Responsive Dynamics as the Source of Organizational and Societal Advantage

Contemporary studies must address the challenges of responding to abrupt events in highly dynamic and complex environments. We argue that decision structures and information processing capabilities enhance the ability of organizations and societies to respond effectively to the changing conditions for durable advantages. Sustainable performance arguably derives from interactive decision-making processes that deal with opportunities as they emerge informed by updated environmental analytics. The combination of experiential insights from decentralized responses and forward-looking reasoning at the center identifies a dynamic adaptive system of interacting fast and slow processes. The fast information processing observes local environmental stimuli whereas the slow information processing interprets these events and reasons about future developments. When the fast and slow processes interact they form a dynamic system that allows an organization or society to adapt gradually to the turbulent conditions. We apply the model of fast-slow interactions in organizations and societies as the key driver of sustainable adaptation.