A study of complex adaptive systems theory as defined by organizational scholar-practitioners

This dissertation is concerned with Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory, as developed by scholar-practitioners, and how it might be better understood as a body of theory. In an important sense, this dissertation reflects a "turn" away from forms of analysis that might be considered atomistic, or mechanistic, and toward a form of anlaysis that might be considered "reflexive."; In this dissertation there are two studies. The first essentially deconstructs the theories and recombines their conceptual components to gain new insights into the theory. The second study builds the concept of "dimensional dialectics" from the ideas of Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche. Using the notion that such dimensions might be "co-emerging" or "co-defining," this dissertation develops the notion of a "robust" theory and develops "Reflexive Dimensional Analysis" (RDA) as a method to find new insights. This method is used to code of a body of theory, categorize those components, and identify those categories as dimensions. Finally, dimensional analysis is used to investigate the co-emergent relationship between the core dimensions.; This study finds that most dimensions of CAS theory may be seen as co-emergent. Within the theory, however, there are contradictory notions that might be resolved. Further, the study suggests that the notion of "time" must be effectively co-defined before CAS theory might be understood as robust. Some important implications of this study include the opportunity to analyze and "crystallize" a body of theory to gain insights into its robustness. Insights such as these may suggest opportunities to clarify relationships between theories and/or between bodies of theory.