Exploring Complexity in Adaptive Systems

The assignment provided is an analysis of complexity in adaptive systems and its effect on business operations and functions. It draws from multiple sources, including books, journals, and online resources, to explore the concept of complexity leadership and strategic planning. The document discusses various perspectives and approaches to managing complexity, including theoretical frameworks and practical applications. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of complexity leadership and its impact on strategic planning in adaptive systems.

With reference to relevant
literature and theory, discuss
how adaptive systems exist
within your company

Table of Contents
TOPIC: ............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ESSAY ............................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4

TOPIC:
“With reference to relevant literature and theory, discuss how adaptive systems exist
within your company’s approach to strategic management. A case study of Spar.
INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is identify as the management of business's resources in order to
accomplish its objectives and goals. It involves evaluating the competitive environment, setting
objectives, analysing strategies and analysing the internal organisation (Baltaci and Balcı, 2017).
In simple word, strategic management is refer as a continuous process of monitoring, planning,
evaluating and assessment of entire that is essential and necessary for an enterprise to meet its
targets and goals. In this essay chosen organisation is Spar which is a retail industry in
Amsterdam, Netherlands. In order to prepare this essay, there are different themes such as
Approaches to Strategic Thinking Complexity Perspective, New Ways of Thinking About
Strategy Complexity Adaptive Systems and Modelling Complexity The Practice Perspective.
Main purpose of this essay is to identifying the impact of adaptive system on overall strategic
management of Spar as compared with other emerging and new trends.
ESSAY
Spar is a retail industry which was founded by the Adriann van Well in 1932 at
Netherlands. The company operates supermarkets and convenience stores in worldwide. This
company mainly specialise in selling of bread, vegetables, fruits, meat specialities, cheese, dairy
products etc. In 1953, Spar office opened in Amsterdam in order to control and develop the
business throughout Europe, Nigeria and many other countries. Spar operates their shops of
various sub-brands and types like: SPAR Express, EUROSPAR, SPAR Neighbourhood, and
INTERSPAR.
Adaptive system is also known as flexible system of an organisation that enhances its
performance by adjusting and monitoring its own operations and configuration in outcome to
feedback from its environment (Bode and Wagner, 2015). In addition, it is an effective system
that modify its behaviour abs activity in acknowledge to its surroundings. The adaptive variation
that occurs is much relevant to accomplishing a objective or goal.
Strategies management is more essential and significant for each and every organisation
as it gives accurate guidance and scope for the business in order to accomplish better outcomes.
It is essential in increasing the optimum use of resources to meet the requirements of market as
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well as expectation of stakeholder. There are different strategic concept which assist in strategic
planning industry. Porter's five forces framework, concept of competitive advantages and SWOT
analysis are identify as an effective strategic concept. Today, large number of business are view
themselves as strategic planning and complex system as a term of analysing their policies, vision
and mission.
Strategy is identify as the art of planning in order to gain benefits and accomplish success
within predetermined time period. It is an effective action that mangers of the Spar take to
accomplish one or more of the business's goals and objectives. It can be determined as an
accurate direction set for an organisation and its different elements to attain a wanted state in the
future (Cecchin, 2018). In addition, it is the blueprint of decision in business that shows its goals
and targets, decrease the key policies and design for accomplishing these objectives. There are
mainly two types of approaches such as deliberate strategies and emergent strategies which are
used by the Spar. These are determined as under:
Deliberate strategy is identify as a formal planning approach which show the vision of
organisation towards strategy planning in strategy management. It mainly emphasizes the
advantages of acting in international level. In addition, it is a formal based method to strategic
management where a business's objectives, goals and vision are articulated. In order to
implement deliberate strategies in successful manner, it need to fulfil three conditions. First
condition is that every component of strategy should be described in detailed and there should be
no ground of misunderstanding. Second condition to increase awareness among employees about
their duties and responsibilities for achievement of set targets. Third condition is to achieve
preset goals and objectives without any impact of external force.
