Complexity Leadership in Bureaucratic Forms of Organizing: A Meso Model

We consider Complexity Leadership Theory in contexts of bureaucratic forms of organizing to describe how adaptive dynamics can work in combination with administrative functions to generate emergence and change in organizations. Complexity leadership approaches are consistent with the central assertion of the meso argument that leadership is multi-level, processual, contextual, and interactive. In this paper we focus on the adaptive function, an interactive process between adaptive leadership (an agentic behavior) and complexity dynamics (non-agentic social dynamics) that generates emergent outcomes (e.g., innovation, learning, adaptability) for the firm. Propositions regarding the actions of complexity leadership in bureaucratic forms of organizing are offered.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/managementfacpub/38/

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	Uhl-Bien, Mary Professor, Howard Hawks Chair in Business Ethics and Leadership Expertise: Business Ethics Leadership Organizational Behavior Management CBA 269 P.O. Box 880491 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-0491, USA Phone: (402) 472-2314 Fax: (402) 472-5855 mbien2@unl.edu	Uhl-Bien, Mary	Management