Method for a Systematic Evaluation of Advanced Complexity Management Maturity

AbstractDealing with the strongly increasing complexity of the company itself and its environment has become a key competitive factor. Companies can only face the progressively increasing external complexity in global markets with an appropriate “healthy” internal complexity. It inevitably has to be adapted to market demands. If the internal complexity is too low, the external complexity cannot be mastered sufficiently. The complexity management in the company is therefore not effective. If the internal perspective is too high, the company thus has unnecessary efforts and the complexity management is not efficient.The complexity within socio-technical organizations such as e.g. value networks or industrial companies is characterized by the difficulties and turbulences encountered in daily business and can be described by four dimensions: variety, heterogeneity, dynamics and non-transparency.Most companies have not introduced or implemented a complexity management system in order to deal with these issues yet. Many companies do not know if the used management activities are efficient, effective and adequate. Therefore, companies have to be reviewed and evaluated regarding their complexity management maturity.Maturity models can be used to support the analysis and assessment of skills and development levels of products, processes or organizations. Such competence models are using defined levels of maturity, which can be used to describe the different achievable skill levels. Maturity models for the purposes of evaluation issues have several benefits such as finding vulnerabilities and identifying improvement measures, a better control over costs and time or an earlier and more accurate predictable release and introduction of complexity management activities.This paper presents basics of an advanced Complexity Management as well as an approach for a systematic evaluation of advanced Complexity Management maturity, describing the different levels and taking into account recommendations to increase the degree of maturity