Proceedings of 10th Global Business and Social Science Research Conference
23 -24 June 2014, Radisson Blu Hotel, Beijing, China, ISBN: 978-1-922069-55-9
Reframing the Corporation as an Integral Actor in a Complex
Adaptive System
Greta Meszoely1 and Hamid Benbrahim
Traditional models of business address the corporation as a unique entity in the
context of varying markets and communities rather than an integral part of the
social fabric where it operates, co-evolving in a dynamic symbiotic exchange of
influences.
As a result, few corporations survive beyond 15 years. The
importance of reframing the corporation as an integral part of a broader social
system has never been more important as organizations are faced with
increasing complexity in a world that is increasingly interconnected,
interdependent and global. Furthermore, organizations and supply chains
alone are often complex networks and social media have created an new
environment where interactions between people and corporation are extend to
consumers, suppliers, partners, governments, and employees in a dynamic
social network.
A new framework for understanding the corporation as a
complex system itself as a component organism in a broader complex network
is essential to evolve an adaptive, resilient, sustainable organization.
Advances in complexity science and network science have evolved a
comprehensive understanding of dynamic systems along with tools and
methodologies to better study CAS. These offer new ways of understanding the
corporation as an integral part of social systems at local, regional, and global
levels.
In this paper, the authors intend to reframe the corporation as not simply an
entity existing within a CAS, but rather an integral part of the complex network
that co-evolves in a exists in dynamic equilibrium with the system, and show
how recent advances in complexity science apply.
With this new understanding the authors evolve a series of guidance points for
business leaders to more effectively integrate social realities into the context of
business innovation, strategy, sustainability and development to exploit
opportunity and mitigate risk both within and without the organization. We will
introduce tools and methodologies from complexity science, network science,
and large system change thinking, to develop new models for actions and
measures of success that incorporate the systemic effects that emerge as the
corporation interacts and evolves within its ecosystem. These new measures
show a more accurate representation of company performance and inform
business strategy towards sustainability rather than reductionist measures like
growth, many of which can have devastating effects on businesses and the
broader social environment in both the short-term and long-term.
1
Greta Meszoely, PhD. Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, Center for Business
Complexity and Global Leadership, Boston MA; Hamid Benbrahim, MBA, PhD. Managing
Director, TD Ameritrade, Jersey City, N.J.