Relations of Complex Organizational Systems: A Key to Global Competitivity. Problems — Strategies — Visions

In times of turbulence and uncertainty it is pertinent to question more intensely the sources of performance and competitiveness of organizations as well as on a micro- or macro-economic level. Individual organizations are moving into networks and complex systems of actors and institutions. So it is the relationship among the players that has grown in importance, resulting in the concept of global competitivity, surpassing the vision of individual interests. Thus new problems of managing these relationships are born, particularly in terms of : · coordination of initiatives, · difficulties in adapting to change in a complex context, · learning and the sharing of knowledge, know-how and experience, · redefinition of the respective role of the institutions (their mission and area of responsability), · organizational governance, i.e., the system by which organizations are directed and controlled. Twelve authors examine these questions both from a theoretical angle - highlighting the renewal of critical thinking - and from that of a multi-faceted reality which is increasingly shaken by the globalization of socio-economic life.