Knowledge-intensive organisations, including universities, research institutes, health and care systems, professional service firms and public agencies, are increasingly required to operate under conditions of profound and escalating complexity (Malik et al., 2020; Seher Budak et al., 2024; Chen et al., 2025). These institutions face simultaneous pressures arising from resource constraints, digitalisation, accountability regimes, geopolitical volatility and expanding societal expectations regarding impact, innovation and public value. While existing research in fields such as higher education governance, health system resilience, enterprise-wide risk management, knowledge management and public sector leadership has documented these challenges, much of this work remains fragmented by disciplinary boundaries and often adopts instrumental rather than systemic framings (Erickson et al., 2021; Krücken, 2021; Linnéusson et al., 2022). As a result, the deeper organisational dynamics through which knowledge-intensive institutions observe, interpret and respond to complexity remain insufficiently theorised.
This special issue seeks to address that gap by advancing a systems-theoretical understanding of leadership and governance in knowledge-intensive organisations conceptualised as complex learning systems. It brings together scholarly conversations that are typically treated in isolation, leadership and governance, risk and resilience, knowledge and learning, entrepreneurship and innovation, within an integrated cybernetic framework. By doing so, it foregrounds the interdependent processes of observation, communication, decision and learning that enable organisations to adapt and remain viable (Walters, 2022; and Bamber and Elezi, 2025). Rather than centring on any single technology, sector or managerial tool, the special issue prioritises the underlying systemic processes that cut across organisational contexts: how leaders attend to signals, how risk is framed and escalated, how knowledge is created and institutionalised, and how entrepreneurial activity emerges within and against existing structures.
A distinctive feature of this special issue is its emphasis on second-order and reflexive inquiry. Contributors are invited to explore how leadership and governance systems observe and redesign themselves, how organisational actors interpret their environments, and how learning architectures evolve in response to shifting constraints and opportunities. This reflexive orientation positions the special issue firmly within the intellectual trajectory of Kybernetes, which has renewed its commitment to second-order cybernetics, complexity theory and systems thinking as lenses for understanding contemporary organisational phenomena (Luhmann, 1995; Scholte, 2020; Chen et al., 2025) By showcasing “theory-as-method” approaches, where cybernetic and systemic concepts are used analytically rather than metaphorically, the issue aims to demonstrate the continued relevance and explanatory power of these traditions for organisational research.
Beyond its academic contribution, the special issue speaks to major societal challenges. Knowledge-intensive organisations are central to achieving goals related to health, education, innovation, sustainability and democratic governance. Their capacity to contribute effectively depends on leadership and governance models that can accommodate uncertainty, cultivate learning and steward organisational resilience (Grewatsch et al., 2023). By cross-examining the systemic conditions under which such organisations function, the special issue offers insights directly relevant to several UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
In positioning leadership, governance, risk, knowledge and entrepreneurship as interconnected processes within complex learning systems, this special issue aims to consolidate emerging research trajectories and provide a platform for conceptual innovation and methodological diversity. It aspires not only to deepen theoretical understanding but also to inform the design of more adaptive, resilient and responsible knowledge-intensive institutions. As such, the issue will serve as a valuable reference point for scholars, practitioners and doctoral researchers seeking to engage with the multifaceted challenges of governing complexity today.
List of Topic Areas
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Leadership and governance as systemic architectures of observation, decision and learning
- Enterprise-wide risk management, knowledge management and entrepreneurship as interconnected cybernetic processes
- Cross-sector analyses of universities, health systems, research institutes, public agencies and professional service firms as complex learning systems
- Reflexive and second-order perspectives on how organisations construct and revise their own governance arrangements
- Theory-as-method applications using cybernetics, systems thinking or complexity frameworks
Journal Information: Scopus Journal Q1, H-Index 59
Submissions Information
We welcome conceptual papers, theory-led empirical studies and methodological contributions that advance systemic and reflexive understandings of governance and leadership. Studies from any knowledge-intensive context are encouraged, and multidisciplinary work is highly valued.
This special issue contributes to ongoing debates on the future viability and resilience of knowledge-intensive institutions and aligns with global societal priorities, including UN SDGs 3, 4, 8, 9, 16 and 17. For inquiries or to discuss potential submissions, please contact the Guest Editors (Dr Enis Elezi e.elezi@westminster.ac.uk)
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/kyb
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/k
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Deadlines
Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 26/01/2026
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 26/12/2026
