Co-adaptation and Co-evolution

A Complex Adaptive System (CAS) both reacts to and creates its surrounding environment. In other words, changes in the system both shape and are shaped by changes in the environment. Dynamic interaction/relationship between the system and its environment – in addition to dynamic interaction among the subsystems – take us from issues of simple adaptation and evolution to issues of co-adaptation and co-evolution. Schemata of CAS co-adapt and co-evolve with schemata of its surrounding environment.

That’s due to belief in co-adaptation that LTH, in line with the third mission of Lund University, has very close collaboration with its surrounding environment like industries/businesses, organizations, and society in general. New schemata (like strategies, regulations, technologies, and infrastructures) of the surrounding environment influence the schemata of LTH. On the other hand, the schemata of LTH also influence those of its surrounding environment.
That’s why education and research at LTH is both theoretical and practical (applicable by surrounding environment). We follow the seal of the Lund University; "Ad utrumque: Prepared for both"! It has also been formulated by university as: Förstå (Understand), Förklara (Explain), and Förbättra (Improve)! Our understandings, explanations, and improvements at LTH both change and are changed by those of our surrounding environment.

However, increasing the diversity of collaboration may open the doors to co-evolution. Diversity can happen by: collaboration with different types of industries/businesses and organizations; horizontal collaboration with different universities; collaboration with different types of people; and collaboration at different local, regional, national, continental, and global levels. The art is to make an optimal diversity and collaboration among resources, courses, and research groups/projects.

Changes in the supply chains also both shape and are shaped by changes in the surrounding environments. Surrounding may relate to natural-, organizational-, business-, or social environments. Supply and demand for goods and services in the surrounding environments shape the supply chains. Supply chains are also shaped by available infrastructures, technologies, resources, as well as surrounding natural environments. On the other hand, changes in supply chains like launching new products and services re-shape the existing surrounding environments.

The new schemata for governing sustainable supply chains should encourage adaptation of emerging sustainability oriented technologies, norms, and behavior. Sustainability schemas of supply chains co-adapt and co-evolve with increasingly emerging clean- technologies, services, infrastructures, and regulations.

Adaptation

Some complex systems, in addition to the previous properties, have also property of adaptation. Complex Adaptive Systems are self-organizing systems which learn to adapt to changes in circumstances. They are pattern seekers which interact with their environment, learn from their experience, and then adapt; they do not respond passively to events. In other words, they can anticipate the future by learning from past patterns in time.
For being adaptive, some of the agents of the complex systems must have the property of agency (the ability to act according to certain values, rules or norms (schemata) and interact meaningfully in the course of events). Agents react to changes in their environment simultaneously as they create their local surroundings.

In context of LTH, its agents (like researchers, students, staffs, and other stakeholders) should also learn the schemata of the faculty membership. Although the agents should have optimal freedom to self-organize and think out of the box, they should also harmonize them by the schemata (values, norms, and strategies) of LTH. On the other hand, LTH must also harmonize its schemata by changing needs of its agents.

Supply chains are also Complex Adaptive Systems as they have some components with characteristics of agency (like intelligent- resources (humans, machineries) and goods). The agents have also schemata (norms, values, beliefs, and assumptions that are shared among whole of the system) and are in connection (interrelationships) with other agents. Existing rules, regulations, and schemata help the agents to act more predictably and cybernetically. However, giving more freedom and higher degree of autonomy to the agents increases the probability of the emergence of innovative properties. Supply chains redesign and restructure their strategies and operations, respectively by learning from emerging patterns of trends, technologies, and supporting infrastructure.
The first lesson for governing sustainable supply chains is to increase its agency characteristics. The agents can intelligently process and analyze the information and learn from the events without a controller. The second lesson is to define simple top-down sustainability oriented schemata (regulations, rules, policies, and norms) while letting the bottom-up innovative self-organized and adapted schemata emerge also. For example, freight transport and distribution must have the flexibility to self-organize themself while transferring and adapting supply chains sustainability schemata. Another lesson is to consider the different requirements of different industries and markets in the regulations. In other words, one shoe does not fit all; i.e. one regulation or standard cannot be suitable for different types of industries or markets.

