Do you have a survival instinct? Leveraging genetic codes to achieve fit in hostile business environments

Lawton, Thomas; Rajwani, Tazeeb and Reinmoeller, Patrick (2012). Do you have a survival instinct? Leveraging genetic codes to achieve fit in hostile business environments. Business Horizons, 55(1) pp. 81–91.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.10.002

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S...

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 regarding 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 then 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 resources on how to manage successfully in hostile environments.

Viewing alternatives

Look up in Google Scholar

Metrics

Public Attention

Altmetrics from Altmetric

Number of Citations

Citations from Dimensions
No digital document available to download for this item

Item Actions

Export

About

  • Item ORO ID
  • 34930
  • Item Type
  • Journal Item
  • ISSN
  • 0007-6813
  • Keywords
  • hostile environments; genetic codes; organizational capabilities; strategic fit; coping strategies; strategic adaptation; biomimesis
  • Academic Unit or School
  • Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) > Business
    Faculty of Business and Law (FBL)
  • Copyright Holders
  • © 2011 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
  • Depositing User
  • Helen Cooke
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

Recommendations