Radius 1 will be participating and contributing at the 10th GLOBAL PETER DRUCKER FORUM in Vienna, from November 21st until 22nd, 2019
The Power of Ecosystems – Managing in a Networked World
by Richard Straub
Ecosystems are everywhere, not confined to natural environments — increasingly, we see businesses, public sector institutions, and third-sector organizations all moving beyond their traditional operational borders and creating or participating in new, flexible, and adaptive networks of enterprises jointly pursuing ambitious purposes. There are the ecosystems of developers that have been mobilized by powerful tech firms such as Microsoft and Apple; the innovation clusters embedded in certain geographic ecosystems; and the legions of lean, agile organizations that have proliferated as large infrastructure builders provide robust platforms. Long before these recent developments, Peter Drucker recognized that complementary organizations and institutions together make up a “social ecology”— a complex adaptive system that is new and man-made – in which entities of all sizes and strategies interact and operate in an increasingly fast changing and complex environment. In today’s digitally enabled markets, Drucker’s concept of a social, business ecology has become full-blown reality. With a new “nervous system” provided by digital networks and increasing machine intelligence, pioneering players such as Amazon, Alibaba, Tencent, and Google — as well as long-established companies such as BMW, Haier, Novo Nordisk, and Rio Tinto — are engaging in the new leadership imperative to leverage sprawling commercial ecosystems.
