The Relevance of Systemic Approaches in Business Sciences

Abstract

Our times are characterized by intense changes in the viable logics of markets and, generally speaking, of business systems. Business scenarios today are typified by connectivity, dynamism, nonlinearity, and emergent behaviors - in other words by “complexity” (Dominici, 2012). Reductionist models are unable to completely depict, or to allow us to totally understand the new business scenarios. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to recognize the need for a paradigm shift that can carry science beyond the analytical reductionist approach, and towards a more comprehensive systemic perspective. Systems thinking can be critical to unlock new perspectives and enhance holistic views for a better understanding of the dynamics of social and business systems. In the last decades we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the managerial approach from the whole/part model to the systemic-environmental approach. This shift initiated the epistemological shift in social sciences in the fields of sociology, management and economics