A new corporate objective.

Reading this article in the Hellenic News, I found to be of significant coincidence in my overall thinking. First the recent news regarding GM and Ford and the issues that they currently are facing lead me to conclude, as I have been wanting to conclude, that the traditional market forces are carving new organizational structures, and new business models on predominately North America, but specifically on the U.S. in the form of, accelerated creative destruction.

The former Soviet Union systems eventually became incapable of meeting the most basic needs of the society, and subsequently was the downfall of communism. New systems of government and organizational means are replacing the old Soviet methods and providing a way of life for Russians etc. I often thought that there is no reason that the information technologies couldn't provide a similar means to erode the authoritarian control of large organizations, and as a result, technology mirror the decline of the Soviet Union here in North America.

With GM and Ford now seriously questioning their competitive nature, and faced with their ultimate downfall, the time has come to seriously consider the ways and means that the United States and its "comfortable" European and Canadian businesses, with new means of conducting their operations. The large organization, much like the communist party in Russia doesn't function and is being replaced, by what I describe as self organizing groups. The writing is on the wall, and the time for them to have solved these problems has now passed, and only their advanced decline to be exposed and finally their existence extinguished.

But what is it that will replace the ways and means of the old corporate model. Something has to provide the means for society to function and progress. This progress needs to be mirrored in the organizations performance, or in this case, has to provide a way to fill the void left by the larger organizations. I think I found it in the highlighted article, and that is, the pursuit of happiness. The U.S. constitution embraces this objective and is the primary reason for the U.S. to continue its dominance. The pursuit of happiness is, as the author of the article noted, what Aristotle discovered as the key objective of all mankind. That the author notes this should now be a corporate objective seems counter to the needs of the organization, and maybe it is, but I think it is in direct support of the society and its individuals.

Key to this entire blog entry, is the Dr. Anthony Giddens theory of structuration that has resonated with me for the past two years. The objectives and progress of Society, Organizations and People are constrained, and supported, and must move together. One can not "break" out from the others or advance without similar points of progress elsewhere.

Key to structuration is how do the organizations move with the people and societies. I have felt that the organizations were holding back society, and new models needed to be created to support the society in the future. Now, by adopting the corporate objective of "the pursuit of happiness" these organizations can move forward together in harmony with society and its people. This to me is key in the acceleration of positive change in the ways and means of Western society.