Corporate level Managerial Knowledge as a Complex Adaptive System

Abstract

Managing a single business demands knowledge regarding how to create and sustain competitive advantage. Additionally, managing a multi-business firm requires the coordination of business diversity and the capturing of synergies, thus increasing managerial complexity. These challenges demand a different type of knowledge. Based on qualitative research, this paper presents a conceptual model of corporate knowledge as a complex adaptive system (CAS) in which multilevel agents, synergy stimuli, adaptive responses and systems of action make up the aforesaid knowledge. Managerial knowledge at the corporate level is tacit, collective, integrative and collaborative. This research uses the complex case study approach for a Colombian multi-business firm, focusing on the top management team. The resulting method helps to enhance the conception of managerial knowledge at the corporate level and facilitates the decentralization of decision-making.