Using complex adaptive systems theory to drive system health measures for a province-wide higher education system

Beginning in October, 2013, an Advisory Group was convened by the Province of Alberta, Canada to ‘tame’ the operationalization of a Results-Based Budgeting (RBB) exercise to be imposed upon Campus Alberta. Campus Alberta is the governmental institution that encompasses and oversees all 26 post-secondary institutions of Alberta. Utilizing Burgelman’s Model (1983), I study Campus Alberta. The purpose is to identify and incorporate in the larger set of RBB measures such indicators that monitor those conditions that cause Campus Alberta to be in the complexity region. Furthermore, to ensure that co-evolutionary dynamics do not shift Campus Alberta from the complexity region, I employ McKelvey’s (2002) work on managing co-evolutionary dynamics in complex adaptive systems through damping mechanisms. Therefore, an applied suggestion my research offers is ‘2M’: Monitoring the overall health of the system and, then, Managing co-evolutionary dynamics so that the system can be attuned to changing dynamics of the eco-system.

Authors

• Ali, Syed Hammad
• University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Management

• Campus Alberta
• co-evolutionary dynamics
• complexity region
• educational system management
• self-organizing system

Identifier

hdl:10133/3722

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/3722