Embedded Files
It takes an ecosystem to reduce poverty: A call for research on inclusive business entrepreneurial ecosystems
We are embedded in systems, and they are made of dynamic, interacting parts where new patterns emerge unpredictably. Outcomes are nonlinear, emergent, and adaptive. Recently, I was speaking to a group who asked me two specific questions, and I have been mulling over them for days now and decided to write this extended post, building on the talk. The first question was to share the path that led me to where I am and how I first encountered them as a group. With limited time allotted, I decided to speak the language they would understand.
I explained that a marketing system is an interaction between many parts, institutions, actors, processes, and activities (firms, consumers, channels, platforms, etc.). One broad intended outcome of their interactions is customer satisfaction. For example, a company may want to review its pricing objectives to identify the intended outcome. The clarification of overall pricing objectives is important if pricing strategy is to be effective.
Disruptions create unintended consequences. A disruption is an initiating event that can cause a sudden change in the system because these elements are interconnected. For example, if a factory shuts down due to a power interruption, the knock-on effects could include lost sales, reputational damage, and competitor gain. While the loss of sales and reputational damage are negative knock-on effects for the factory, the disruption creates a positive effect for the competitor.
Another example: intended outcomes of an influencer marketing campaign include awareness, sustained engagement, relevance, etc. Platform algorithm changes, an offhand comment, or rapid audience preference shifts are examples of triggers that can disrupt this intended outcome. The positive (emergent) knock-on effect could be unplanned virality, leading to broadened awareness. Positive feedback loops can amplify success through sharing and more user-generated content emerging. Negative (emergent) knock-on effects could be authenticity erosion, where the audience feels paid posts are staged, leading to reduced engagement and follower churn; overexposure, leading to diminishing returns; brand–influencer mismatch, leading to backlash and reputational damage (negative feedback loop), etc.
Moving on, I mentioned the world is principally made of two kingdoms: light and darkness. The kingdom of light, to which we belong, can also be usefully described as a system i.e. a set of interconnected beliefs, practices, institutions, and relationships that interact to produce emergent outcomes (disruptions causing positive and sometimes negative knock-on effects). However, the overarching intended outcome is to revealed Jesus and glorified Him.
Sure, you are curious about my answers to their two questions. Well, the path that led me to lecturing is an intended outcome, and there are unintended consequences with positive and negative knock-on effects. I first encountered them as a group meeting under a tree (negative knock-on effect?), but we bless God. I encouraged them to support one another, co-evolving dynamically, with the strong supporting the weak.
I concluded by encouraging them with Philippians 2:15: “…that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
I told them that whether they meet under a tree or on a rooftop, they should bear these three things in mind:
1. Always remember who you are in Christ—a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14).
2. Always act with integrity and live honestly (1 Peter 2:12, 19–23; 1 Peter 1:15–16).
3. You shine not by perfection but by obedience and faithfulness (Philippians 3:12–14).
I might one day write a book titled The Intended Outcomes, Unintended Consequences, because “yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
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