The evolution and revolution in information and communication technology over the past twenty years has driven and enabled a paradigm shift in the way, the scope and the speed at which companies interact with each other and do business. The business environment has never been so dynamic and interconnected as companies go beyond their organizational boundaries to make partnerships with allies and even competitors in order to gather the capabilities needed to be innovative and adaptive enough to prosper in the marketplace.

Relationships have become key resources for competitive success and thus a capital in itself. Very similarly to biological systems striving to survive in their dynamic environment, companies must show characteristics such as coordination, robustness, requisite variety and adaptability in order to leverage it.

Michael Porter’s idea of value chain need to be revisited from a higher perspective as activities are taken out of companies by gathering selected capabilities from third parties who in turn maybe gathering capabilities from other companies as well. It is more effective to look at a business operation as a network of value chains or, in other words, as an interconnected value system (Diagram adapted from Merali, 2008 - Business Transformation module).