Business Orchestration: Strategic Leadership in the Era of Digital Convergence

By Johan Wallin

Digital convergence is redefining industries, and putting information, knowledge and collaboration at the heart of strategic leadership and management. In the face of such change it is those leaders who can ‘orchestrate’ a complex network of employees, customers and suppliers in a single ongoing learning experience that will succeed. Exploring four learning roles for customers (information acquirer; explorer; performer; inventor) and orchestrators (conductor; architect; auctioneer; promoter), Business Orchestration provides a strategic view of how to harness digital convergence by mobilizing and integrating the resources of other companies to create business value.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Aug 4, 2006
• ISBN: 9780470032954

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Reviews for Business Orchestration

[pointedpundit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tomorrow’s leaders will be those who can coordinate employees, customers and suppliers to create value. As digital convergence disrupts business models, organizations and their management will be forced to adapt new strategies.Taking an inside-out, Johan Wallin, a consultant with Synocus Group, posits change requires the leader to assume the role of a business orchestrator. His or her goal: to nurture learning and creativity, which result in the skills needed to drive efficiency and innovation.This requires developing four operational capabilities:1.Generative – to secure the development of core resources.2.Transformative – to develop new offering concepts.3.Relationship – to foster value-creating customer interactions.4.Integrative – to form value constellations.Building capabilities require individuals to learn new skills:1.Information Acquisition – the inquirer knows what he or she will lean and how long it will take.2.Problem Solving – The result in known but the solution is not.3.Co-Experiencing – In creative industries where designers and customers interact within a known timetable.4.Insight Accumulation – a continuous process that bridge the gap from chance to serendipity.Wallin argues capabilities are built only if individuals learn. Thus, managers have to create both an intellectual and emotional context that commits individuals to learn for the benefit of the organization. He defines the combination of value creation and learning “orchestrated activities.” The leaders’ role is:•Conductor – information transmission and acquisition.•Architect – problem solving.•Auctioneer – co-experiencing.•Promoter – insight accumulation.In this readable book, Wallin offers interesting case studies to argue that in a world stressed with information overload and new technologies people will rely on individuals they know and trust for navigation. Their goals will be simple:1.Behave rationally.2.Minimize risks. Simple, challenging goals that require leaders to develop:1.New value constellations.2.Patience.3.Knowledge of and confidence in assuming an orchestrator’s role.Penned by the Pointed PunditJanuary 1, 20081:16:55 PM