Diversity can be the basis for continued organizational order: a computational proof of Prigogine’s conjecture bridging physical and social systems

Diversity can be the basis for continued organizational order: a computational proof of Prigogine’s conjecture bridging physical and social systems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Diversity can be the basis for continued organizational order: a computational proof of Prigogine’s conjecture bridging physical and social systems Sasanka Sekhar Chanda, Robert Burgelman This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6521388/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We provide a computational proof of Prigogine’s conjecture that diversity can be the basis for continued order for physical and social systems by employing modest extensions to the genetic algorithm developed by James March in organization science. Our proof is based on a methodology comprising a series of graphical outputs delving deep into model mechanisms. It involves three propositions: (i) persistence of internal diversity can lead to attainment of higher fitness; (ii) incorporating a mechanism for increasing internal diversity can lead to higher fitness; (iii) a mechanism for increasing internal diversity can help counter the fitness-lowering effect of disequilibrium conditions. The proof establishes a link with Ashby’s Law of requisite variety (increased internal heterogeneity can combat enhanced levels of external heterogeneity). It also corroborates the isomorphism between the structural stability under far-from-equilibrium conditions observed by Prigogine and internal autonomous entrepreneurial initiatives serving as a source of diversity sustaining continued organizational order. Prigogine’s conjecture diversity and order far-from equilibrium conditions internal autonomous entrepreneurial initiatives organizational learning and fitness genetic algorithm computational simulation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6521388","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":448114966,"identity":"a8705c9f-1e57-445c-bece-faea77d8a921","order_by":0,"name":"Sasanka Sekhar Chanda","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA00lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNiBmZuBnZmxgSGCDCB0gSotkM8laDA7A2ISAfP/hZw9+7rCWNz7O3LrhQdk9Bv72A4yHC/BoMbiRZm7YeybdcNthxrYbCeeKGSTOJDAcnoFPiwQPmwRv22FGsJbEtgQGhhsMDId58DrsDJvk37bD9puboVrkCWlhOJDDJg20JXEDM1SLASEtQL+YScu2pSfPgPglgcfwTGIDAYcdfib5ts3atr//+LObP8oS5OSOHz78Ga/D0AFQMTBOR8EoGAWjYBRQBgD9102xAS5TmgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sasanka","middleName":"Sekhar","lastName":"Chanda","suffix":""},{"id":448114967,"identity":"ddd2c082-2e18-4d8f-b27f-770beabea96d","order_by":1,"name":"Robert Burgelman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Robert","middleName":"","lastName":"Burgelman","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-24 13:53:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6521388/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6521388/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90132445,"identity":"767fe761-baf5-4a93-a3cc-0f959e1126c3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-28 23:01:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1222116,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"FormalproofofPrigoginesconjecture.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6521388/v1_covered_d21255e0-c2c2-47f7-8565-6f67f3b32428.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Diversity can be the basis for continued organizational order: a computational proof of Prigogine’s conjecture bridging physical and social systems","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Prigogine’s conjecture, diversity and order, far-from equilibrium conditions, internal autonomous entrepreneurial initiatives, organizational learning and fitness, genetic algorithm, computational simulation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6521388/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6521388/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWe provide a computational proof of Prigogine\u0026rsquo;s conjecture that diversity \u003cem\u003ecan\u003c/em\u003e be the basis for continued order for physical and social systems by employing modest extensions to the genetic algorithm developed by James March in organization science. 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