Business Transformation through the Creation of a Complex Adaptive System

Abstract

Successful business transformation has proven to be a complex issue. This paper proposes an ap proach to business transformation based on the emulation of systems in nature that have survived through masterful adaptation. Such systems, complex adaptive systems, are those which are able to adapt to a broad range of situations. This paper proposes an approach to understanding the steps that lead to the existence of a masterful complex adaptive system, through observation of different sets of dynamics that seem to characterize different types of organizations. In this manner, a system is pro posed by which business organizations may progressively transform themselves to become completely adaptable, and hence, masterful complex adaptive systems.