Complexity Perspective - New Ways of Thinking about Strategy - Literature review Example

Strategy and Organization Name Institution Table of Contents Abstract 3 Steps to Formulate a Strategy: 7 1.Plan the best strategy to build your success: 7 2.Position the organization appropriately: 8 3.Set the trend: 8 4.Forecast your future: 8 5.Address the uncertainties of the market: 8 6.Flexibility and balance: 9 7.Make a plan: 9 Complex Adaptive Systems: Modeling Complexity 9 History and origin 10 Murray Gell-Mann 10 John Holland 10 Brain Goodwin 10 Characteristics of Complex Adaptive System 11 System Behavior 11 Influence of Change 11 Connectivity 11 Sensitive dependence on different conditions 11 Co evolution 12 No equilibrium 12 Aggregation of Model 12 Weaver Model of Complexity 12 Conclusion 13 References 14 Abstract Making the strategy for the organization is the process of establishing the purpose, mission, vision and providing options to choose among alternatives to take major and minor decisions. The management of the organization should always keep the ideas in their mind and they should always stay ready to face the worst. Keeping a positive attitude towards business is definitely the most ideal way to work but to make things work, the management should have the consent of all the members involved in making the strategy and the ideas should be patiently viewed when negative aspects are also discussed. While the strategy for the company is formulated, the first step should be to identify the business in relation to its customers. Members of the organization should make it sure that whatever idea they might propose for the business and their customers should always have an end to end system of value creation where the entire plan is successfully discussed, describing the role of every member and relating it to every employee and understanding the core competencies it contains. There should be two main divisions of the team of members who can identify internal and external environment and later they can make decisions accordingly. When the environments are identified then a SWOT analysis should take place where strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats must be identified to make the organization work on the basis of its core strategies made by the members. No organization comes with the strategies already made, it’s the members who work in the favor of the organization to make it a better place where employees gets satisfied with their employer and positive environment leading a strategically fit organization. Introduction “(Strategy is not) something that an organization has but something its members do” (Jarzabkowski et al, 2007). The statement above describes well that a strategy is not something which an organization already have in place, it is something which is formulated by the members of the organization to achieve their goals and work upon their vision and mission. It is the top management who sits together and works on the strategy to take strategic decisions for the company. The employees of the company should always be aware about the strategies so that their purpose to work remains clear at all times. Strategy formulation by the members forces or enables the organization to carefully know about the changing environment and stay prepared for the upcoming changes. Strategic innovativeness is now a very important factor to make the organizations work. They can related to a thought, that if an organization is established couple of years back but they use same strategies even now, then they need to innovate or develop changes within their strategies to ace in the field. As we know that the trend for doing business and demands of an employee is changing day by day, therefore, the management needs to decide that they should develop new strategies to run the business. Innovation is the key to success these days. Employees and customers of every company like to have innovation in their work and services offered to them. Therefore, this is the new trend of generating profits internally and externally by re-inventing the business models and industries and it can only be done by the members of the organization not by the organization itself (Bolden, Gosling, Marturano, & Dennison, 2003). The complexity of decision lies within the concept of thinking in time. It means that members of the organization should be able to know about the past, present and predict about the future to be able to take the decisions accordingly. As the industries grew and trend changes, it becomes the requirement of every company or organization to follow the trend of its industry to remain in the business. The requirement is not that harsh to follow; they organization only needs to follow the trend bring innovation in their strategies and develop new techniques to run the business. Customers require change and they like to adopt them. It becomes the responsibility of the management to insure that hypothesis driven strategies are adopted. It means that critical analysis of the creative ideas should always be done before the implementation of any new strategy or change in the old strategy. Critical analysis is required to identify the SWOT of the idea which took place. Internal and external factors should always be undertaken while addressing to the creative ideas because every organization needs a good management who can analyze the situation efficiently where all the scenarios are properly analyzed and effective decisions are taken (Cacioppe, 1997). Nowadays, strategy does not only refers to firm's position or what an organization has but also refers that