Systems theory has served us well and will continue to provide managers and students of organisations with metaphors, terminology and explanations about how organisations function. Systems theory has, in fact, dominated as a framework for managerial behaviour and organisational analysis. However, there are some emerging theories and perspectives that are starting to challenge some of the tenets...

The history of the sciences of the human brain and mind has been characterized from the beginning by two parallel traditions. The prevailing theory that still influences the way current neuroimaging techniques interpret brain function, can be traced back to classical localizational theories, which in turn go back to early phrenological theories. The other approach has its origins in the hierarc...

Studies of the “human dimension” of landscapes have become increasingly important in landscape also as a “place” with its meanings and contributions to societal identity. In this chapter, we present some of the key theories of landscape experience and empirical research related to those theories. They are grouped around three concepts: First, we survey theories dealing with landscapes perceived...

There has been little serious work to integrate the constructionist approach and the cognitive/evolutionary approach in the domain of race, although many researchers have paid lip service to this project. We believe that any satisfactory account of human beings’ racialist cognition has to integrate both approaches. In this paper, we propose to move toward this integration. We present an evoluti...

In this paper we consider the co-evolutionary dynamics of IS engagement where episodic change of implementation increasingly occurs within the context of linkages and interdependencies between systems and processes within and across organisations. Although there are many theories that interpret the various motors of change be it lifecycle, teleological, dialectic or evolutionary, our paper atte...

It has recently been argued by a number of writers that the evolutionary theory of the firm is a genuine theoretical rival to the contractual theory of the firm. This paper presents a reconstruction of the evolutionary theory of the firm. A taxonomy developed by the Polish philosopher Krajewski is then utilized for the purpose of the discussing the relations between the evolutionary and the con...

This paper discusses issues in evolutionary art related to Art Theory and Aesthetics with a view to better understanding how they might contribute to both research and practice. Aesthetics is a term often used in evolutionary art, but is regularly used with conflicting or näıve understandings. A selective history of evolutionary art as art is provided, with an examination of some art theories f...

George Price studied evolutionary genetics for approximately seven years between 1967 and 1974. During that brief period Price made three lasting contributions to evolutionary theory; these were: (i) the Price Equation, a profound insight into the nature of selection and the basis for the modern theories of kin and group selection; (ii) the theory of games and animal behavior, based on the conc...

While the research literature is replete with studies focusing on the developmental factors that affect self-esteem, little attention has been paid to the source or functions of the self-esteem motive itself. The present paper aims at exploring some ways in which an evolutionary-developmentalpsychological (EDP) perspective can explain the adaptive nature of self-esteem. This paper attempts to a...

In classical evolutionary theory, genetic variation provides the source of heritable phenotypic variation on which natural selection acts. Against this classical view, several theories have emphasized that developmental variability and learning enhance nonheritable phenotypic variation, which in turn can accelerate evolutionary response. In this paper, I show how developmental variability alter...