Network Creativity to Reduce Strategic Ambiguity in Turbulent Environments: a Viable Systems Approach (vSa)

In fast changing contexts, firms can benefit from the adoption of organizational configurations in which the competitive advantage is ensured by complementarity of resources and competences. When business viability and survival depend on innovation and creativity, it can be fundamental to participate in modular network organization that guarantee cooperative effectiveness and collaborative learning. A network approach characterizes competitive behaviours of creative firms that, thanks to the modular structure, are able to speed up, enlarge and transfer specific knowledge, producing systematic innovation. The success of competitive strategies depends on core competences and it is influenced by organisational structures, collaborative mechanisms of governance and integrated product processes. Strategic plans, with high creativity, require systems configurations to improve network relations. We refer to a concept of “innovative systematics” as an approach required by a creative network, in which each system’s component has to be proactive, contributing to collaborative and creative action. This paper analyses firms characterised by innovation and creativity in a process focused on strategy-behaviour-resources referring to the Resource Based View and Knowledge Management with the support of a conceptual framework based on the Viable System Approach (VSA) and on the Information Variety Model helpful for evaluating opportunities of creatively combining variety through a network based management approach. Keywords: Network, Creativity, Variety, Viable Systems Approach (VSA).