An Enterprise Complexity Model

Abstract

In this chapter, the author proposes an enterprise complexity model (ECM), which is visualized as a methodology to achieve the distributed governance of an ecology of evolving enterprises. Governance is understood as guiding the enterprises self-organization towards policies creating, regulating, and producing products and services for society. Self-organization is grounded in the communications and interactions of stakeholders. The purpose of an ECM model is not institutional development but guiding, enabling and facilitating interactions of all kinds with the support of current and disruptive technologies to increase society's requisite variety to deal with social, ecological, and economic challenges. An enabling context helps the branching of the enterprises' creativity into all kinds of innovations, forms of coordination, and operational alignment of their interests. Quality of life, fairness, and social justice are the values driving this ecology of enterprises towards a deeper and wider appreciation of issues of social concern.