Dr. Whitaker's ACM siggroup pages on 'Self-organization' (which is a popular theme in current studies of human social activity, enterprises, and IT) introduce one well-developed theory of self-organization (autopoietic theory) and discusses its application to enterprises and their management. The goto  link takes you to Section II of work (it assumes a familiarity with the basic concepts and terminology of autopoietic theory ....if you do not currently possess such understanding, best to proceed step-by-step through Section I: "Overview of Autopoietic Theory"

"This document introduces "The aspect of autopoietic theory most important to enterprise researchers is its attitude and application to the study of human (inter-)activity and the social systems within which this occurs. This point of intersection has already been employed in social / management analyses of enterprises and / or their information technology needs. In the information technology (IT) community, Winograd and Flores (1986) are the most widely known and cited authors who invoke autopoietic theory in analyzing enterprise activities."

Cybersyn and Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model

"The application of autopoietic theory to enterprises dates back to the time and place of the theory's origin. During the Allende regime in Chile, an ambitious project named Cybersyn was undertaken to apply principles of cybernetics to the integration and management of Chile's national economy. The 'prime contractor' for this work was the British cyberneticist Stafford Beer, creator of the Viable System Model (VSM) for cybernetic enterprise management. Maturana has been cited as one of the sources for the ideas which underpinned the Cybersyn work. Beer's Chilean work during the period 1971-1973 is described in his book Brain of the Firm."