Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science

The paper examines some of the significant new developments in the epistemological framing of systems theory, and their application within the information and management sciences. Specifically, the article argues that Information Systems (IS) – at its heart a systems-science – requires an ongoing di...

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Main Authors: Knight, Shirlee-ann, Halkett, Georgia
Other Authors: Bandara, W
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Association for Information Systems 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5433
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author Knight, Shirlee-ann
Halkett, Georgia
author2 Bandara, W
author_facet Bandara, W
Knight, Shirlee-ann
Halkett, Georgia
author_sort Knight, Shirlee-ann
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The paper examines some of the significant new developments in the epistemological framing of systems theory, and their application within the information and management sciences. Specifically, the article argues that Information Systems (IS) – at its heart a systems-science – requires an ongoing discourse into how the metaphors of ‘living systems’, ‘complex systems’, and ‘complexity’ apply to the theoretical foundations of the IS discipline at large.Pragmatically, the implications of developing a complex and living systems framework to investigate IS phenomena has the capacity to synthesise the very way information systems researchers consider their discipline, and the scientific inquiry of it. The “information system” becomes a decentralised, complex and evolving entity, where notions of chaos theory; system self-organisation; autopoietic and dissipative networks; emergence; entropy; and nonlinear dynamics; provide a rich and novel way to investigate system behaviours, human cognitive behaviours, and the management and business contexts in which those behaviours occur.
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format Conference Paper
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T06:07:08Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Association for Information Systems
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-54332022-12-09T07:12:35Z Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science Knight, Shirlee-ann Halkett, Georgia Bandara, W Fernandez, W Rowlands, B Complex Adaptive Systems Living Systems Theory Complexity Research Philosophy Epistemology Complex Systems Methodology The paper examines some of the significant new developments in the epistemological framing of systems theory, and their application within the information and management sciences. Specifically, the article argues that Information Systems (IS) – at its heart a systems-science – requires an ongoing discourse into how the metaphors of ‘living systems’, ‘complex systems’, and ‘complexity’ apply to the theoretical foundations of the IS discipline at large.Pragmatically, the implications of developing a complex and living systems framework to investigate IS phenomena has the capacity to synthesise the very way information systems researchers consider their discipline, and the scientific inquiry of it. The “information system” becomes a decentralised, complex and evolving entity, where notions of chaos theory; system self-organisation; autopoietic and dissipative networks; emergence; entropy; and nonlinear dynamics; provide a rich and novel way to investigate system behaviours, human cognitive behaviours, and the management and business contexts in which those behaviours occur. 2010 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5433 Association for Information Systems fulltext
spellingShingle Complex Adaptive Systems
Living Systems Theory
Complexity
Research Philosophy
Epistemology
Complex Systems
Methodology
Knight, Shirlee-ann
Halkett, Georgia
Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science
title Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science
title_full Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science
title_fullStr Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science
title_full_unstemmed Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science
title_short Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science
title_sort living systems, complexity & information systems science
topic Complex Adaptive Systems
Living Systems Theory
Complexity
Research Philosophy
Epistemology
Complex Systems
Methodology
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5433