Organizational complexity

Computer-aided Visualization of Psycho-social Structures (Part #2)

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The number of organizations active in any given field or geographical area is increasing.[3] The growth in the number of independent organizations has been paralleled by a fragmentation within the larger ones -- leading to a proliferation of sub-commissions and sub-sections. Accompanying these trends is an uncharted growth in the variety of forms of organized activity. These trends of divergence have been partially compensated by an increase in the inter-connectedness of organizations and efforts at establishing bodies with coordinating or integrating functions -- but these trends of convergence also contribute significantly to the complexity. Furthermore, this static organizational structure provides a framework for forms of dynamic, temporary or ad hoc organizations which are difficult to track systematically but are nevertheless a key feature of organizational life - particularly when organizations can be deliverately based on lags (or temporal "niches") in inter-organizational processes.