The Enterprise of the Future is a self-organizing, adaptive network of
knowledge entrepreneurs achieving mutual goals.
Such an enterprise must:
•
Quickly learn and adapt to changes in the environment
•
Find value where others can’t
•
Make enlightened business decisions
•
Quickly and effectively carry out those decisions
•
Measure outcomes and make adjustments
•
Continuously innovate – driving the changes in the market rather than vice versa
Building and growing an enterprise of the future means executing and continually
improving in the following four key areas:1
Definition and Framework
“Creating extraordinary value in an eight-billion-mind world”
Leading: by co-creating new business
ecosystems and strategies
Characterized by:
o
Cultural embodiment of core values
o
Anticipatory business intelligence
o
Enlightened business decisions
o
Adaptive strategy formulation
o
Agile execution
Outcome:
o
Sustained mission success
Creating extraordinary value: by designing
high-performance work processes and systems
Characterized by:
o
Strategic alignment throughout the enterprise
o
Creation and exchange of extraordinary value
o
Business model innovation
o
Streamlined, knowledge-enabled work and
decision processes
o
Key performance drivers are known and
measured
Outcome:
o
Sustained organizational performance
Discovering: by creating work
environments for continuous growth
and fulfillment
Characterized by:
o
A work environment that supports
leading a balanced and fulfilled life
o
A highly engaged workforce skilled in
systems thinking
o
Personal and organizational learning
and growth occuring synergistically
Outcome:
o
High levels of attraction, retention
and engagement
Connecting: by building a self-aware,
continually evolving infrastructure nexus
Characterized by:
o
Self-aware networks (knowing who knows
what)
o
Technology considered as a performance
enabler rather than an end unto itself
o
An evolving enterprise architecture built on
knowledge
o
Systems integration at all levels
Outcome:
o
Rapid response to “pop-up” problems and
opportunities
1This framework has undergone extensive validation and found to be consistently present in knowledge-based organizations (see Calabrese,
Francesco A., “The Early Pathways: Theory to Practice - A Continuum,” in Stankosky, Michael, ed., Creating the Discipline of Knowledge Management,
Elsevier, 2005, p. 15-50).