Replying to LO29880 --
Dear CHRIS and others following developments in any area,
I would like to present an answer to the questions raised by Chris, from a
'co-ordination science' perspective. It postulates the following steps in
a large class of developmental processes:
Steps in a developmental process:
(the bracketed terms indicate a similar notion, but in a different idiom)
i. an uncoordinated beginning (moment-to-moment living)
ii. introduction of a co-ordinating frame (addition of a narrative or
script)
iii. improvement of co-ordination (enrichment of living, through shared
experience)
iv. gradual rise of new uncoordinated elements (exceptions, uncertainties,
and failures burden the narrative)
v. co-ordination overload (the narrative breaks off)
vi. introduction of a new co-ordinating frame (addition of a new narrative
or script)
vii. go to step iv (history repeats)
This kind of process seems to be almost generic. It seems so general that
it appears to subsume substantial developments within science, art,
language, social and natural history, and many other aspects of culture.
In a traditional society (say in Europe in the middle ages, or in my
village in India even today), one 'adds value' by just being what one is
supposed to be, as prescribed by convention and stable social norms.
Anyone trying to break the norm becomes worthy of punishment--often very
severe punishment. This has made for long periods stability (and rich
living experience, one may argue). However, the overall co-ordinating
frame (or narrative) has also to deal with many new elements not
well-addressed within the frame. For example, the sheer rise in the
population (hence the need to engage them and produce more), operational
improvements that create new opportunities for business, developments in
the external environments, etc. Finally, a time comes when the existing
co-ordinating frame becomes really overloaded. The period becomes
characterised by disharmony, uncertainty, and hardship for the majority.
The time is ripe for a new co-ordinating frame to emerge and establish.
This new frame must be able to address some of these new elements not
addressed by the earlier frame, yet hold out the promise of an equally (if
nor more) enriching experience of living for most. In due course, even
this new frame meets a similar fate.
I humbly suggest that this explanation might also be applied to the
developments in the area Chris is referring to. From my own understanding
of management, 'marketing' emerged with a new script in co-ordinating
business processes. The script suggested that all the business processes
must finally 'deliver value to the customer'. Going by my above
explanation, this script tries to address the uncertainties and failures
of an earlier script, which is perhaps something like 'buy/make cheap and
sell dear'. The new script has its own positives and negatives. It
succeeds in re-aligning the entire organisation and brings about a
customer focus. However, if someone in an organisation can argue that one
is delivering value to a customer by one's actions, it becomes difficult
to prevent those actions, no matter how harmful these may seem to the rest
of the organisation. Similarly, other sources of strain can/do arise.
The new script begins to encounter new sources of disturbance, new
variations, and new uncertainties. For example, it becomes necessary to
serve someone who is not a customer (by the organisation's own
definition), the customer is not any more sure of what value is desirable,
the promoter itself loses interest in the long-term, etc. At a certain
point, these can strain the co-ordinating frame so much that it has to be
replaced with a more encompassing one. Some new management ideas doing the
rounds today appear to belong to this genre. For example, 'value network',
'core competence', 'business model', etc.
Will be glad to hear from you on this.
DP
India
"Chris Macrae" <wcbn007@easynet.co.uk> asked:
>Whilst out for a walk it dawned on me to ask a question about how
>marketing (or whatever is your keyword for sustained value adding) got
>broken from organisational systems and then it occurred to me to ask how
>did system relationship dynamics get broken from organisational
>leadership
...
>Some Big Puzzles
>How did marketing (or your word for sustained value adding) get out
>marketed by:
>Quality
>Measurement
>Knowledge
>& Responsibility
...
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