The Nature of Chaos in Business: Using Complexity to Foster Successful Alliances and Acquisitions

Market globalization is changing the way companies do business. It is now necessary for businesses to use mergers, joint ventures, and research consortia if they want to stay competitive and increase returns. The problem is that venturing into such partnerships has a substantial failure rate. In many cases, failure is due to poor preparation, inability to manage conflict, and simply being overwhelmed by the complexity of the partnership issues. The Nature of Chaos in Business offers answers to why such partnerships fail and how successful partnerships can be fostered through the complexity and supposed chaos of the situation. Based on models of complexity formulated and studied at the esteemed Santa Fe Institute, this guide demonstrates how complexity in business, as in nature, eventually falls into patterns. Through the recognition and use of these patterns, today's businesses can leverage each other's strengths into powerful alliances. The Nature of Chaos in Business is a fascinating, cutting-edge treatise on the application of complexity theory in business. The "war stories" throughout the book offer insight and wisdom from the real-life experiences of some of the world's largest, high-profile corporations and individuals.

J. Garreit Ralls, Jr., Kimberly A. Webbpson