Chaos and Quantum Theory and Method

Are traditional social science methods incapable of dealing with the complex and indeterminant problems facing public management today? It is not so much the wedding of scientific logic and method to management theory and practice that is problematic as it is the outdated models of scientific inquir...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public administration research and theory 1996-01, Vol.6 (1), p.75-89
Main Author: Overman, E. Sam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chaos theory
Determinism
From the Trinity Symposium on Public Management Research
Government budgets
Management
Methodology
Overman
Physics
Public administration
Public management
Quantum field theory
Quantum mechanics
Quantum theory
Research methods
Social sciences
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Are traditional social science methods incapable of dealing with the complex and indeterminant problems facing public management today? It is not so much the wedding of scientific logic and method to management theory and practice that is problematic as it is the outdated models of scientific inquiry that slow our progress. The new sciences of chaos and quantum theory offer valuable metaphors and methods that can challenge the public management research agenda into the next century. Chaos administration evokes the image of self-organization, dissipative structures, and dynamic complexity. The methods of chaos presented here are nonlinear differential equations and nonlinear time-series analysis with phase diagrams. Quantum administration provides a new logic of complementarity, constructivism, and participatory collusion in organizations and management. The quantum methods outlined and applied are Heisenberg's principle of indeterminism and Born's rules of probabilistic interpretation. The metaphors and methods of chaos and quantum theory are applied to familiar management issues such as performance appraisal and budgeting.
ISSN:1053-1858
1477-9803
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024304