The Holonic View of Organizations and Firms

Abstract

In the world of organizations, firms, management and control, in general, a silent conceptual movement has been under way for less than 50 years now, beginning in 1967, when Arthur Koestler formally introduced the concepts of holon, holarchy (a hierarchical structure of holons) and holonic network (a reticular structure of holons). Thirty years later, Ken Wilber tried to generalize the holonic perspective. The new holonic perspective forces us to observe the surrounding universe (at a physical and biological level, and in the real or formal sense) by taking into account the whole/part (holarchies) and the before/after (holonic networks) relationships: any observable unit is at the same time a whole—composed of smaller parts—and part of a larger whole. In order to clarify the holonic vison and the ideas behind holons, holarchies and holonic networks, this study will examine some significant uses of these concepts and, in particular, the main sources of inspiration for those production systems referred to as theholonic manufacturing systems, comparing these to those defined asbionicandfractal manufacturing systems. Someforms of inter‐organizational networks, as well asholonicandvirtual organizations, have also been considered. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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