Managing complexity and insitutionalization : power and politics in ERP implementation in an Australian university

This chapter reports a case study of ERP implementation in an institution of higher education. The ERP is one based on integration of administrative tasks based on Oracle® systems and is successful both in terms of its embeddedness in institutionalized practice and in supporting that university's operations. The key issue that emerged from the study showed that understanding complexity, institutionalized practice, and the power relations in existence enable the implementation to be more effective, as it can be managed when understood. The chapter argues that organizations reproduce practice and that an ERP challenges that. To deal with that challenge, social dramas emerge wherever power exists, and the resulting conflicts challenge the effectiveness of the systems put in place. In this case study, the key role of the project champion in resolving the social dramas became evident.

School innovation in science : change, culture, complexity

The School Innovation in Science (SIS) initiative has developed and evaluated a model to improve science teaching and learning across a school system. The model involves a framework for describing effective teaching and learning, and a strategy that allows schools flexibility to develop their practice to suit local conditions and to maintain ownership of the change process. SIS has proved successful in improving science teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools. Evidence of variations in the nature and extent of the change is used to argue that the process is essentially cultural in nature, and that change occurs at different levels within a school. Processes supporting change thus need to be flexible and responsive.

Taming Complexity in Australian Income Tax

Taxpayers and tax authorities recognise that complex Australian income tax law is in need of simplification - during the past decade there have been two ineffective attempts at simplification of the tax law - first by redrafting the law in plain English without addressing structural issues - second by the proposed wholesale replacement of the legislation with a new foundation, incorporating most of the causes of the complexity in the current law - with tax law growing in size and complexity, new paths to simplification must be considered.

The influence of patient complexity and nurses` experience on haemodynamic decision-making following cardiac surgery

Critical care nurses’ haemodynamic decision-making in the immediate postoperative cardiac surgical context is complex. To optimise patient outcomes, nurses of varying levels of experience are required to make complex decisions rapidly and accurately. In a dynamic clinical context such as critical care, the quality of such decision-making is likely to vary considerably. The aim of this study was to describe variability of nurses’ haemodynamic decision-making in the 2-hour period after cardiac surgery as a function of interplay between decision complexity, nurses’ levels of experience, and the support provided. A descriptive study based on naturalistic decision-making was used. Data were collected using continuous non-participant observation of clinical practice for a 2-hour period and follow-up interview. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 38 nurses for inclusion in the study. The quality of nurses’ decision-making was influenced by interplay between the complexity of patients’ haemodynamic presentations, nurses’ levels of cardiac surgical intensive care experience, and the form of decision support provided by nursing colleagues. Two factors specifically influenced decision-making quality: nurses’ utilisation of evidence for practice and the experience levels of both nurses and their colleagues. The findings have implications for staff resourcing decisions and postoperative patient management, and may be used to inform nurses’ professional development and education.

From parallel descriptions to parallel grammars: unravelling the complexity of Lutyen's country house folio

Based on an analysis of a corpus of forty of Sir Edwin Lutyens's country house designs (Rollo 1997) a procedure for developing Parallel Descriptions will be discussed. This procedure will attempt to facilitate an integrated approach to the analysis of complex architectural forms and will provide a framework for investigating the development of parallel grammars. This is an approach which acknowledges that design does not necessarily involve the importance of one aspect, but rather a number of coextensive issues with emphasis on the ordering and priority of these issues periodically shifting.

Complexity theory and organizing form dualities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how order-generated rules applied to organizing form dualities can assist in creating the conditions for emergent, self-organized behavior in organizations, thereby offering an operational deployment of complexity theory.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins by showing that the concept of dualities is consistent with complexity-thinking. In addition, when applied to organizing forms, dualities represent a practical way of affecting an organization's balance between chaos and order. Thus, when augmented with order-generating rules, organizing form dualities provide an access point for the practical instigation of edge of chaos conditions and the potential for emergence.

Findings – The paper maintains that many attempts to “manage” complexity have been associated with changes to organizing forms, specifically toward new forms of organizing. It is suggested that organizing form dualities provide some management guidance for encouraging the “edge of chaos” conditions advocated in complexity theory, although the details of self-organization cannot be prescribed given the assumptions of non-linearity associated with complexity theory perspectives. Finally, it is proposed that organizing dualities can elucidate the nature and application of order-generating rules in non-linear complex systems.

