Creating value in an interconnected world

Today’s world is changing at a faster rate and in more unpredictable ways than even twenty years ago. In a context of new technologies and the opening of world markets, new breakthroughs have followed one after the other, while global competition has become increasingly fierce. Given the speed and scale of these transformations, companies are no longer able to forecast well in advance the resources they will need to develop effective strategies, but must now be quick on their feet and able to adapt in real time to the changes they observe in their environment.

The selected authors point out that companies cannot create a lasting advantage by acquiring strategic resources, when they don’t know in advance what resources they’re going to need. They must learn instead to mobilize only the resources they require at the right time, especially since information technology has made it possible to find the knowledge, people and even raw materials one needs in record time, anywhere in the world.

To leverage these opportunities, however, companies must radically rethink their operating model in the following ways:

– Develop an extensive resource pool: Businesses must look beyond their own walls to find the knowledge, talent and resources they need.

– Attract the right resources at the right time: rather than trying to acquire all of the resources they might need, companies should make sure those resources come to them when required.

– Coordinate a network of external resources to maximize the value created for the business and everyone who contributes to it.