Last but not least do not forget that adaptation takes time! Although innovation can be radical, adaptation of new technologies as well as change of behavior are just incremental.

The new year's resolution (Nyårslöfte)

Dear reader of this blog;

Happy new year!
One of my this year's resolutions (årslöften) is to update this blog regularly. I promise to do so especially for those who are not still heartily persuaded that sustainable development of complex systems call for a complexity theory perspective.

I am really grateful for your feedback and comments ...
Next: Adaptation

Evolution

Some complex systems have two other very important characteristics: evolution and adaptation. These two are briefly explained in this and next posts, respectively. In future posts, Co-evolution and Co-adaptation and their embodiment in context of LTH as well as supply chains will be described.

Evolution, in general, is defined as a process of gradual and progressive change or development over time. Evolution is change of complexity and adaptation of complex systems in time. For me, evolution is the loveliest characteristic of complex systems where an inception starts. Based on what I have understood till now, evolution has originated from discipline of biology with belief in two generating mechanisms; natural selection and genetic drift. For sake of simplicity, I just exemplify some dimensions of natural selection which may help a complex system like LTH to evolve (I have adopted the principles from http://necsi.edu/):

1) Variation in species: This may relate to existence of optimal diversity of/at departments and divisions. Diversity should be in humans (for example students, researchers, and personnel) and their skills, research areas, research projects, courses and programs, etc.

2) Organisms produce more offspring than actually survive: There should be enough students and researchers in all levels from bachelor to professorship.

3) Organisms must struggle to survive: The organisms, like agents or departments at LTH, must be provided with enough resources and facilities. In addition, agents should also themselves struggle to earn resources like money; projects; contact with other faculties, universities, and industries; etc.

4) Some variations allow members of a species to survive and reproduce better than others: The agents, like departments or divisions, should train their students and personnel in a way to prepare them for surviving, like finding or creating jobs, after graduation.

5) Organisms that survive and reproduce pass their traits to their offspring, and the helpful traits gradually appear in more and more of the population: The senior researchers and graduate students must share and transfer their knowledge and experience with junior researchers and undergraduate students in time.

All the above mentioned dimensions provide opportunities for evolution in supply chains as well. Some examples inspired from the above principles can be as follow:

1) Variation in supply chain resources (both tangible and intangible);
2) Back up from upstream agents of the chain like dual sourcing than single one;
3) Optimal expanding and diversification of the downstream links like entering the new markets or creating new demands;
4) Shifting from supply chain view to value network view;
5) Translating markets’ values for each type of chain in the network.

Supply chains have tremendously evolved since their existence. Developing from traditional transport links to logistics and distribution and then combination with marketing and production are all evidence of evolution in supply chains. Supply chains have also faced with revolution in their evolution. For example, Industrial- and Information revolution as well as globalization (by introduction of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and its successor, WTO (World Trade Organization)) have tremendously affected evolution of supply chains.
In my current standpoint, I do believe that there is not naturally any guaranty for sustainable development in complex systems. What we can do is to make and run semi-sustainable strategies and operations, respectively which may show a pattern of emergent sustainability in both short- and long-terms. If we succeed to gradually develop while sustaining the system in the long term then we can open the door towards evolutionary sustainability. The role of a leader for sustainable development is to navigate the system in the direction towards emergence of evolutionary sustainability.

Emergence

Emergence is another fundamental characteristic of complex systems.

It relates to capability of complex systems to show macroscopic properties which are distinct from microscopic properties of each agent (sub-system) of the system. In other words, we cannot understand the characteristic of the whole system by just looking at characteristic of each sub-system. The main reason is dynamic change of structures and interconnections/ relationships/ behavior of sub-systems.

Both complicated and complex systems show emergent properties. The former ones have predetermined while the later have semi-determined or non-determined characteristics.
A good example of emergence in a complicated system is different characteristics of Graphite and Diamond while both are constituted from Carbon. Interconnections of Carbon atoms in Graphite make it soft and dark while other interconnections of the same atoms in Diamond make it hard and clear. Isn’t it surprising?
A good example of emergence in complex systems is different characteristics of faculty of engineering (LTH) at Lund University than individual or collective characteristics of its departments and division. Some divisions may not have engineering or technological characteristics while are very important for emergence of such characteristics at the LTH in whole.