Practical implications – Dualities offer some guidance toward the practical implementation of complexity theory as they represent an accessible sub-system where the forces for order and chaos – traditional and new forms of organizing respectively – are accessible and subject to manipulation.

Originality/value – The commonalities between dualities and complexity theory are intuitive, but little conceptual work has shown how the former can be employed as a guide to managing organizing forms. Moreover, this approach demonstrates that managers may be able to stimulate “edge of chaos” conditions in a practical way, without making positivistic assumptions about the causality associated with their efforts.

Stroke : the increasing complexity of carer needs

In Australia, more than 346,000 individuals who experience a stroke return to living in their homes with varying degrees of disability. They rely on emotional and physical support from informal carers, typically family members. Informal carers have an indispensable role in patient care poststroke, and the ability of carers to manage this role effectively is crucial for stroke survivors to be able to return home. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the caring role on carers of stroke survivors, particularly the services provided and the levels of depression and well-being experienced. The study used a longitudinal design incorporating survey methods. Stroke survivors were assessed for functional ability, quality of life, and depression using three assessment tools: the Stroke Impact Scale, World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF scale, and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. A total of 26 people were surveyed: 13 stroke survivors and their 13 carers. Carer knowledge of stroke support services was also explored. Information was collected by using survey methods and structured interviews at 3 weeks and at 3 months postdischarge. The main finding was that depression scores for carers and stroke survivors were below Australian norms at both assessment time points. The major concern identified by carers was poor follow-up procedures for initiating rehabilitation in the home. This study highlighted that a lack of appropriate discharge planning, in conjunction with early discharge of stroke survivors, can have an impact on the rehabilitation process and place increased and unrealistic demands on carers.

Teaching square roots: conceptual complexity in mathematics language

The article presents strategies for communicating the concept of square roots to limited English-proficient students. Instead of using mathematical terminology, mathematics teachers could communicate the concept of square roots by integrating the literal concept of square to the actual meaning of a square root. Such approach addresses the learning difficulty experienced by limited English proficient students who tend to associate square roots to geometric concepts. Several strategies for illustrating the concept of a square root using square figures are presented.

Conceptual complexity and apparent contradictions in mathematics language

The article explores the conceptual complexity and apparent contradictions in the language of mathematics and suggests ways to handle these problems. Mathematics, as described the author, is a formal, artificially constructed language. One problem arises from the changes of gradient and rates of change of gradient, continuous functions. Conceptual conflicts also arise when least upperbounds and greatest lower-bounds in discussing sequences and series, convergence and limits are considered.

Providing health services to migrants and refugees settling in Victoria, Australia: an analysis of the complexity, cost and policy implications for public health

The aim of the research was to identify factors related to the increased costs of providing health services to clients from a non-English speaking background (NESB), using a cross-sectional analysis of the administrative records of clients using community health services in the Northern Metropolitan region of Melbourne for the 2001/2002 financial year. The higher cost of providing services to NESB clients was influenced by four factors: increased consultation time, group attendance to an appointment, increased interpreting costs and the type of service provider. Family members and multilingual staff play a significant role in providing informal interpreting services or low-cost support for NESB consultants, and these activities should receive appropriate support. Additional funding is needed to support interpreting requirements when dealing with the health needs of NESB clients.

Stakeholders and strategic planning in non-profit organisations : case studies in complexity and conflict

The experiences of two Australian non-profit member-benefit associations as they attempt to develop strategic plans are explored, with emphasis on the influence of the many stakeholders in this process. We conclude that
corporate strategic planning is a complex, conflict-ridden, and largely
unsuccessful process in non-profit member-benefit associations because of the number and commitment of stakeholders. Therefore we suggest that future research should focus on clarifying whether such corporate management techniques are actually appropriate for all non-profit organisations, and, if they are, how non-profit organisations can best manage the process, taking into account the values and needs of stakeholders.

Understanding the complexity of social issues through process drama

Middle level teacher Joanne O’Mara uses process drama as a means for her students to explore multiple perspectives. In the teaching vignette she shares here, her class challenges their understanding of deforestation through dramatizing Judith Nichol’s A Poem for the Rainforest.