The European Chaos and Complexity in Organizations Network (ECCON) held its Third Annual Meeting in Guimarães, Portugal, June 2003, at the very same spot where the First Business Excellence conference was organized. As an outcome of that meeting, this TLO special brings together six ECCON...

In order to set the stage for this special issue, the prime concepts are defined: i.e. “chaos,” “complexity,” “learning” (individual and organizational), “learning organization,” and “chaordic enterprise”. Also, several chaos‐and‐complexity‐related definitions of...

This contribution suggests a conceptual framework for using complexity to understand human interactions in learning organizations. The particular lens adopted for this purpose is that of the Chaos perspective. The following general concepts are described: discontinuous growth, attractors: their...

A theoretical model of collective learning has been developed based on complex systems theory. The need for collective learning is illustrated by an empirical study of an “unsuccessful” organizational‐renewal project in a Swedish Telecom firm. The conclusion, using chaordic systems...

People's mental models are viewed as being significant in achieving organizational outcomes, on the assumption that mental models influence people's acts. A fundamental issue in the area of organizational learning, then, is the relation between mental models, learning and performance. We contend...

In this concluding paper the guest editors reflect on the contents of this special issue, and give some suggestions for future use of the CST framework. An interesting disclosure is that in chaos‐and‐complexity research the unit of measurement is not the individual human being, but the...

This paper examines the use of consumer‐driven innovation networks within the UK food‐retailing industry using qualitative interview‐based research analysed within an economic framework. This perspective revealed that, by exploiting information gathered directly from their customers at...

That being face‐to‐face in business communication remains important in the face of low cost electronic options raises interesting questions. In an earlier article in this Journal, I pointed to innovation as one reason why being physically close is important. Here the probe is broadened....