Emergent strategy is identify as a pattern of action or activity that develops over time
period in an enterprise in the lack of a specific goals, mission or despite a goals and mission. It is
an effective process of analysing unexpected results from the implementation of business
strategy (Elmes and Barry, 2017). It is essential and effective for the Spar in order to take
accurate decision for success and development of business operations within predetermined time
period.
Both deliberate and emergent approaches to strategy have their advantages and
disadvantage. It is a role of company is to identifying the which approach is best for them to
achieving long term objectives and goals within predetermined time period. In Spar for
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example: the foremost approach to business strategy is deliberate method. This is because an
organisation mainly deals with retail sector and there are particular processes and system that
must be applied. This support all departments in the company understand precisely what to do to
achieve business success and customer satisfaction. The managers however, also implemented
emergent approach to strategy in improving client satisfaction or gratification by the application
of modern tools such as social media platform. It is more essential and important to interact with
clients and even organise survey to assist know better their requirements. It is significant for the
business entity in order to achieve better outcomes and improve their reputation at global level.
The above evaluation and example shows that no one enterprise can be perfectly
emergent or deliberate (Haines, 2016). Both strategies are essential and help an organisation in
achievement of their goals and objectives in given time duration. Thus, both type of strategy
approach are useful and valuable for the Spar to attract large number of customers by providing
quick and quality products and services at affordable price.
Complexity is mainly associated with the inter-connectivity or intricate inter-twining of
components within and between a system and its environment. In this organisation and
individual has power to take better decision for accomplishment of business goals and targets in
given time period. In Spar, business complexity is identify as an effective conditions of having
some interconnected and interdependent stakeholders, organisational structure and information
technology system.
Strategic thinking is identify as an essential process of planning that followed operational
planning, strategic planning and innovation in order to implement business strategies that have a
big possibility for success. In other words, it consists going outside the norm, asking how to
acquire ahead of the competitions, leaving conventions behind and understanding comparative
benefit. There are different approaches to strategic thinking which is mainly completed during
the yearly organisational retreat (Hickman and Silva, 2018). It dost not involves an individual but
like many other organisation in order to take accurate and proper decisions. This decision mainly
related with business development and success within predetermined time duration. In this Spar
use Key performance indicator with aim to analysing employees performance. It is identify one
of the approach for maintaining employees turnover and achieving better results within
predetermined time duration. This approach is also used to analysis worked and activity related
to business is do in proper time or not. Strategic planning and thinking are different yet both are
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essential and important for the development and success of company. Spar do well with a daily
basis planning activity but could develop strategic leaders and thinkers in the organisation. There
are different new ways of thinking related to the strategy which are determined as under:
Leader of the company often applied to do more evaluating of their current technology,
product, organisation and business model. There are different model that help an enterprise to
improve their way of thinking about strategy such as SWOT model, Galbraith STAR model and
design thinking (Liu and Li, 2016). All these are essential and important for the company to
innovate their business operations and strategy which is beneficial for them to attract large
number of clients and accomplish better results within predetermined time duration.
Encourage leaders of the Spar in order to set aside time duration along for strategic
planning or thinking at least monthly basis bot a weekly basis (Waddock and et. al., 2015). It is
the role of organisation to promote their leader so that they are able to guide and lead employees
to work on given time period. It will help in achievement of better outcomes and long term goals
and targets within predetermined time duration.
There can be many strategies to rule in the market. Strategies should be made after proper
market research and company should aware about its capabilities as well as lacuna's which are
needed to be improve after that company should make strategies. Company should focus in those
areas which are uncovered by other companies of same segment because opportunities will be
more in those areas and always focus on uniqueness which means how we can do different things
from others (Macías‐ramos and et. al., 2016). Company should always focus on new technology
which are not easily available in the market and our competitors can not copy it easily. For
strategy implementation area & income group of people should also be considered because it
helps in find out the cost of product.
Taste, preference and fashion should also be consider for the formulation of strategy
because through it company can know the existing pattern and behaviour of people and
according to that company will formulate its own strategy. Data analyses should also be done to
know the market pattern but business should be same of other companies. Before strategy
formulation company should know the competitors those who are already doing same business.
