Page 48 - The Complexity Perspective 20 02 18

being a necessity in a hyper-competitive context. As a result,
organizational structures have shifted through at least three models:

● The traditional pyramidal command and control model

with thick system boundaries and embedded in a relatively
slow-moving context

● The network model of global outsourcing. In this model,
nodes in the network (suppliers, partners) can be ‘hot-swapped’,
added or subtracted to meet the shifting needs of the market

● The Ecosystem Model which is an enhanced network with
the customer included. Made possible by social media platforms

underpinning easy and very low-cost two-way communications
with customers this embedding of the customer dramatically
increases sensitivity to context and facilitate requisite

complexity (adaptation).

● The New Virtual Model of platforms that allows makes the
customer part of the offering creation and where the structure is
a few lines of code and services can be outsourced.

Accelerating Adaptation

In the discussion of Emergence, it is shown that the rate of
technological and related Emergence is likely to increase - possibly

dramatically - generating waves of change through the context making
disruption of business models the norm. Link this to the idea
of Requisite Complexity and the implication is that organizations will
be faced with acceleration in the rate of adaptation required at both

the task and system levels.

Some Implications of Accelerating Adaptation

The Explore - Exploit Problem

With the need to continually adapt and the probable acceleration of
contextual change, a root issue in business theory is being driven to

the forefront. The Explore-Exploit problem. First formalized by Cyert

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