Complementarity in Business Organisations- 20 Important Conclusions

The evolution of the concept of complementarity has generated multiple meanings at each of its many iterations. It has a foundation in quantum physics, based primarily on the debates initiated by the work of Nils Bohr, extended to wider fields of knowledge and experience, intertwined with a range of philosophical questions. And it has a foundation in economics based on the evolution of demand theory debated over time by economists such as Edgeworth, Pareto, Fisher, Hicks and Allen. From these many iterations it is possible to put forward a point of view whereby complementarity may be seen as the interaction of business strategies and management practices to produce coherent, aligned and mutually reinforcing systems and processes that give superior outcomes (such as shareholder value, profit, customer satisfaction, market share or cost reduction) over those that would occur if such strategies or practices had taken place independently of one another. It is where the complementary agency of those strategies produces superior results, where the relations of independent units or their evolution creates higher value than their individual operation. This final chapter will pull together the key points of complementarity in its business context through 20 key learning points, highlighting the benefits of taking a holistic perspective when considering the principles and definitions, areas of strategy, leadership, management, talent and engagement and the dynamics of organisations.