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CORE CONCEPTS: EVOLUTION AND SELECTION A strict definition of evolution is the change in the types and proportions of traits found in a particular population in response to selection pressures in the environment. For example, in high school biology, you may have read about the evolution of cheetahs whereby mutations occurred that allowed certain cheetahs to run faster. Actually, there were probably many, many random mutations over long period of time, some of which lead to increased muscle mass, stronger and lighter bones, increased oxygen transport processes in the blood, increased visual acuity, and so on. Those cheetahs who could run faster were more likely to live long enough to survive and reproduce (they had a higher degree of fitness for their environment), and consequently they were able to pass on the various "run faster" mutations. Said another way, the faster running cheetahs were naturally selected. It may be said that the "power" of a theory is how widely it may be applied for understanding and for solving problems. From this perspective, the theory of evolution by selection may well be one of the most powerful theories of the scientific age. Not only have biologists extensively developed this seemingly "simple" theory of evolution since Darwin first proposed it in the 19th century, but it has also been applied to many other areas as well, including business. For example, in business, different "species" would be different companies trying to survive in a business environment. The "traits" of each company include the products and services it sells, the cultural characteristics of the company in terms of its employees skills and work patterns, the organizational and information infrastructures, and so on. If the company's "traits" are suitable for a particular business ecology (i.e., if there is a high degree of fitness), then those traits are "selected" for, and the company makes money and continues to exist. Of course, if the company’s traits are not suitable (perhaps they were at one time, but conditions changed), then the company has a low level of fitness and those traits would not be selected for and the company could fail (i.e., go extinct). Some companies have R&D policies that foster "mutations" in order to increase the company's pool of traits--products and services--that they can offer. In general, the wider the range of traits an organism has—whether an animal or an "organizational organism"--the more adaptable the company will be if--when--environmental changes occur. Previous | Overview | Concepts | Terms | Next |
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