Phyla
The highest-level branches of the animal family tree, each representing a fundamentally different body architecture. Phyla is the plural of phylum.
Biological Context
The major phyla include Chordata (vertebrates), Arthropoda (insects, crustaceans, spiders), Mollusca (snails, octopuses), and Annelida (segmented worms). Most modern phyla originated during the Cambrian explosion roughly 540 million years ago, when body plans diversified rapidly. Each phylum represents a distinct solution to the fundamental challenges of survival: how to eat, move, sense, and reproduce.
Business Application
In business, phyla are analogous to fundamentally different business architectures: platform companies, vertically integrated manufacturers, franchise networks, and marketplace models represent different 'body plans' for creating value. Like biological phyla, these architectures were mostly established during periods of rapid diversification and are difficult to change once set.