Topic · Management Science and Operations Research

Complex Systems and Decision Making

Complex Systems and Decision Making is a research topic within Management Science and Operations Research. Science Explorer counts 39k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers revolves around the application of system dynamics and related methodologies in modeling complex systems, decision making, and sustainability. It covers topics such as soft systems methodology, problem structuring methods, feedback loops, operational research, and group model building.

System Dynamics
Soft Systems Methodology
Problem Structuring Methods
Complex Systems
Modeling
Decision Making
Feedback Loops
Sustainability
Operational Research
Group Model Building

Research works: 39k
In the world top 10%: 4k
Top-10% rate: 10.3%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25: +8%
Largest producer: United States

Complex Systems and Decision Making

Which countries lead Complex Systems and Decision Making research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.5k and 472 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

1 United States 1.5k works
2 United Kingdom 472 works
3 Germany 333 works
4 China 317 works
5 Italy 213 works
6 Netherlands 213 works
7 Australia 200 works
8 India 200 works
9 France 199 works
10 Canada 178 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States1,479 · 38.9%United Kingdom472 · 12.4%Germany333 · 8.8%China317 · 8.3%6 others listed1,204 · 31.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Complex Systems and Decision Making research?

By volume in 2022-now, Copenhagen Business School publishes the most Complex Systems and Decision Making research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Delft University of Technology.

By volume, 2022-now

1 Copenhagen Business SchoolDenmark 42 works
2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 41 works
3 Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 33 works
4 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 30 works
5 Cornell UniversityUnited States 29 works
6 Aalborg UniversityDenmark 26 works
7 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 23 works
8 Arizona State UniversityUnited States 21 works
9 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 21 works
10 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 21 works

Who are the leading researchers in Complex Systems and Decision Making?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Complex Systems and Decision Making include Daniel J. Kahneman, Albert Bandura and Amos Tversky.

1 Daniel J. Kahneman United States 395k citations
2 Albert Bandura United States 370k citations
3 Amos Tversky United States 327k citations
4 Karl John Friston United Kingdom 310k citations
5 Gordon Brent Mills United States 265k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Complex Systems and Decision Making?

The most cited paper in Complex Systems and Decision Making is "Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research" (Priscilla M Robinson, 2007), with 23,544 citations. Next come "Building Theories from Case Study Research" (23,256) and "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning" (21,902).

Most cited papers
#	Paper	Released	Citations
1	Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research Priscilla M Robinson · Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health Open access	Aug 2007	23,544
2	Building Theories from Case Study Research Kathleen M. Eisenhardt · Academy of Management Review Open access	Oct 1989	23,256
3	Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning James G. March · Organization Science	Feb 1991	21,902
4	A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation Ikujiro Nonaka · Organization Science	Feb 1994	17,764
5	Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams Amy C. Edmondson · Administrative Science Quarterly Open access	Jun 1999	11,679

All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Complex Systems and Decision Making research done?

The largest centres of Complex Systems and Decision Making research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Rome (Italy).

Largest cities, 2022-now

1 LondonUnited Kingdom 127 works
2 BeijingChina 72 works
3 CopenhagenDenmark 58 works
4 RomeItaly 58 works
5 ParisFrance 56 works
6 Washington D.C.United States 54 works
7 TokyoJapan 52 works
8 New YorkUnited States 49 works
9 AmsterdamNetherlands 40 works
10 TorontoCanada 40 works

See Complex Systems and Decision Making on the map

Where is the best place to study Complex Systems and Decision Making?

Among universities, judged by research, Sapienza University of Rome, Radboud University Nijmegen and Delft University of Technology score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged

40%

Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share

10%

Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale

30%

Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%

10%

Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad

10%

Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.

