        |
|
An Exploration
The term New World is used frequently in describing approaches
to managing organisations differently. At a strategic level it is
shorthand for a new paradigm in the world's approach to business.
The exact nature of this new perspective is not yet clear as we are
in a transition phase from old to new and a coherent new understanding,
with attendant widely accepted descriptive language, has not yet emerged.
At an organisational level, the term New World may be used to refer
to the changed structures, processes and behaviours required following
a restructuring or change management process. In using the words in
these contexts it is also expected that the changed structures, processes
and behaviours will exhibit New World attributes.
Just as there is no single definition of what the current business
paradigm is, there is no single definition of what can be agreed upon
as New World attributes. In exploring a definition we start from an
understanding that the New World economy is characterised by increasing
complexity and continuous and accelerating change. Organisations must
be able to react to their environment, developing a flexible and proactive
approach to strategy implementation. In this new era, successful organisations
will develop organic learning cultures with the knowledge worker becoming
a key source of competitive advantage.
Most commentators use a combination of, often opposing, adjectives
or descriptions to try to encapsulate New World thinking. This may
be as a clean break with the past as in the following examples:
| Item |
Old World |
New World |
| People |
Cost generators or resources
|
Revenue generators |
| Information flow |
Via organisational hierarchy |
Via collegial networks |
| Production flow |
Machine driven, sequential |
Idea-driven, chaotic |
Or maybe as a series of additions to current thinking:
| Item |
Not Only |
But Also |
| Reengineering |
Processes |
Regenerating strategies |
| Strategy |
As learning |
As forgetting |
| Competing |
Within an industry structure |
To shape a future structure |
Managing in the New World means being able to manage paradox and uncertainty.
Past experience, while useful, may not be a guide to the future. With
change as the only constant, organisations must not place undue reliance
on the past but must also be able to invent the future. The underlying
philosophy and values of this New World draw strongly on both Post
Modern relativism and Pre-Industrial cultural mores of community and
co-operation. Some of the 'new' organisational formats and personal
'portfolio' lifestyles may have been seen before in former times but
are not now accompanied by the rigid social structures and mores of
the pre-industrial era.
The New World is therefore still being formed and moulded and no one
commentator is going to suggest that they can produce a comprehensive
or lasting definition. The only underlying certainty is that at some
point in the not too distant future a consensus will emerge, though
given the current speed of change this may well itself herald the
emergence of another paradigm.
Want to know more?
Contact us and we can direct
you to further sources and reference points.
|
|