an organization and it diverse workforce do. Strategy is not a written document but the way multiple actors in an organization carry out their work, as well as addresses how it is done and who does it, all these elements are essential for both strategy philosophers and experts. However, managers of a business work hard enough for answering the queries which are directly related for making the business more competent and best practitioners of strategy. This new definition or perspective highlights a gap between theories of strategy and actual practices of organizational members. This gap arises because of much research on strategy remain remote from the study of that innumerable of practices and activities entailed in carrying out strategy. This assignment critically evaluate the statement “(Strategy is not) something that an organization has but something its members do” (Jarzabkowski, Balogun & Seidl, 2007, pp.5-27). This paper appraises how do the strategizing managers' practices to form a strategy as an activity of organization Complexity Perspective: New Ways of Thinking about Strategy  Jarzabkowski (2007) presented a new perspective of strategy, and stated that strategy is not just a document but the way people of an organization behave and carried out their job responsibilities. As regard to strategy, people's actions in firms, subsequently brings the people's attention that are the “performers” strategy. In literature, the word “strategizing” refers that action of strategy. In addition, praxis and practices are the key influencers in shaping activities of strategy practitioners; micro-actions are built in macro-area along with institutionalized properties that allow transmission of actions. Previous studies have highlighted four basic ways of thinking about strategy. During 60s, the “planning” approach was adopted that emphasis on techniques and tools to assist practitioners to take decisions regarding the direction of business. A new focus was developed by researchers during 70s, which examines the firm's pay-off to pursue different strategic directions, such as internationalization, joint ventures, acquisitions, innovation and diversification strategy. Researchers during 80s, explored how companies come first to identify the need for change at a strategic level, as well as make efforts to achieve it. In addition, the approach of “practice” draws on several insights of the school process; however, comes back to the leadership level, and take into consideration how leaders do strategy or strategies[Jar07]. Previously analysts have sorted out most ideal ways and perceptions for having successful strategy in a particular organizational setting. One strategy can be good in a certain situation while it can vary for the other. The environment and organizational setting are all interconnected. Context analysis must be considered as the basic to the key to research. The developmental studies have completely researched into the methodological and innovation setting. Connection examination in this way became acquainted with key to research. Framework and advancement studies grasped longitudinal methodologies to study philosophy and development in setting. The strategy substance and setting estimations of method have been for the most part used as a framework inside which to conceptualize the extent of the system field. The structure has been rehashed in various perusing materials; however this chronicled conceptualization has provoked seen abandons in our thinking about strategy. It has driven analysts and authorities to treat issues which are interrelated and related just as they were specific and separate. Substance and philosophy issues are a for example. This issue has pulled in feedback from scholastic strategists and administrators. Researchers has similarly recognized that the internal setting is not for the most part sufficiently related to the external association. At last, we observe those conventional models of the vital administration procedure paint a picture of a perceiving direct top down method of setting examination and implementation (Chan, 2001). Steps to Formulate a Strategy: 1. Plan the best strategy to build your success: The first step marks it down that the purpose of your strategy should include a definite purpose to beat the market realities. There are certain things which members of the organization should always keep in mind that customers’ need, suppliers’ accommodation and your preparedness for the new potential entrants. The strategy should always be a long term to deal with the hurdles coming up in your way to success. 2. Position the organization appropriately: It is very important to focus on the market, culture, nature, size and technology which should be used to run a business and the organization. The strategy should always reflect the clear cut thoughts and ideas of the market needs and trends and define the segments of the market intelligently. 3. Set the trend: It is easy to follow the trend but many of the researches show that one should set the trend in the market. Benchmarking the trend and following it is as easy as it can be done but making a new trend for the customers is difficult but setting a trend for the external environment relaxes down the competition situation too (Galliers, 2013). 4. Forecast your future: It should be taken into consideration that one should forecast the future and set the trends and make strategies accordingly. Keeping in mind about the history of the business or other related business from where any organization can learn effectively. 