Fulmer, a senior fellow at the Harvard Business School, shows how companies in all fields, particularly companies in the technology sector, which operate in very chaotic environments, can learn to cope with volatility and uncertainty by borrowing strategies from biological models, especially those known as complex adaptive systems. He draws on the work of groundbreaking scientists to illustrate that the business world is a complex system, and that for a company to succeed, it must become adaptive in the biological sense.
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Fulmer, a Harvard Business School fellow, offers a roadmap for building an adaptive organization that is able to embrace constant change and thrive in today's highly competitive business world because of its flexibility, communication skills, diversity, and emphasis on collaboration and trust. Using biology as a metaphor for economic activity, he presents business as a complex adaptive system in which the future cannot be predicted or controlled. Citing corporate examples such as Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Netscape, Yahoo!, 3M, Disney, and Mercedes Benz, he showcases his thesis that all organizations are facing greater volatility and uncertainty and that there is much to be learned about coping with such a world from those companies that are already adapting to it. The author's three main sections consider landscapes (what is happening around us), learning (the root of adaptability), and leadership (driving the adaptive organization). His recommendations include adopting a flat pyramid management structure, creating a culture of professionalism and communication, and maximizing the use of the Internet. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
...an interesting and well-written book....Shaping the Adaptive Organization offers many ideas and insights which you can use on the job. -- Financial Post (Canada)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The changing face of business strategy,
By Michael E. Smith (Aumsville, Oregon) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Shaping the Adaptive Organization: Landscapes, Learning, and Leadership in Volatile Times (Hardcover)
While the coverage of some topics is slightly more cursory than I might consider appropriate, I have found this book useful in prompting new thinking about how we fashion strategy in the new business environment. This is an excellent book for anyone who has interests in the new understandings we are gaining in the sciences, and is wondering about how to apply the new thinking to shaping organizations, old or new. While one may question some of the corporations selected as exemplars, among the real benefits of this book is that the author steps far out onto the limb to suggest practices in current organizations that illustrate key points in the development of an organization that can thrive in the tumult of our times. I believe that this book is a must read for people interested in the evolution of business strategy.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful!,
This review is from: Shaping the Adaptive Organization: Landscapes, Learning, and Leadership in Volatile Times (Hardcover)
Author William E. Fulmer uses a biological analogy to discuss how organizations form and evolve in an environment that changes through co-evolution with other organizations. Organizations must be ready to learn, and need leaders who can help participants understand change and adapt to it. Though strategic planning can help, Fulmer emphasizes preparing for continual adaptation. His thoughtful, in-depth discussion draws on research from biologists, philosophers and various academic and business writers to create a biological model. He weaves in examples of businesses that have thrived or failed based on their ability or inability to adapt. When Fulmer veers away from his biological analogy, he starts to sound much like many of the other adapt-or-die prophets out there today, but nevertheless, we [...] recommend this solid presentation of a complex subject to executives, top managers and academics.
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