Business Orchestration

Today's business world places great emphasis on capabilities. Yet what is often overlooked is that capabilities are only built if individuals acquire new skills, and this requires leadership to motivate them to actively learn for the benefit of the organization. A focus on capabilities therefore automatically implies a focus on the individual, and on how to nurture creativity in the extended enterprise. When learning is combined with value creation we call it Business Orchestration.

Into this melting pot we may now add digital convergence - the real-time availability of information via technological platforms. As convergence redefines entire industries, using its power for continuous learning becomes the new lifeblood of business - and collaboration the beating heart of strategic leadership and management. The new role of the leader in the era of digital convergence is thus to provide the incentives and contexts that enable Business Orchestration.

The leaders of tomorrow will be those who can orchestrate a complex network of employees, customers and suppliers in a single ongoing learning experience within the extended enterprise. Exploring four learning contexts and illustrating them with cases of well-known leaders including Meg Whitman, Pertti Korhonen, Linus Torvalds and Steve Jobs, Johan Wallin provides a strategic view of how to harness convergence by mobilizing and integrating the resources of customers and partners to create sustainable business value - Business Orchestration.