#	University	Score	Top 10%	Specialisation	Works	Growth
1	Sapienza University of RomeItaly	79.5	28.9%	4.9×	30	+164.4%
2	Radboud University NijmegenNetherlands	75.2	34.7%	4.7×	14	+22.6%
3	Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands	70.4	14.9%	9.4×	33	+18.1%
4	Copenhagen Business SchoolDenmark	64.7	6.5%	49.8×	42	+43.6%
5	University College LondonUnited Kingdom	63.4	15.1%	2.5×	21	+47.3%
6	Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNetherlands	62.0	22.3%	6.8×	14	+36.5%
7	University of AmsterdamNetherlands	61.1	19.4%	4.9×	15	+104.1%
8	University of OxfordUnited Kingdom	60.9	16.2%	2.8×	20	+10.9%
9	Stockholm UniversitySweden	60.6	22.9%	8.5×	15	-46.6%
10	Cornell UniversityUnited States	60.2	9.7%	4.3×	30	+163.7%
11	Arizona State UniversityUnited States	59.4	12.4%	6.4×	22	+2.4%
12	The University of SydneyAustralia	57.8	23.9%	2.1×	13	+42.8%
13	University of StrathclydeUnited Kingdom	57.7	17.8%	7.7×	10	+63.0%
14	Michigan State UniversityUnited States	57.5	18.8%	3.1×	12	+30.9%
15	Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States	57.1	5.9%	6.4×	23	+5.8%
16	Aalto UniversityFinland	57.1	30.7%	5.8×	9	-58.5%
17	Linköping UniversitySweden	56.5	18.6%	9.1×	13	+38.5%
18	ETH ZurichSwitzerland	56.2	35.0%	2.5×	9	-32.0%
19	University of HullUnited Kingdom	56.1	21.8%	22.0×	13	+39.1%
20	University of TwenteNetherlands	55.3	16.8%	7.0×	11	+19.6%
21	Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom	54.9	7.7%	4.1×	21	+301.6%
22	Australian National UniversityAustralia	53.6	14.5%	4.8×	13	+20.5%
23	Utrecht UniversityNetherlands	51.9	19.2%	3.1×	12	-11.7%
24	KTH Royal Institute of TechnologySweden	51.7	19.7%	5.0×	10	+12.2%
25	York UniversityCanada	51.4	3.5%	11.1×	20	+180.7%
26	The University of QueenslandAustralia	51.0	15.6%	2.5×	12	+24.8%
27	University of VirginiaUnited States	50.9	36.8%	4.3×	14	-43.7%
28	University of OuluFinland	50.3	13.9%	6.3×	9	+119.8%
29	University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom	48.9	10.5%	2.3×	14	+15.0%
30	Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands	48.7	16.9%	4.2×	11	-13.1%
31	Universität HamburgGermany	48.3	30.2%	2.1×	8	+11.7%
32	University of LeedsUnited Kingdom	48.2	15.6%	2.9×	9	+52.9%
33	Stanford UniversityUnited States	48.0	18.8%	1.2×	9	+22.1%
34	University of WarwickUnited Kingdom	47.9	20.6%	4.9×	12	-26.7%
35	University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom	47.5	33.8%	2.1×	9	-27.1%
36	University of WashingtonUnited States	47.4	10.5%	2.5×	14	+98.8%
37	Virginia TechUnited States	46.1	19.0%	4.3×	13	+5.1%
38	Politecnico di MilanoItaly	45.6	8.4%	4.0×	15	+54.5%
39	University of BergenNorway	45.5	6.6%	6.5×	11	+37.1%
40	King's College LondonUnited Kingdom	45.3	7.8%	3.0×	13	+102.9%
41	University of MichiganUnited States	44.6	25.1%	1.3×	10	-12.3%
42	Aalborg UniversityDenmark	44.3	4.2%	8.9×	26	-27.5%
43	Stevens Institute of TechnologyUnited States	43.3	23.4%	16.3×	10	-30.6%
44	University of GroningenNetherlands	42.9	9.7%	3.0×	11	+4.8%
45	National University of SingaporeSingapore	41.6	11.2%	1.4×	9	+41.5%
46	University of South-Eastern NorwayNorway	41.3	14.1%	17.1×	8	+27.3%
47	University of Southern DenmarkDenmark	37.5	9.2%	4.0×	8	-0.4%
48	University of Southern MaineUnited States	35.9	4.0%	111.3×	12	+539.4%
49	Roskilde UniversityDenmark	35.6	12.5%	16.5×	10	+7.8%
50	Our Lady of the Lake UniversityUnited States	28.3	3.1%	537.0×	10	-
51	Old Dominion UniversityUnited States	24.6	3.1%	13.5×	9	-41.9%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Complex Systems and Decision Making, country by country

Is Complex Systems and Decision Making research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Complex Systems and Decision Making.

grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Complex Systems and Decision Making as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.031% in 2024.

Fractional works of Complex Systems and Decision Making over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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Which countries lead Complex Systems and Decision Making research?

By volume, 2022-now

How concentrated that is

Which institutions lead Complex Systems and Decision Making research?

By volume, 2022-now

Who are the leading researchers in Complex Systems and Decision Making?

What are the most cited papers in Complex Systems and Decision Making?

Where is Complex Systems and Decision Making research done?

Largest cities, 2022-now

Where is the best place to study Complex Systems and Decision Making?

Is Complex Systems and Decision Making research growing?

Its share of all research

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Which topics inside it are moving

Related research

Discussion