Synergy (from the
Greek , meaning working together) is the term
used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate
advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that
the whole is greater than the
sum of the individual parts.
Although the whole will be greater than each individual part, this
is not the concept of synergy. If used in a business application it
means that teamwork will produce an overall better result than if
each person was working toward the same goal individually.
The word and concept itself was 'invented' by
R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) and
included numerous patents of his Synergetic
geometry. It quite literally filled the space
missing for an opposite of the concept
entropy. Hence it was perhaps more of a 'discovery'
etymologically speaking.
- A dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the
difference of individual component actions.
- Behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their
parts taken separately. More accurately known as emergent behavior.
- The cooperative action of two or more stimuli or drugs.
Drug synergy
Drug synergism occurs when
drugs can interact
in ways that enhance or magnify one or more effects, or side
effects, of those drugs. This is sometimes exploited in combination
preparations, such as
codeine mixed with
acetaminophen or
ibuprofen to enhance theaction of codeine as a
pain reliever. This is often seen with recreational drugs, where
5-HTP, a serotonin precursor often used as an
antidepressant, is often used prior to, during, and shortly after
recreational use of
MDMA as it allegedly
increases the "high" and decreases the "comedown" stages of MDMA
use (although most anecdotal evidence has pointed to 5-HTP
moderately muting the effect of MDMA). Other examples exclude the
use of
cannabis with
LSD, where the active chemicals in cannabis enhance the
hallucinatory experience of LSD use.
Negative effects of synergy are a form of
contraindication, which for instance can be
if more than one depressant drug is used that affects the
central nervous system (CNS), an
example being
alcohol and
Valium. The combination can cause a greater reaction
than simply the sum of the individual effects of each drug if they
were used separately. In this particular case, the most serious
consequence of drug synergy is exaggerated
respiratory depression, which can be
fatal if left untreated.
Pest synergy
Pest synergy would occur in a
biological
host organism
population where, for example, the introduction of
parasite A may cause 10% fatalities, and parasite B
may also cause 10% loss. When both parasites are present, the
losses would normally be expected to total less than 20%, yet in
some cases, losses are significantly greater. In such cases it is
said that the parasites in combination have a
synergistic
effect.
Toxicological synergy
Toxicologic synergy is of concern to the public and regulatory
agencies because chemicals individually considered safe might pose
unacceptable health or ecological risk when exposure is to a
combination. Articles in scientific and lay journals include many
definitions of chemical or toxicologic synergy, often vague or in
conflict with each other. Because toxic interactions are defined
relative to the expectation under "no interaction," a determination
of synergy (or antagonism) depends on what is meant by "no
interaction." The
United States
Environmental Protection Agency has one of the more detailed
and precise definitions of toxic interaction, designed to
facilitate risk assessment. In their guidance documents, the
no-interaction default assumption is dose addition, so synergy
means a mixture response that exceeds that predicted from dose
addition. The EPA emphasizes that synergy does not always make a
mixture dangerous, nor does antagonism always make the mixture
safe; each depends on the predicted risk under dose addition.
For example, a consequence of pesticide use is the risk of health
effects.
During the registration of pesticides in the US
exhaustive
tests are performed to discern health effects on humans at various
exposure levels. A regulatory upper limit of presence in
foods is then placed on this pesticide. As long as residues in the
food stay below this regulatory level, health effects are deemed
highly unlikely and the food is considered safe to consume.
However in normal agal practice it is rare to use only a single
pesticide. During the production of a crop several different
materials may be used. Each of them has had determined a regulatory
level at which they would be considered individually safe. In many
cases, a commercial pesticide is itself a combination of several
chemical agents, and thus the safe levels actually represent levels
of the mixture. In contrast, combinations created by the end user,
such as a farmer, are rarely tested as that combination. The
potential for synergy is then unknown or estimated from data on
similar combinations. This lack of information also applies to many
of the chemical combinations to which humans are exposed, including
residues in food, indoor air contaminants, and occupational
exposures to chemicals. Some groups think that the rising rates of
cancer, asthma and other health problems may be caused by these
combination exposures; others have other explanations. This
question will likely be answered only after years of exposure by
the population in general and research on chemical toxicity,
usually performed on animals. Examples of pesticide synergists
include
Piperonyl butoxide and
MGK 264.
