Organisations

5,269 organisations explored through the lens of biology. Every human institution - from corporations to central banks - demonstrates biological patterns in how they grow, compete, adapt, and sometimes fail.

Companies

5,108

Corporations, businesses, and for-profit entities

companies.json →

Governments

104

Sovereign states, subnational governments, agencies, regulators, courts

governments.json →

Intergovernmental Orgs

19

Treaty-based organisations: UN, NATO, WTO, EU, regional blocs

intergovernmental.json →

Monetary Authorities

20

Central banks, development banks, sovereign wealth funds

monetary.json →

Associations

11

Professional, trade, labor, and standard-setting organisations

associations.json →

Infrastructure

7

Exchanges, clearing houses, messaging networks, rating agencies

infrastructure.json →

Non-Profits

Coming

NGOs, foundations, charities, and mission-driven organisations

Entity Facets

Each organisation can be analyzed across three dimensions that reveal its biological parallels:

Accountability

Who does this organisation answer to?

  • Democratic - Voters (governments)
  • Member-states - Sovereign members (UN, NATO)
  • Members - Individual/institutional (associations)
  • Shareholders - Owners (companies, exchanges)
  • Technocratic - Mandate-bound (central banks)

Power Source

Where does authority come from?

  • Sovereign - Territorial control
  • Delegated - Granted by sovereign
  • Treaty - International agreements
  • Market - Network effects
  • Infrastructure - Essential services

Function

What does this organisation do?

  • Governing - Makes/enforces rules
  • Regulating - Oversees domains
  • Stabilizing - Maintains equilibrium
  • Coordinating - Facilitates cooperation
  • Operating - Runs infrastructure

The Biological Lens

All human institutions are organisations that can be understood through biological mechanisms. Just as organisms evolved solutions to resource allocation, signaling, and scaling over billions of years, organisations face the same fundamental challenges.

Common Patterns

  • Homeostasis - Central banks maintaining economic stability
  • Network Effects - Platforms growing through preferential attachment
  • Quorum Sensing - Consensus-based decision making in international bodies
  • Keystone Species - Regulators with outsized ecosystem impact
  • Path Dependence - Historical decisions constraining future options