Business Interactions in ‘Open Systems’

The today’s managers do not operate only within their professional spheres, and their businesses are not limited to their own companies, for they are part of a larger system: other companies, cluster, region, ecosystem, country, and the world in general. The logic of open systems is the logic of interaction, joint decisions, and joint resources. Nowadays, it becomes more and more popular, as it allows both businesses and states to find answers to the challenges of the environment. Businesses can instantly ‘repack’ their solutions adapting them to the needs of their customers.

Companies join their forces to offer better solutions to customers, and it is not always possible to understand where the boundaries of each of them. Such open systems raise competitiveness to a whole new level: they quickly change their business models, set high standards, and manage customers’ expectations. Today, even a very simple product is the result of the interaction of many businesses.

The world is so interconnected that, for example, even a small company from Cherkasy with a strong ‘core’ and without any government support can become a partner of, let’s say, General Electric. It is profitable for large corporations to work with small partners: they try to strengthen their businesses with the help of someone else’s uniqueness. For small companies, the logic of open systems is profitable as well. In fact, to be a partner of a world-renowned corporation is to get an incredible chance for development.

The top manager’s task is to define and outline the boundaries of their business, opportunities and resources in order to see the room for their development, find their own place in larger system and reach a new level of interaction with their colleagues, companies, and the world. The key issue for a manager now is to determine what ecosystem they belong to and what role they play in it.

The Business Stage of the Book Arsenal Festival is an intellectual platform where top managers can concentrate their ideas and where the overall interaction enables understanding of the impact of management decisions on the partnership and cooperation with personal business contacts, companies, communities, and international partners.

All the discussions are based on new business books published, which are focused on the main theme of the Book Arsenal Festival. We are going to talk both about the organizational development of companies or the future of innovative business approaches in Ukraine and abroad, and about the personal development of the manager and new paradigms of thinking. We will try to understand and discuss the issues of coexistence and co-creation in the business environment, and to identify the main aspects and concepts of interaction in open systems.