Chaos, complexity, learning, and the learning organization : towards a chaordic enterprise

In order to set the stage for this special issue, the prime concepts are defined: i.e. "chaos," "complexity," "learning" (individual and organizational), "learning organization," and "chaordic enterprise". Also, several chaos-and-complexity-related definitions of learning and learning organizations are provided. Next, the guest editors' main thesis is presented, namely that the "chaordic enterprise" might be the goal state towards which a company – seen as a learning organization – might evolve, and that the framework of "chaordic systems thinking" could be used as a meta-model to inform a learning organization which is capable of self-organization and transformative change under hyper-turbulent conditions. Finally, in order to illustrate the contours of a chaordic enterprise, the case of a dynamically reconfigurable, globally integrated, networked enterprise is presented.