That’s due to belief to emergence that humans turn to families and societies, birds to flocks, ants to colonies, fish to shoals, mammals to herds, bees to swarms, etc.
By analogy, focal companies/enterprises/organizations have figured out that the values in different markets would be fulfilled just if they look at whole of the supply chain or network. Surprisingly, when they take the holistic view to whole of the chain or network the values can better be fulfilled even if some agents (sub-systems) of the chain or network in some occasions show other values (characteristics).
Due to existence of emergence in complex systems, like supply chains, their sustainable development call for a holistic, instead of reductionist, approach. The whole system can develop and evolve sustainably when both the design (statics) and operations (dynamics/interrelations) of each agent show a pattern of sustainability. Even if several partners or parts of supply chain – which are becoming more global – are sustainable, the whole is still unsustainable.
The role of a strategist for sustainable development is to arrange the statics and dynamics of the system in a way that desirable outcome be emerged both in short- and long terms.

Self-organization

Self-organization is one of the fundamental characteristics and themes of a complex system.

It relates to ability of a complex system to spontaneously arrange its components and their interactions into a sustainable, global structure that tries to maximize overall fitness, without need for an external or internal controller (inspired from Kauffman, 1995).

This is the main reason that new methods of governing complex systems suggest that the agents (sub-components) should be supported - although I love to call it persuaded - instead of forced or obligated. It is also the fundamental of bottom-up, in addition to top-down, policy or decision making.
That’s due to the belief to self-organization that, for example at Lund University, supervisors set aside optimal flexibility to their students to navigate in their research; or the head of the faculty delegates the power to each department and division.
By analogy, democratic governance and policy making requires delegation, distribution, and decentralization of power.

Thanks to self-organization, complex systems and their complicated or complex agents (sub-components) are able to spontaneously generate new internal structures and forms of behavior. Due to self-organization, the whole system can move toward innovation, adaptation, and evolutionary sustainability. For a system to self-organize, it must be open, flexible, communicating, and dynamic.

Capability of complex systems, like supply chains, to self-organize makes me optimistic to the feasibility of their sustainable development. This calls for generating a self-organizing economy where a global pattern of corporate social responsibility be emerged.

Complex Supply Chains and Sustainable Development

Based on the last post, supply chain is a complex system because:

1) It constitutes of several heterogeneous components (agents) which are usually referred to ‘supply chain design’ or ‘supply chain statics’.
Such components can be focal companies, suppliers, customers (B2B and B2C), distribution centers (terminals, hubs, consolidation centers, etc.), warehouses, retailers (outlets), transport actors, logistics service providers, resources (both tangible and intangible), goods (materials, packages, inventories, products, etc.), humans, and so on.

2) There are tremendous interactions among its components (agents) which are usually referred to ‘supply chain operations’ or ‘supply chain dynamics’. Interactions create flows in the chain, namely flows of information, goods (including packages), resources, and money.
Due to dynamic, diverse, and nonlinear interactions, supply chain (s) is (are) preferably called supply network (s). Due to such interactions, demarcation of / defining border for the system is very difficult.

3) Each sub-component (sub-agent) of supply chain components (agents) is a complex system by itself which may have an attribute of complexity or just complication (I will explain the difference of these attributes in another post).
For example, a focal company is by itself a complex system. It may constitute of several assembly lines, work stations, resources (staffs, tools, assets …), departments, and so on and so forth.

4) It may respond to different markets in different ways. Because of different values in different markets, different action/reaction strategies are required. Values can be time, cost, quality, environmentally friendliness, etc.

As supply chain is a complex system, its sustainable development call for complexity thinking. In whole of my PhD program, I will do my best to preserve my complexity glasses on my eyes when I study sustainable development of supply chains and packaging logistics.

For the integration of sustainable development into supply chain management to become reality, models and perspectives in which comprehension, not elimination or reduction, of the emergent complexity needs to be explored, developed, and used.
Concluding, there is great need for models and frameworks that consider the complexity and paradoxes involved, take holistic perspectives, and challenge the basic assumptions underlying most of the research published (i.e. reductionism, positivism and economic growth).