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Organizational Closure and the Quantum View of Organizations

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Systems Thinking in Europe

Abstract

Configuration theory is, I believe, one of the most promising trends of modern organization theory. Here, effective organizations are conceived of as configurations or, to make the parallel with quantum physics, to be in certain “quantum states” composed of tightly interdependent and mutually supportive elements such as strategy, structure, culture, technology, and human skills. As a consequence, a change of configuration may often entail a more or less revolutionary “quantum jump” (Miller and Friesen, 1984). The theoretical underpinnings of what appears to be emerging as a theory of configuration, however, are not well-established and not yet very strong. It is the general aim of this paper to contribute to this theory formation.

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Broekstra, G. (1991). Organizational Closure and the Quantum View of Organizations. In: Jackson, M.C., Mansell, G.J., Flood, R.L., Blackham, R.B., Probert, S.V.E. (eds) Systems Thinking in Europe. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3748-9_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3748-9_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6669-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3748-9

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