ABSTRACT
A sustainable work system can be described as a system that consciously strives towards simultaneous development at different levels – individual, group/company and region/society. For example, at the lowest level, an individual wants to stay healthy and enjoy continuous learning; at group/company level, economic growth may be considered important to maintain or raise market shares; and, at societal level, the maintenance of inclusive employment opportunities may be crucial. All these different aspects interact, and materialise concurrently. In this chapter, we will use theories of complex systems as a metaphor. A fundamental presumption of this approach is that rather chaotic processes at the level of the parts/agents/holons lead to apprehensible patterns in the system as a whole.
