Alternative Organizations as Systems Hijacking: The Commercial Trust as a Thought Experiment

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Business Administration
• Organizational Studies

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has increased interest in alternative business and investment structures.
• Current understanding of how these alternative organizations can enact social change is limited.
• A significant transfer of wealth in global retail presents opportunities and challenges for community wealth building.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance understanding of how alternative organizations can transform social systems.
• To explore the potential of community wealth building in the context of retail sector shifts.
• To introduce and analyze the concept of "systems hijacking" for social transformation.

Main Methods:

• A thought experiment utilizing the analogy of a commercial trust.
• Conceptual analysis of "systems hijacking" as a mechanism for organizational transformation.
• Examination of the role of organizational governance in achieving systemic change.

Main Results:

• "Systems hijacking" is presented as a useful concept for understanding how alternative organizations leverage existing systems for new purposes.
• The analogy of a commercial trust can stimulate new ideas and critical reflection on community wealth building.
• Organizational governance is identified as crucial for overcoming limitations in existing organizational forms.

Conclusions:

• Alternative organizations can transform social systems through strategic leveraging of incumbent structures.
• Effective organizational governance is essential to ensure that borrowed or inherited forms facilitate genuine transformation.
• Community wealth building strategies require critical reflection and innovative approaches, particularly in light of major economic shifts.