What is Organizational Complexity

Management tools are traditionally depicted as rational and are therefore expected to reduce organizational complexity. However, the reflexive efforts deployed in the last 20 years has provided us with reliable insights on the need to go beyond this vision and recognize the extent to which these tools can trigger unforeseen and sometimes unwanted chains of reactions. This chapter is a participation to this reflexive effort, both at the empirical and theoretical levels. After introducing the reader to the existing literature on the topic, two case studies will be discussed. Centered on the deployment of safety performance indicators, these case studies provide additional empirical material confirming the role of complexity creator of management tools. These observations are then analyzed through the lenses of existing management concepts and models demonstrating their potential of reproducibility. In doing so, the mechanisms of complexity creation discussed in this paper are of potential interest for every organization interested in deploying new management tools.