Bioinspired Strategic Design: Nature-Inspired Principles for Dynamic Business Environments

Throughout the book, the authors provide organizational executives with a systematic framework for thinking about strategic decision-making in a hostile environment leaning on analysis of real-world cases to draw out ontologies and methods for guiding their teams through disruptions, change management, innovation, and process improvements.

Daniel Finkenstadt, PhD is a professional military officer and previously an Assistant Professor in the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Department of Defense Management offering courses in Enterprise Sourcing. Dr. Finkenstadt is the principal at Wolf Stake Consulting LLC and holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2020).

He has over 20 years of defense contracting experience in operational (base level), systems center, headquarters, joint, overseas and classified environments. He is also a graduate of NPS (M.B.A., 2011). His research interests are perceived service quality, value, business-to-government markets, professional services (knowledge-based services), non-traditional government contractor motivations. He was the founder and Principal Investigator for the new Simulation and Ideation Lab for Applied Science (SILAS) at NPS. He has published three articles in the Harvard Business Review, including the recent Jul/Aug 2023 cover article along with Dr. Eapen. He has published various works in the National Contract Management Association Contract Management Magazine, Defense Acquisition Review Journal, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, the Milbank Quarterly, and California Management Review.

Tojin T. Eapen, PhD is an innovation consultant, corporate educator, and practitioner-academic with expertise in idea management, creative artificial intelligence, and bioinspired system design. He is currently a principal consultant and head of the Global Innovation Center (GIC) at Innomantra. As an academic, he has taught at prominent institutions including the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business at the University of Missouri and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Throughout his career, he has successfully bridged the gap between academia and industry, providing innovation consultancy and training services to companies of all sizes, from small and medium-scale enterprises to Fortune 500 corporations, spanning diverse sectors. With a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MBA from the Indian School of Business, and a background in Electrical Engineering, he brings a diverse skill set to the table in his consulting and executive education projects.

Dr. Eapen has collaborated with renowned organizations such as Google, Samsung, ABB, KBR, Robert Bosch, NetApp, Qualcomm, Bureau Veritas, SKF, and Newell Brands, among others, delivering training and strategic guidance on innovation since 2010. He has shared his applied insights through platforms like Harvard Business Review and California Management Review, in addition to contributing to conferences like the Global Peter Drucker Forum and research outlets.