Absa & IMD | Reimagining Banking with Africanacity

This technical note presents a comprehensive framework for achieving adaptive advantage, which is the ability to consistently evolve at a speed that surpasses environmental and competitive change. In today's rapidly changing business environment, characterized by technological advancement, AI disruption, geopolitical turbulence and climate shifts, organizations must adapt continuously rather than through periodic transformations. The note identifies seven essential elements that form an integrated system for adaptive advantage: capable growth-minded people; psychological safety and trust; small, semi-autonomous, cross-functional teams; clear mission ownership with outcome accountability; distributed decision-making authority; external and internal sensing with transparency; and lightweight coordination mechanisms. These elements are organized into three categories: foundation (people and culture prerequisites), operating model (how work gets done flexibly), and enabling systems (how information and coordination support adaptability). Through systematic analysis of six popular organizational models (Military Mission Command, Lean Startup, Agile/Scrum, DevOps, Team of Teams and Teal Organizations), the note reveals why existing frameworks fall short: Most address only three to five elements while leaving significant gaps, and organizations often implement them superficially without the deeper cultural foundations that make them work. The note explores the leadership and talent transformations required for implementation, emphasizing the shift from commanding to enabling leadership approaches. It also demonstrates why this framework is critical for successful AI integration, as adaptive organizations can evolve into human–AI hybrids that leverage the best of both intelligences. The note concludes with practical guidance for assessing organizational adaptive readiness and implementing the framework through a foundation-first approach.

With even the most seasoned investors growing uneasy, the analysts who foresaw the 2008 market crash share how they view the current state of the financial markets.

Big-name stocks dominate global equity indices, creating hidden risks for investors. Here are strategies to mitigate concentration and volatility.

The shadow banking system is back in the spotlight. Hedge funds and private credit vehicles are huge in size and their ties to banks have deepened to the point that trouble in that market could jolt the wider financial system, regulators are warni...

In April 2021, Sava oban, the newly appointed EVP of Intertech, faces a perfect storm of Turkey's economic crisis and the global scramble for tech talent. This forces him to confront an operational meltdown at Intertech, the IT subsidiary of DenizBank. The massive talent exodus results in a 60 turnover rate, which threatens to derail critical projects as Intertech is now competing with both local firms and global giants hiring remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. With traditional solutions proving insufficient, Sava proposes a radical strategy: pivoting from being a direct IT provider to an orchestrator of a platform ecosystem. The case challenges participants to map the practical steps necessary to build the ecosystem from the ground up by learning how to create trust with skeptical clients, internal teams and wary partners in the high-stakes fintech sector.

Working in silos is one of the biggest obstacles to digital success. The key to real digital transformation is to align the various business units in the organization. Here’s how to avoid the pitfalls.

Working in silos is one of the biggest obstacles to digital success. The key to real digital transformation is to align the various business units in the organization. Here’s how to avoid the pitfalls.

Learning new digital tools, technologies, and business models presents both short-term and longer-term challenges. Here’s a quick guide to the essentials of getting your people up to speed and beyond.

The average Chief Digital Officer tenure is short. Learn how to design the CDO role for success by aligning priorities, governance, and leadership from the start.

The tenure of a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is relatively short due to a variety of factors. To avoid costly mistakes, design the role around the four key actions below – but start by checking that everything is in place for your CDO to succeed.