Emerging the Evolutionary Corporation in a Sustainable World: Toward a Theory Guided Field of Practice

Abstract

This chapter explores the emerging direction of business strategy as expressed by the theoretical construct of evolutionary advantage. It begins with a backward look at the major forms of business knowledge as they developed over the last century, turning subsequently to consideration of mainstream frameworks for strategic analysis, and offering, as a compelling alternative, the emerging notions of evolutionary development and it’s corollary, evolutionary leaning. Through application of the praxis known as Evolutionary Systems Design, it is shown how an organization may cultivate strategies for sustainable success. Such strategies, based on a redefinition of that which constitutes success, foster dynamics of organizational change that reinforce life affirming, future oriented and opportunity increasing patterns of change over positions of power for both internal and external clients. The implication, therefore, is that this theoretical framework forms the emerging basis for sustainable value creation in the context of twenty-first century organizational dynamics.