Metapopulation Dynamics
This enables simultaneous differentiation and integration.
Metapopulations are networks of local populations connected by migration. Local populations periodically go extinct, and empty habitat patches are recolonized by migrants from surviving populations. Levins' model describes equilibrium: patch occupancy equals 1 - e/c (one minus extinction rate divided by colonization rate). The metapopulation persists if colonization exceeds extinction (c > e). Source populations in high-quality habitat export migrants; sink populations in marginal habitat depend on immigration to persist.
Business Application of Metapopulation Dynamics
Organizations can be structured as metapopulations with different gene flow rates: core business (low migration to preserve adaptation), exploratory units (high migration to import variation), acquired companies (isolated initially, gradual integration), geographic subsidiaries (local hiring with limited headquarters rotation). This enables simultaneous differentiation and integration.