Panarchy in Management - How Can You Utilize This Concept?

Panarchy theory can provide a method for understanding how complex systems organize and interact with each other (Allen et al. 2014). For example, in ecology panarchy theory has been used to examine regime shifts (see the “Alternative State Theory & Regime Shifts” module) (Angeler et al. 2011) and to determine components of systems necessary for ecological resilience (Gunderson 2010). Panarchy has also been used to examine economic and governance systems (Garmestani et al. 2009), such as by assessing patterns in the size of companies (Garmestani et al. 2006). Ultimately, panarchy provides a way to conceptualize the interaction of complex systems at multiple scales and apply it to a wide variety of fields.