It always focus on better quality and fast delivery of services and quality of product should be
improve continuously but cost of product should be minimise so that company will able to earn
above average profits and always learn from the past mistake which has been already done.
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Demand of customers about product is also a important factor for strategy formulation and
company should focus on satisfy the customers by providing those goods and services which are
needed by the customers. Strategies are made for future so company should analyse the future
expectations of customers it means what things can be demanded by the customers in future and
company should able to fulfil the expectation of customers before there demand because its
variable factor.
Strategic thinking refers to the process that depicts the manner in which individuals thinks
about, evaluate, view and develop a future for themselves as well as others. It is a valuable and
effective tool that is applied by people to arrive at decisions which can be related to their
personal life or work. There are some approaches or ways to strategic thinking which are defined
below:
Broaden your horizons: More experience and ideas an individual is exposed to, the more
they are able to think strategically. It is required by employees of Spar to broaden their horizons
by working on different areas (Tovstiga, 2015). This will help them in gaining experience of
distinct subjects. Attending conferences and seminars is also the way that provides a chance to
individual to keep updated while also drawing on insights and experience of peers. This is one of
the way or approach that enable employees of Spar to think strategically.
Encourage others: Strategic minds are able to generate more better ideas. For this, it is
required by organisation to encourage employees and develop a culture within firm of thinking
strategically. The simplest way to encourage manpower is to start rewarding them. This will
enables them to think strategically.
Strategies play most important role for the success and growth of the company if
strategies are better than company will able to survive for the long period of time and will be
able to grab the market by creating monopoly in the market and continuous improvement in
strategies is also important for the success and growth of the company (Moore, 2016).
Complex Adaptive system modelling is a extremely simulation journals and
multidisciplinary modelling that serve as an innovative forum for original, peer reviewed papers
and top quality with a particular scope and interest limited to complex network based and agent
based modelling (Tovstiga, 2015). It is used by the Spar in order to modify their adoptive
system, thus, it is essential and important for the development and success of an organisation.
With the help of this system Spar easily attract large number of customers and maintain their
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reputation at large place. Beside this, participants at the organisation have come from different
divers disciplines such as physics, economics, archaeology, ecology and biology. Spar formed to
draw as well as create thinking over the different years in a various variety of different fields on
the problem of complexity. Maximum data regarding the formation of adaptive system in
organisation is includes different information such as process, product, activities, functions and
many other data.
It is an unique and effective system that is made of different agents and individual parts.
In a complex adaptive system agents and individual parts apply simple rules which is essential
and significant for the development and growth of an organisation. For example: Spar is a retail
sector that specialise in selling of grocery and many other products to the customers at affordable
price (Morecroft, 2015). In order to quickly provide product and service to the customer
company hire an agent. They help in promoting and selling business products and services to the
client in a systematic and quick manner.
One essential emphasis and focuses with complex adaptive system is on crossing of old
disciplinary boundaries. It is an effective and beneficial system for the Spar to the reductionist
and linear thinking that has ruled knowledge domain via since the period of Newton. The unique
discipline that has been dignified by proper application of digitalisation. Examples of complex
adaptive system are general in both the human and natural globe. In case of natural global,
brains, ecologies, developing embryos, cells, immune systems, and ant colonies all these are fall
under the class of CAS. On the other hand, In the human world, scientific communities, political
parties and the economy are identify main examples. All these are essential and significant for
the business to achieve better results and outcomes within predetermined time period.
Therefore a complex adaptive system is essential because in which a accurate
understanding and knowingness of the individual aspects that does not convey a proper
knowingness of the entire system of behaviour in automatic manner. In the Spar, this system is
complex in that they are ever-changing system of interactions and their effective relationship are
not aggregations (Otoo, Agapitova and Behrens, 2015). Thus, it is an essential and important part
for the growth and development of an organisation. In order to improve complexity in the
organisation company used different ways such as to communicate all information in an accurate
manner, provide accurate guidance to the employees to complete their work on given time
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period. Therefore, it will support the firm to attain their long term objectives and targets as well
as accomplish better results within given time duration.