Human synergy
Human synergy relates to humans. For example, say person A alone is
too short to reach an
apple on a
tree and person B is too short as well. Once person B
sits on the
shoulders of person A, they are
more than tall enough to reach the apple. In this example, the
product of their synergy would be one apple. Another case would be
two
politicians. If each is able to
gather one million votes on their own, but together they were able
to appeal to 2.5 million voters, their synergy would have produced
500,000 more votes than had they each worked independently. A
song is also a good example of human synergy,
taking more than one musical part and putting them together to
create a song that has a much more dramatic effect than each of the
parts when played individually.
A third form of human synergy is when one person is able to
complete two separate tasks by doing one action. For example, if a
person was asked by a
teacher and his
boss at work to write an
essay on how he could improve his work, that would be
considered synergy. Or, a more visual example of this synergy is a
drummer while he's drumming, using four
separate
rhythms to create one
drum beat.
Synergy usually arises when two persons with different
complementary skills cooperate.The fundamental example is
cooperation of
men and
women in a couple. In business, cooperation of people
with organizational and technical skills happens very often. In
general, the most common reason why people cooperate is it brings a
synergy. On the other hand, people tend to specialize just to be
able to form groups with high synergy (see also
division of labor and
teamwork).
Example: Two teams in System Admin working together to combine
technical and organizational skills in order to better the client
experience, thus creating synergy.
Corporate synergy
Corporate synergy occurs when corporations interact congruently.A
corporate synergy refers to a financial benefit that a
corporationexpects to realize when it merges with or acquires
another corporation.This type of synergy is a nearly ubiquitous
feature of a corporate acquisitionand is a negotiating point
between the buyer and seller that impacts the finalprice both
parties agree to. There are three distinct types of corporate
synergies:
Revenue
A revenue synergy refers to the opportunity of a combined corporate
entity to generate more revenue than its two predecessor stand
alone companies would be able to generate. For example, if company
A sells product X through its sales force, company B sells product
Y, and company A decides to buy company B then the new company
could use each sales person to sell products X and Y thereby
increasing the revenue that each sales person generates for the
company.
In media revenue, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product
throughout the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate, e.g.
films, soundtracks or video games.
Management
Synergy in terms of management and in relation to team working
refers to the combined effort of individuals as participants of the
team. Positive or negative synergy can exist.The condition that
exists when the organization's parts interact to produce a joint
effect that is greater than the sum of the parts acting
alone.
Cost
A cost synergy refers to the opportunity of a combined corporate
entity to reduce or eliminate expenses associated with running a
business. Cost synergies are realized by eliminating positions that
are viewed as duplicate within the merged entity. Examples include
the head quarters office of one of the predecessor companies,
certain executives, the human resources department, or other
employees of the predecessor companies. This is related to the
economic concept of
Economies of
Scale.
Computers
Synergy can also be defined as the combination of human strengths
and computer strengths. Computers can process data much more
quickly than humans, but lack the ability to respond to arbitrary
stimuli.
In terms of leverage
Synergy in terms of leverage is a snarky term that was used in the
announcement of Software AG's acquisition of webMethods in 2007.
Analysts and developers all over the world have attempted to decode
the meaning of this phrase. Currently, the best guess is that it is
nonsensical corporate rhetoric used to confuse the listening
audience.
Synergy in the media
In media economics, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product
(and all its versions) throughout the various subsidiaries of a
media conglomerate, e.g. films, soundtracks or video games.
Walt Disney pioneered synergistic
marketing techniques in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the
right to use his
Mickey Mouse character
in products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through
licensing arrangements. These products can help advertise the film
itself and thus help to increase the film's sales. For example, the
Spider-Man films had toys of
webshooters and figures of the characters made, as well as posters
and games.
The word is often referred to in the media as an example of
buzz word nonsense.
See also
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