Management

Paradigms for the

New
Millennium
By: Thomas Clarke and Stewart Clegg
Presented by: Troy Kubota and
Mary Loennig

Thomas Kuhn
Historian of Science
Pioneered the idea of changing paradigms in
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1970)

characterized paradigms as models of thinking

a constellation of concepts, values, perceptions
and practices shared by community which forms a
particular vision of reality that is the way a
community organizes itself

A Paradigm
a systematic set of ideas and values,
methods and problem fields, as well
as standard solutions, that explain the
world and inform action.
Its the way we see the world - not in
terms of our visual sense of sight, but
in terms of perceiving, understanding,
interpreting (Covey 1989)

Paradigm Shifts

any change of the part, means a change in the

whole
a sufficient change in the fluidity in a system
a widespread shift in the rules, a shift to a new
set of games
can be viewed as a curve where the slope,
whether steep or gentle, is continuous and drive
by economic trends, rates of growth,
technological advance, and competition (Keen
and Knapp 1996)

Paradigm Shifts (cont.)

more challenging today because the

pace of economic and technological
change has accelerated beyond belief
rapidly changing markets, technological
breakthroughs and shortening product life
cycles are forcing the pace of the shifts

Discontinuities

discontinuous change is a step shift in the

rate of change that invalidates existing
assumptions and begins to transform the
rules of competition
Example:

the breakdown of the community bloc in

Eastern Europe
the formation of regional economic blocs
of the EU and NAFTA

invalidate old paradigms, including those

which may have been the basis of a firms
success, strategy and culture

Discontinuities

Three Reponses:
Sustained

effort within existing

methods to carry the company up a
steeper curve
Transforming the organizations
methods wit a step shift that will get
ahead of the change curve
Establishing new operating paradigms
and organizational infrastructure

Desperately Seeking
Newness

with the accelerated paradigm shifts, they

have precipitated a rapidly growing
profusion of management ideas, books and
gurus
the need to become excellent, leadingedge, high performing and innovative are a
distraction from the practical and lead to a
mis-understanding of the past and
undervalue what is important in the present

Management Theory and

Research

Searching for the new paradigm that

explains the changes occurring in the
economy and industry
Concentrating on the surfing the waves
Changes in management and the
organizational culture
Implications of Information Technology
Changing competitive environment
Creating sustainable organizations

Evolution of Management
Surfing the Waves

Megatrends (Naisbitt 1982)

From
Industrial Society
Forced Technology
National Economy
Short Term
Centralization
Institutional Help
Rep. Democracy
Hierarchies
North
Either/OR

To
Information Society
High Tech/High Touch
World Economy
Long Term
Decentralization
Self Help
Participatory Democracy
Networking
South
Multiple Options

First to Second Curve (Morrison 1996)

First Curve

Second Curve
Organization

Mechanistic
Engineering
Corporations
Horizontal & Vertical
Integration
Business Processes
Individual
Hard Work
Hypereffectiveness
Security
Current Career
Faith
Loyalty

Organic
Ecology
Individuals & networks
Virtual Integration
Culture

Uncertainty
Future Career
Hope
Courage

Evolution of Management
Organizational Changes
New Global Paradigms
(Bennis et al. 1994)
Old
Effective Management

New
Self-Mastery

Social Group

Effective teamwork

Social Synergy

Organization

Hierarchical

Organizational Learning

Economy &
Society

Corporate Responsibility

Sustainable Development

Individual
Manager

Evolution of Management
Organizational Changes
Old

Old and New Soul of the Enterprise

(Hall 1993)
New

Profit first priority

Assets are things
Thinkers are separated from doers
Mass Production
Separated marketing with suppliers
Organizations controlled by
Hierarchies, separated departments
Performance measured for control
Scale economies important

Customer Satisfaction first priority

Assets are people
Doers and thinkers are the same
Lean Production
Integrated marketing with
partnerships
Organizations based on teamwork,
numerous cross-teams
Performance measured for
improvement
Time economies important

Evolution of Management
Industrial to Information Age
Transition from Industrial to Information Age Organizations
(Hames 1994)
Industrial Age Organization
Focus on measurable outcomes
participation
Highly specialized knowledge
Individual accountability
Local perspective informs programming
Hierarchical, linear information flows
Attention to quantitative differences
Plant & Equipment targeted for investment
Present-Oriented, doing what is known now

Information Age Organization

Focus on strategic issues using
and empowerment
Interdisciplinary knowledge
Team Accountability
Global perspective informs local action
Multiple interface, boundaryless
information networking
Attention to qualitative differences
Development of people as investment
Future-Oriented, operating at the cutting
edge

Evolution of Management
Changing Competitive
Environment

Disintermediation:
Combination of the pervasiveness of information
technology and consumer demands for better value
means new players can enter the market with ease.
Relationships between organizations are no longer
fixed
Disintegration:
Breakdown of vertically integrated structures and the
emergence of virtual corporations
Convergence:
Convergence of technologies and businesses that
represent no clearly demarcated boundaries

Evolution of Management
Sustainable Organizations
Tyranny of the OR

You can have change OR

stability
You can be conservative OR
bold
You can have low cost OR high
quality
You can invest in the future OR
do well in the short term
You can create wealth for your
shareholders OR do good for
the world
You can be idealistic (valuesdriven) OR pragmatic (profitdriven)

The Genius of the AND

on the one hand AND yet, on the

other
purpose beyond profit AND
pragmatic pursuit of profit
a fixed core ideology AND
vigorous change and movement
conservatism around the core
AND bold, committing, risky
moves
big hairy audacious goals AND
incremental evolutionary
progress
investment for the long-term AND
demands for short-term
performance

Conclusions

Key drivers of paradigm shifts:

Strategic responses to changing
competitive environment
Information technology is at the technical
core of the shifts
Importance of wider conceptions of
stakeholders to new paradigms
The overwhelming need for new business
paradigms based upon sustainability