NB. You should download this file to see all the slide transitions. Given at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship conference in Sheffield, UK, 2011. Represents a complex systems approach to sustainable economic development and introduces the concepts of the Fitting Enterprise and Persistent (SME) Players. It also introduces the use of the social brain hypothesis to SME research. This links goup size with brain size... read on. Contact me for more info.

1. The Fitting Enterprise.
A Model of Sustainability and Persistence
Peter L. Bond
Founder
Learning Futures Consulting
Wirral, UK.
An invitation to engage in a conversation with me
about
a complex (non-linear) systems theory and model of
enterprise development

2. Complex or nonlinear systems (Maturana and Varela
/Kauffman)
The Fitting Enterprise
Persistent Players
Supracritical networks of conversation
Niche construction theory
Social Brain Hypothesis relating to group size
Research?

3. Complexity is NOT a number phenomenon
THIS IS A COMPLEX SYSTEM

4. Supracritical System
Inherently unstable
Unpredictable behaviour
Uncertain outcome
Attenuated by production/presence
of subcritical (sub)systems
Subcritical
System? Subcritical
System?

5. The Fitting Enterprise
Interest in alternative regional economic development models
Sustainable development of new enterprises based on
local production and consumption.

6. Persistent Players
Conservation of the organism implies conservation of its niche

7. Persistent Players
Conservation of the organism implies conservation of its niche
Relationship is material
Conservation mechanism
is exchange of material/
energy
organism niche
Organism-medium (or environment) system

8. Persistent Players
Conservation of the organism implies conservation of its niche
Relationship is material
Conservation mechanism
is exchange of material/
energy
organism niche
Organism-medium (or environment) system

9. Persistent Players
enterprise activity established location
The Firmin Group Supply 1677 West Midlands
military
uniforms and
sundries
R.S. Clare Lubricants 1748 Merseyside
and other
surface
treatments
Heap and Partners Making and 1866 Merseyside
distribution of
industrial
valves
NOTHING IN COMMON EXCEPT SIZE???
stabilise at ca 60-100 employees

10. Persistent Players
Does conservation of an enterprise imply conservation of its niche?
Niche construction theory (evolutionary biology) Culture is the result of an
suggests the human niche is CULTURE. accumulation of practices
Relationship is based on with and without objects
exchange/transformation/ OR is an
consumption of practices, ecology of solutions-in-practice
IDEAS for solutions(?)
Conservation mechanism
is
CONVERSATION
enterprise culture
Conversations can
Conserve and CONVERSATION is
disrupt and disintegrate NOT
systems communication
it’s
COORDINATION
enterprise- culture
system

11. Persistent Players
enterprise culture
Supracritical
conversation
QUESTION.
Is the
PERSISTENT PLAYER
The subcritical (sub) system?
If so, what is the (supracritical ) system?

12. Supracritical networks of conversation and becoming a
Persistent Player
PERSISTENT
PLAYER

13. Network size and the Social Brain Hypothesis (SBH)
SBH (Robin Dunbar) —
correlation between (primate) brain size and maximum social network/group size
Homo sapiens MAX group/social network size is ca150
Hypothesis —language/conversation mechanism for maintaining relationships
and group/network coherence but there is a limit to its effectiveness even with FBk
Hypothesis—conversational networks can go supracritical
Hypothesis—Persistent Players persist because they are part of a coherent social
network of not more than ca150 and they form the subcritical system
HOWEVER—they appear to persist at around the 70-100 employees
MOREOVER—SBH pattern of social network stability points
7-20-35-70-100-150-

14. Dunbar’s Numbers?
7-20-35-70-100-150
Max
Family and Social Network
Sympathy groups Persistent size
Obstacle to Players
SME growth
(Christos
Kalantaridis
Bradford MS)