Complex adaptive system refers to a field of study and resultant conceptual framework
for natural and artificial systems that defy reduction investigation. It provides conceptualisation
and framework for a class complex system and its resulting phenomena. Not withstanding
different variety factors that built a complex adaptive system, the complexity tends to
categorized in mentioned below forms:
Static complexity forms structural attribute of a system's complexity involving concept of
connectivity, details, variety, hierarchy and strength of interactions. This type of complexity to
a certain level is depended upon context as it seems to appear differently on micro versus macro
level scales and changes as soon as scope or boundaries of a system is redefined.
Dynamic complexity refers to complexity that is related to cause and effect procedures,
behaviour, fluctuations,stability, cycles and time scales (Poutanen, Soliman and Ståhle, 2016).
Complex adaptive systems is critically identified with the notion of behavioural change over a
fixed time frame.
Strategic thinking is important aspect which covers the manner in which people think,
assess, view and create the future for them selves others. It is considered as one of the effective
tool which help in addition of value in organisational activities. This aid the personnel of
organisation to arrive at important decisions in relation to personal and professional career. There
are many ways which aid in improvement of strategic thinking. In this regard, there are many
aspects which are required to oversee which includes recognition of symptoms and combination
of data which enables to get important information to take effective decisions which aid in
achievement of predetermined goals (Roberto and et. al., 2015). While making new strategic
ideas required to provide emphasis on actions also. The different type of actions which are
needed to consider in this regard includes making of determination of appropriate topic, taking of
attributable risks, calculation of reactions etc. All these actions aid in improvement of decision
making power through which desired results are achieved.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned information, it can be concluded that strategies management
is important for the organisation to maximise their operational efficiency. It will also assist to
maximise their profitability and market share within preset time period. There are two
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approaches to strategy such as Deliberate and Emergent strategies that support to the
organisation to increase customer satisfaction and maximise their profitability and productivity
easily. Therefore, complexity in adaptive system effect on business operations and functions in a
direct manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Baltaci, A. and Balcı, A., 2017. Complexity leadership: A theorical perspective. International
Journal of Educational Leadership and Management. 5(1). pp.30-58.
Bode, C. and Wagner, S. M., 2015. Structural drivers of upstream supply chain complexity and
the frequency of supply chain disruptions. Journal of Operations Management. 36.
pp.215-228.
Cecchin, G., 2018. Irreverence: A strategy for therapists' survival. Routledge.
Elmes, M. and Barry, D., 2017. Strategy retold: Toward a narrative view of strategic discourse.
In The Aesthetic Turn in Management (pp. 39-62). Routledge.
Haines, S., 2016. The systems thinking approach to strategic planning and management. CRC
Press.
Hickman, C. R. and Silva, M. A., 2018. Creating excellence: Managing corporate culture,
strategy, and change in the new age. Routledge.
Liu, P. and Li, Z., 2016. Comparison between conventional and digital nuclear power plant main
control rooms: A task complexity perspective, Part II: Detailed results and
analysis. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. 51. pp.10-20.
Macías‐ramos, L. F. and et. al., 2016. Membrane fission: A computational complexity
perspective. Complexity. 21(6). pp.321-334.
Moore, J. F., 2016. The death of competition: leadership and strategy in the age of business
ecosystems. HarperCollins.
Morecroft, J. D., 2015. Strategic modelling and business dynamics: A feedback systems
approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Otoo, S., Agapitova, N. and Behrens, J., 2015. A strategic and results-oriented approach to
learning for capacity development.
Poutanen, P., Soliman, W. and Ståhle, P., 2016. The complexity of innovation: an assessment and
review of the complexity perspective. European Journal of Innovation Management.
19(2). pp.189-213.
Roberto, C. A. and et. al., 2015. Patchy progress on obesity prevention: emerging examples,
entrenched barriers, and new thinking. The Lancet. 385(9985). pp.2400-2409.
Tovstiga, G., 2015. Strategy in practice: A practitioner's guide to strategic thinking. John Wiley
& Sons.
Waddock, S. and et. al., 2015. The complexity of wicked problems in large scale change. Journal
of Organizational Change Management. 28(6). pp.993-1012.
Online
Strategic Management. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/strategic-management.asp>
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