Citation:
Thomas Lawton, Tazeeb Rajwani and Patrick Reinmoeller, Do You Have A Survival Instinct? Leveraging genetic codes to achieve fit in
hostile business environments, Business Horizons, Volume 55, Issue 1, January-February 2012, Pages 81-91.
Abstract:
It is too easy to blame market turbulence or unexpected events for a company's
poor performance. Yet this is frequently the response of managers to
circumstances and activities beyond their immediate control. As a consequence,
managers and owners often fail to develop strategies for coping with challenge
or crisis the next time it occurs. The result is that many organizations are
doomed to repeat the same or similar mistakes over and over again in a form of
corporate déjà vu. To gain insights into how companies can better manage in
hostile environments, we consider the solutions that have evolved in nature over
billions of years. We trace nature's codes for adapting to hostile environments
and explore the underlying characteristics of four genetic code types that can
help business organizations to offset the negative implications of hostility
through ensuring strategic fit. We link the four genetic codes most frequently
found in nature with organizational capabilities. When correctly identified and
leveraged, these capabilities can enable a company to focus attention and
resource on how to manage successfully in hostile environment.