5. Address the uncertainties of the market: Organization should always be ready for the uncertainties of the market because staying ready for the event of failure saves your members and the organization from failing. Always identify the uncertainties of the market (Gell-Mann, 1994). 6. Flexibility and balance: The strategy made by the members of the organization should always have the flexibility in it as it should be changed or formulated according to the upcoming situation, uncertainties or any other occurring event. 7. Make a plan: Always translate your strategy into a plan so that each and every employee or member moves with the business model and organization’s capability to grow further. Complex Adaptive Systems: Modeling Complexity Complexity is the relationship and connectivity found between different elements within a system and environment. This relationship can also exist between system and environment. Complex adaptive systems that are a result of intertwined nonlinear spatio-temporal interactions between components which are large in number are generally referred to complex adaptive system (CAS). The theoretical work done in complex adaptive systems are available in the field of science, mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics. Analysis of CAS is done with the help of applied and experimental methods as in mathematics and computer sciences. Complex adaptive systems are able to change due to the change in the environment. These systems can evolve and adapt to the changed in the environment. At the same time, no difference in present between an environment and a system as system adapts and evolves in an environment. The studies are mostly done in conceptualizing the inter-linked systems with the other systems in a single ecosystem. The focus is made on changes taking place parallel in different sections of an environment and thus adaptation of systems to produce a distinct environment (Hodgkinson & Stenfors, 2013). History and origin The Senta FI institute (SFI) is a private research centre which has played an important role in the complex procedures of research and technology. This institute has provided collaborations among researches to help in understanding the new concepts in biology, mathematics, computational and social sciences. Due to this reason many scientists have contributed their work in the field of complex adaptive system. Here are some of the most renowned scientists who have worked in the fields of complex adaptive systems. (sentafe, 2015) Murray Gell-Mann The famous book The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex is written by Murray Gell Mann. He is also the Co-chairman of the science board at the Santa Fi Institute. His work on the theory of elemental particles has helped him win a Nobel prize in 1969. His current work comprises of different research based on complex adaptive system. John Holland John Holland has played an important role in providing new and advance information in the field of genetic logarithms. The process of combination, variation and selection done on the basis of fitness that can result in the processing of evolution and adaptation is known as genetic logarithms. This is helpful in providing assistance in tasks related to optimization, inductive learning and the modeling of ecological system. Brain Goodwin Brain Goodwin is a professor of biology and is a member of the board of directors at the Santa Fe Institute. His major contributions are in the field of new biology as part of the exact science of complex system Characteristics of Complex Adaptive System The definition of complex adaptive system is different as it is employed in differed fields of science. Problems are solved with the help of complex adaptive system if they are categorized as having characteristics of a complex adaptive system. Here I present the basic characteristics of the complex adaptive system that can help in distinguished problems that can be helped with this approach (B & S, 2011). System Behavior There is not a single method that can control the behavior of the elements in the system. The overall behavior cannot be explained merely as the sum of individual parts. Influence of Change As the process of complexity is the relationship and interconnectivity of different elements in a system. Thus one of the main characteristics is the influence of change of one element on others but not in a uniform way. Connectivity The elements in the complex adaptive system are inter related and inter connected in such a way that the connection between the elements is strong enough to being the change collectively in the complete system or the environment. Sensitive dependence on different conditions The complex adaptive systems are sensitive to the initial conditions of the system. Changes made in the system do not influence the other elements in a linear fashion. Small changes can have a massive effect on the other elements of the system. Similarly a huge change may not result in any significant change on the other elements of the system. This type of relationship was found by the researchers in the weather reporting (Gell-Mann, 1994). Co evolution Co evolution is present when change in one of the elements bring evolution which results in change in another elements and series of changes that bring evolution in the system or in the environment. No equilibrium In 1989, Nicolis and Prigogine, proposed the radical idea that when a chemical or physical system does not work in equilibrium which makes the system work in a better way with favorable results. It is proposed that if equilibrium is achieved in the system, it may come to an end. An example of such