How Indian companies have faced Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity Failure in itself is not a catastrophe, but failure to learn from failure, definitely is. It is not enough to merely train leaders in core competencies, without identifying the key factors that inhibit their use. Rather, it is resilience and adaptability that are vital in order to distinguish potential leaders from mediocre managers. Authors Suhayl Abidi and Dr Manoj Joshi bring to readers The VUCA Company (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), the first of its kind in India, on original case studies of 12 Indian corporate failures, since the time of economic liberalization. Each study has been the result of meticulous research over the years and provides insights into behavioural and systemic aspects of failures and under-performance. Through these engaging corporate stories, VUCA discusses how individuals and organizations can avoid, minimize and recover from failures. SUHAYL ABIDI is a practitioner of Organizational Learning & Knowledge Management. He has spent the last 25 years with organizations such as Penguin Publishing, The British Council, Reliance Industries, Essar and Piramal Healthcare. DR MANOJ JOSHI, PhD (Strategy), Fellow Institution of Engineers India, is a Professor – Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Amity Business School. He is the Asia Editor for the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Regional Editor, India for the Journal of Family Business Management.

This open access book brings together works by specialists from different disciplines and continents to reflect on the nexus between leadership, spirituality and discernment, particularly with regard to a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). The book spells out, first of all, what our VUCA world entails, and how it affects businesses, organizations, and societies as a whole. Secondly, the book develops new perspectives on the processes of leadership, spirituality, and discernment, particularly in this VUCA context. These perspectives are interdisciplinary in nature, and are informed by e.g. management studies, leadership theory, philosophy, and theology.

Dedicated to Professor Peter Buckley, OBE, this volume of Progress in International Business Research explores the new challenges for MNEs, SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) and INVs (International New Ventures) emerging from this changing and increasingly unpredictable political, economic, social and technological VUCA world.

This book examines volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) and addresses the need for broader knowledge and application of new concepts and frameworks to deal with unpredictable and rapid changing situations. The premises of VUCA can shape all aspects of an organization. To cover all areas, the book is divided into six sections. Section 1 acts as an introduction to VUCA and complexity. It reviews ways to manage complexity, while providing examples for tools and approaches that can be applied. The main focus of Section 2 is on leadership, strategy and planning. The chapters in this section create new approaches to handle VUCA environments pertaining to these areas including using the Tetralemma logics, tools from systemic structural constellation (SySt) approach of psychotherapy and organizational development, to provide new ideas for the management of large strategic programs in organizations. Section 3 considers how marketing and sales are affected by VUCA, from social media’s influence to customer value management. Operations and cost management are highlighted in Section 4. This section covers VUCA challenges within global supply chains and decision-oriented controlling. In Section 5 organizational structure and process management are showcased, while Section 6 is dedicated to addressing the effects of VUCA in IT, technology and data management. The VUCA forces present businesses with the need to move from linear modes of thought to problem solving with synthetic and simultaneous thinking. This book should help to provide some starting points and ideas to deal with the next era. It should not be understood as the end of the road, but as the beginning of a journey exploring and developing new concepts for a new way of management.

This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company’s advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today’s world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out. The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.

In this book, experts discuss whether volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) represent a challenge or a business opportunity. More intense debates on global climate change, increased turbulence in financial quarters, increased job insecurity and high levels of stress at the workplace are attracting attention in the context of organization behavior and entrepreneurship. Fear and confusion have become part and parcel of business, often undermining trust, cooperation and inspiration. As a response, a new way of organizing self-management has emerged. The book combines practical wisdom from East and West, to develop integrative self-management theory and practice; provides direction to support an integrative mind-set, integrative organization and integrative leadership; and presents VUCA as an opportunity and necessity for development and growth, rather than a threat.

We are now living in a world of constant change and disruption. We can either see the world as a hurdle to or a limitless resource to engage, stimulate, and cultivate our imagination. In a globally networked world, information is getting easier and easier to access. What you actually do with that information is the new challenge. Leaders do the thinking and others execute. Organized training is not keeping pace with the demands of the workplace. On one hand, the shelf life of skills set is getting shorter and these may get obsolete fast. On the other hand, new careers are spawning which were not on the horizon a couple of years back. What is the way out for a leader, an executive or even a professional to remain relevant to workplace demands of the present as well as prepare for the future? The answer to all these questions is The VUCA Learner: Future-proof Your Relevance. As the world grows more complex and uncertain, opportunities for people with critical thinking, innovation and imagination are on the rise. Organizations are only as good as the people they employ. To stay relevant and grow in this unforgiving business environment, one needs to develop a learning mindset, where continuous lifelong learning becomes a daily habit, to let go of the old and become agile, adaptable and resilient. This book will showcase the various sources and methods for self-learning. Whether you are a fresher or a CEO, you must develop the learner’s mindset, scan the business environment for green shoots of opportunities, regularly conduct a skills gap analysis and use all the tools available to continuously reinvent yourself to be ready for new episodes in career. This book is a roadmap to making you future-ready!