Strategy for a Networked World

During the 1980s and 1990s, Richard Normann and his colleagues developed an original approach to strategy, based on seeing value as inherently co-produced in systems. Their 'Value Creating Systems' approach was a strong contrast to the idea of 'competitive advantage' that defined strategy at the time. The approach focuses on the design of the 'offerings' that define relationships among co-producers, and which connect actors in fields which transcend traditional industry borders. In the contemporary networked world, where consumers become co-producers, the ideas Normann and his colleagues developed towards strategy are uniquely effective in explaining and guiding practice.

Strategy for a Networked World revisits and further develops these ideas. It is co-authored by two long-standing colleagues of Normann, Rafael Ramírez and Ulf Mannervik, who have successfully applied these ideas to their own consultancy practice. This book provides the theoretical basis for strategies of value co-creation, an accessible methodology and practical guidance, case studies of Facebook and the World Economic Forum, and examples of successful collaborations with organisations such as EDF, Scania, SCA and Shell.

Designed to advise strategists and business developers working in uncertain, complex and turbulent contexts, it is suitable both for practitioners and for academics, combining theory and the means to turn it into practice. It will also serve as a valuable contribution to MBA classes and towards the development of more effective business strategies.

Rafael Ramírez is Senior Fellow in Strategy in both the Saïd Business School and in Green-Templeton College at the University of Oxford, where he is also Director of the Oxford Scenarios Programme. Rafael is also a Senior Partner at NormannPartners, which he co-founded with Richard Normann, Ulf Mannervik, an two other colleagues in 2003. From 2000 to 2003 he was Visiting Professor of Scenario Planning and Corporate Strategy at Shell International in London, and he was Chairman of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Strategic Foresight in 2008–9. Rafael holds a Master's in Environmental Studies from York University in Toronto and a PhD from the Wharton School in Social Systems Science, having worked in the Management and Behavioural Sciences Centre while studying there. He moved to Paris in 1985 to work with Richard Normann, and in 1993 joined the Faculty of HEC in Paris, where he became full tenured professor of management. Rafael has worked on interactive strategy and scenario planning since the 1980s, and has acted as advisor to senior professionals and executives in organisations and firms in some 30 countries seeking to produce and design innovative strategies. In Oxford he co-directed the Strategic Renewal Research Programme carried out by Oxford academics together with European Patent Office and Shell International colleagues; and he has co-hosted four iterations of the Oxford Futures Forum. Rafael is a prolific author and lecturer — this is his 8th book, which builds on and furthers prior work, notably the book 'Designing Interactive Strategy' co-authored with Richard Normann, published in 1994.

Ulf Mannervik is a Senior Partner at the strategy consulting firm NormannPartners and an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. He originally worked as a painting artist for 10 years, and his interest in creative processes led him into business and design research. He met Richard Normann in the mid 1990s, and started to work with him on deploying design thinking in strategy. Since then, Ulf has worked extensively with international clients in strategy, innovation and technology development. He co-founded NormannPartners together with Richard Normann, Rafael Ramírez and two other colleagues in 2003, and has helped numerous executives to think creatively about the future and the business they are in, and to define what to do next. He has led many strategy and business innovation engagements, exploring new growth platforms for large global firms. He has also led Europe-wide initiatives on innovation policy formation. Ulf started to work with the University of Oxford in the mid-2000s as a researcher on strategic renewal in large firms, where he today teaches senior executives. He also teaches on innovation and strategy at other universities. Given his expertise in innovation and strategy, the Swedish Government appointed Ulf three times to serve on the board of the Knowledge Foundation, one of Sweden's largest research financing bodies. He earned an MPhil in Design Theory from Chalmers University of Technology, and an MScBA from both the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He lives in Stockholm.