Structural Contigency and Complexity Science

Structural Contigency and Complexity Science Strategic planning has always been viewed as an important activity for smooth functioning of an organization during both changing as well as static times. However while structural contingency theory supports the existence of a strategic plan, complexity science believes that no strategy is needed when times are fluid and unpredictable. In other words, if things are changing rapidly, there is no way a strategy would work, as there is no one perfect strategy and hence planning would be wasted.

Instead a company should focus on creative solutions as and when an issue arises. But management gurus have endorsed strategic planning for decades and it is considered a vital activity in an organization (Pennings, 1975). Usually the most important stakeholders are invited to view and review the strategic planning process. In the article under consideration, health organizations were studied to see if they believed in a strategic plan.

It was found that out of 20 physicians and administrators interviewed for the article, only 2 felt that a strategic plan was useless while the rest considered it as important as management literature suggests. I believe that complexity science has a point but strategic planning is immensely important because it helps us prepare ourselves for variety of possibilities in the future.

In other words, while we may think that things are so rapidly changing that one strategy won't fit every situation; still it is important to develop a plan that would work as a roadmap in case of serious uncertainty.

For example a healthcare organization especially a hospital should understand that if there is a serious emergency like a bomb blast or anything like that which results in numerous injuries and it has to prepare the hospital staff to meet the contingency in an effective manner then it must have a written strategic plan about how such a contingency would be met and what would be the rules and regulations in such a scenario.

Secondly strategic planning in general is also critical and is developed keeping in mind the changing economic times. For example if economy worsens and a hospital finds itself in serious financial crunch, it must have a plan to address this problem without losing control of the situation. For this reasons strategic planning is immensely vital for smooth functioning and for meeting most contingencies in an effective manner. Complexity science is not useless either even if structural contingency theory sounds more valid.

Complexity theory is based on the thinking that if we develop a strategic plan, it would be good in one situation but may not fit all possible scenarios. This theory holds weight because it is impossible to assume that one strategy is perfect fit for all possible situations but the weakness of complexity theory lies in its inability to offer a more clearly defined alternative.

To say that a company should focus on creativity is not enough because not every person in the organization is a quick thinker and not everyone is creative enough to develop a plan as the situation arises. Hence it is critical for a firm to have a solid written plan that would address the issue of management and economic emergencies.

This would cover a wide range of possible situations that can hit a healthcare organization in changing times and when that happens, a firm would be in a far better place than it would have been without such a plan. Depending on creativity for solutions may actually be great for one leader and one person but for the whole organization it can fall flat because serious emergencies can create panic and panic may affect creativity. For this reason, I believe structural contingency theory is more useful than complexity science.

My thoughts on strategic planning have always been positive. In other words, I have supported strategic planning for organizations and this article further strengthened my views on the subject. Even though I fully support creative solutions, I do feel that we have used the word "creativity" rather loosely and most people do not have an idea as to what is it or how to use it if an emergency strikes.