Knowledge Worker LO16215

Richard Goodale (fc45@dial.pipex.com)
Fri, 12 Dec 97 00:16:09 GMT

Replying to LO16150 --

Winfried

>> I, at least, would put my money on the enterprise with the
>> "worker" workers.

>Interessting - it would be worth a (virtual) experiment. I bet, you
> would loose your money, Richard.

I'll still take the bet

> What will happen to your enterprise, when it becomes known, that
> the knowledge-worker enterprise made a very good offer to buy the
> worker-worker?

Why couldn't it be the other way around? Which asset would be more
valuable to an investor, a state-of-the-art plant which was fully staffed
with world-class workers but needed to buy leadership and administrative
talent on the open market, or a state-of-the-art plant which had no staff
but which had world class leadership and administrative talent? I'll
still invest in the former. First class CFOs are a dime a dozen--but
first class production teams? Rare as hen's teeth, in my experience.

> Of course not all, lets say, 30% (those with high
> working-knowledge including those who are willing to change).

Why do you assume this 30%? IMHO It's a mental model that doesn't gibe
with the rules of the thought experiment (or reality, for that matter).

> For them it would be the chance of their career. But first, all
> would fear to loose their job when they visualise that their
> factory will shut down very shortly. Not to mention the marketing
> program and action plan for the investors which would be quite
> hard for the worker-workers.

Even if you had such a 30/70 split, it would be the same for the
"Knowledge" workers. I'd hate to be a 47-yr old cost accountant made
redundant these days.

> Are you still willing to invest in the worker-worker enterprise?

Absolutely.

> Of course, there is still a chance, that charismatic yet
> unsatisfied knowledge worker will go to help the worker-workers
> with their selforganisation, but would they be accepted and
> trusted?

Is not "charismatic knowledge worker" an oxymoron?

> In a more friendly setting, I would expect, that the owners of the
> enterprises will sit together at a round table to find a common
> solution.

You're probably right, Winfried, or at least I would hope so.

Cheers

Richard Goodale
Managing Partner
The Dornoch Partnership

-- 

Richard Goodale <fc45@dial.pipex.com>

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