What Can We Learn from Dynamic Behavior of Systems

Abstract

Increasingly, management scientists have paid attention to developments in other sciences, which could be of interest for improved understanding of the complex behavior of systems in a managerial context. The sciences which are working with non-linear and dynamic systems are multiple and therefore we want to limit this overview. Those sciences which we have a look into are: physics, neurobiology, cognitive psychology and computer sciences. For a better understanding of systems behavior (e.g. market behavior) we need to attack some theoretical concepts. We will limit them as much as possible. For each concept a brief theoretical introduction is given but we also try to make it more accessible for the manager via examples. Each of the concepts refers to a limited bibliography in itself. Some reference works will be given which allows the interested reader to go a little further, without becoming too involved in the details. The suggested books, in turn, all have an extended bibliography for the very interested or very advanced reader.