Systems Perspectives in Organization and Management Research: An Integrative Review and Roadmap for Meaningful Use

Systems perspectives offer a powerful alternative paradigm for understanding social phenomena as dynamic wholes characterized by emergent outcomes arising from interdependent interactions among diverse elements across multiple levels of analysis. Despite growing interest in systems thinking within organization and management (OM) research, much of its application remains ceremonial rather than meaningful, limiting the field's capacity to address complex, interconnected organizational challenges. This integrative review distinguishes three main types of systems perspectives—foundational, structural, and substantive—and examines how each can be leveraged to conceptualize phenomena, empirically investigate or simulate them, and develop theoretical explanations for their dynamics and outcomes. We trace the intellectual heritage of systems thinking and critically assess both its contributions and limitations, engaging substantively with critiques concerning cross-domain isomorphism, metaphorical overreach, ideological dimensions, and the obscuring of power relations. We identify conditions under which systems perspectives are most relevant, offer practical diagnostic frameworks and operational guidance for meaningful use across different epistemological traditions, and address the relationship between systems perspectives and adjacent theoretical traditions including institutional theory, organizational ecology, and practice theory. We acknowledge that systems research, like all research, serves particular interests and operates within specific epistemological commitments that shape what can be seen and said. By moving from ceremonial invocation to substantive engagement with systems perspectives, OM research can develop richer theoretical explanations and more effective practical interventions for the complex organizational phenomena that define our era.