Managing Complexity by Recursion

Recursion is a well known concept within computer science and mathematics . In business management it is rarely used explicitly. Counterexamples are applications of dynamic programming and the ́Viable System ́ of Stafford Beer [Beer, 1972]. This paper demonstrates the broad applicability of recursion to managing complexity, especially in business. It starts by showing that recursion is – in contrast to how it may appear in papers of e.g. H.A.Simon [Simon, 1973] – a special case of (intra-systems-)hierarchy. It shows the two different yet related forms of using recursion: recursive objects and recursive problem solving and gives general examples of both. It then focuses on recursive objects and problem solving in business and finally summarizes the advantages of recursion.