a system is the steady heart beat in the human body. But irregularity in the heart beat interval is seen in children and in adults especially during physical activities. This shows that the complex adaptive system is a combination of regular and irregular changes. Aggregation of Model The study of aggregation of complex aggregative models is useful in the analysis of the system without the chances of any significant error. Weaver Model of Complexity Weaver is one of the first creator who considered complexity as an advancement and development of science. Considering his theory on General Frameworks the author has outlines nine levels of Hierarchy of Complexity, in which the level eight is the social organization which is closest to the present modern business driven structure. The Buckley article, considers his part much the same as an early pioneer in the field of advanced social framework, where he "elucidates the complex method for making social regard in environment described by a dependence on responding specialists cooperation’s, nonlinearity, and the ascent of both foreseen and unanticipated results of human exercises.”, developed his Viable Systems Model illuminating the sorting toward oneself out typical for some social structures. Relationship toward oneself is considered by a couple as an inside into normal complex adaptive system (Hodgkinson & Stenfors, 2013; Venkateswaran & Prabhu, 2010). Conclusion The complex adaptive system is the macroscopic collection of the inter-related and connected micro structures which are made to make the adaptation easy towards a changing environment and increase the survivability of the macro structure. This means that the organization should have flexibility in their every act and plan. The inter-related activities which make the organization as a successful business and build a profitable relationship should always be flexible and should have the capability to change according to the scenarios of the market, organization itself and certain other factors. The feedback of every individual maters and should always be encouraged so that the organization should prosper on individual levels as well. The strategies of the organization should have the capability to interact with each and other which shows that the organization is aligned with the effectiveness of the excellent strategies made. Every wing of the organization should have the adaptable nature where they can interact with each other and can commit the high effectiveness to develop the most out of the strategies and to get on the profitable levels. The complex adaptive systems have the characteristics that any element or sub system of the micro structure affects the other elements of the organization. Small changes in the input of any sub system or strategy can cause major effects on the entire macro structure. These systems are hard to identify because every sub system or micro structure is interacting with one and other to formulate the strategy where the members of the organization can deal effectively with the arising situations. These complex systems are made on the basis of their history. It means every organization needs their roots to grow upon the highest levels of the profitable business. Their history is responsible for what the organization becomes today. Therefore, the organization should always have a flexible strategy and the members should always be capable of making it easy for the entire business to understand, formulate, plan and act accordingly. References B, E., & S, H. (2011). Complex adaptive systems (CAS): an overview of key elements, characteristics and application to management theory. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22118334 Basu, C. (2011). Characteristics of a Charismatic Leader. Retrieved from Demand Media: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/characteristics-charismatic-leader-31392.html Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A., & Dennison, P. (2003). A Review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks. Centre of Leadership Studies, 1-44. http://business-school.exeter.ac.uk/research/areas/topics/leadership/outputs/publication/?id=29 Cacioppe, R. (1997). Leadership Moment by Moment. Leadership and Organisational Development Journal, 335-345. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/01437739710190648?mobileUi=0&journalCode=lodj Chan, S. (2001). Complex Adaptive Systems. Research Seminar in Engineering Systems. http:// arxiv.org/pdf/1110.4296 Galliers, B. (2013). Special Issue: Information Systems Strategy as Practice: Micro Strategy and Strategizing for IS. Journal of Strategic Information Systems. http://www.informatik.umu.se/digitalAssets/140/140906_peppard--2014-.pdf Gell-Mann, M. (1994). Complex Adaptive System. Complexity: Metaphors, Models and Reality. http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~mgm/Site/Publications_files/MGM%20113.pdf Hodgkinson, & Stenfors. (2013). Examining the Strategy Development Process through the Lens of Complex Adaptive Systems. http://eprints.aston.ac.uk/15832/1/SDP_and_CASs_JORS_3nd_RR_Final.pdf Jarzabkowski, P., Balogun, J., & Seidl, D. (2007). Strategizing: The challenges of a practice perspective. Human Relations, 5-27. http:// core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11304488.pdf Sentafe, e. (2015). Santa Fe Institute. Retrieved from santafe.edu: http://www.santafe.edu/ Venkateswaran, R., & Prabhu, G. N. (2010). Taking Stock of Research Methods in Strategy-as-Practice. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 156-162. http://www.iimb.ernet.in/~gprabhu/gnpbio.pdf Read More