Speaker

Prof. Kevin Dooley

Title

"How the Social Sciences Use Chaos and Complexity Concepts"

Abstract

Disciplines in the physical sciences have been influenced recently by two different but related theoretical movements, nonlinear dynamics (chaos) and complexity. As is the case historically, theories (and especially meta-theories) from the physical sciences tend to diffuse into the social sciences, sometimes with great success and sometimes with abject failure. In this seminar I shall explore the ways in which concepts from chaos theory and complexity science have been used by social scientists, from historians to sociologists to organizational scholars. I shall first present some data regarding the large scale trends in this area, and then demonstrate how these concepts have been used to understand the process of organizational innovation.

Prof. Kevin Dooley has a joint appointment with the Department of Industrial Engineering and the Department of Management at Arizona State University. He is also an affiliate faculty with the School of Health Administration and Policy. He has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, in 1987. Prof. Dooley's research interests lie in the areas of complex systems theory, quality management, innovation & new product development, organizational change, knowledge management, text analysis, information technology, and health care management. He is currently President of the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences, and international society devoted to applying complexity science to the study of living systems. He is also a Trustee of the newly formed Plexus Institute, devoted to improving the health of individuals, families, communities, and organizations through the application of complexity science.