Towards Integrative, adaptive, and ethically committed models Contributions of complex thinking and complex systems to organizational management

Abstract

The overarching aim of the research presented in this article is to analyze how the theoretical frameworks of complex thought and complex systems contribute to the construction of organizational management models that overcome the limitations of the traditional paradigm and foster more integrative, adaptive, and ethically committed forms of organizing—toward human beings, society, and the planet. Methodologically, the study employed a documentary review with a hermeneutic-recursive approach, incorporating researcher reflexivity and a systematic dialogue among theoretical traditions (political economy, organizational sociology, systems theory, and complex thought). The findings are organized into four core areas: (a) a critical diagnosis of instrumental rationality and its tendency to optimize parts at the expense of the whole; (b) a conceptual articulation of power, inclusion/exclusion, self-organization, and emergence; (c) operational proposals for redesigning decisions and learning processes through prospective tools (future thinking), layered causal analysis, and U-theory; and (d) an epistemological synthesis that reintroduces ethical, ecological, and transdisciplinary dimensions into management. The study concludes that integrating principles of complexity broadens temporal horizons, reconfigures value criteria, and enables the design of more adaptive and regenerative organizational practices, understanding management as a platform for continuous learning.