Stephen Hill

Technology and organization culture: The human imperative in integrating new technology into organization design

Abstract This article deals with the relationship between the culture of corporate organizations and the introduction of new technological systems. Its argument is that, very frequently, organization design follows unthinkingly from the demands of the technological systems introduced. Yet, as in all human social organization, the strenght of the organizational culture is critical to organization success, and this culture can be easily undermined by a centralized control-oriented technological system. The article shows the way in which the design parameters of technological systems can penetrate organizarion culture at the roots from which culture is constituted—namely at the level of realistic constructions of meaning within the organization in relation to organization environment, pattern of organizational discourse within which meanings are constructed, and stocks of knowledge that provide the basis for constructions of meaning and action. In particular, this article focuses on the situation of a nation, such as Australia, where a historic dependency on the import of technological systems has led to technological marginalization and the import of technologically oriented design principles as well. The article demonstrates how unthinking copying of overseas practice can undermine the national basis for developing a resilient and independent organization culture that is able to compete within the international economy.

Basic design principles for national research in developing countries

Abstract This article seeks to establish basic design principles for national research in developing countries. Its starting point is in questioning the applicability of Western practice in the design of research organization in Third World nations, where the social, economic and technological environments are totally different. Principally, in developing countries, the environment into which research is applied is one characterized by “knowledge poverty” and by a driving force of technological change in the economy that emanates from outside national boundaries, rather than from indigenous research efforts. This drive is unlikely to address national planning priorities except by accident. In this environment, this article argues, national research can never play anything but a marginal role in development. But, at the same time, the role it plays is central to “directing” development strategies, particularly in filling gaps to which international technological interests are unlikely to pay attention. The design principles for research organizations flow from these observations. The most basic principles are: (1) that research must be targeted strategically to utilize very scarce resources well; and (2) that knowledge bridges must be constructed from research into the economy in a way that may be quite inappropriate in advanced nations. The article explores the consequences for organization design that follow the application of these principles.

Technology, corporate culture, and the insurance industry: The Australian experience

Abstract This paper is based on a detailed analysis of the interactions between introduced information technology and the culture of an insurance corporation in Australia. The paper identifies the way that information technology has a hidden impact on communication systems and the technical stocks of knowledge that are required to make a productive organisation work. Through these impacts, the introduction of information technology into insurance industry operations directly impacts on the culture of the organisation, i.e., the way in which the organisation ascribes meaning to its participants, and therefore engages them in collective commitment and contribution to the organisations goals. The paper follows an article that appeared earlier in this journal. “Technology and Organization Culture — The Human Imperative in Integrating New Technology into Organization Design” (Vol. 10, pp. 233–253), and applies the more general perspective introduced earlier to the specific case of technological change in the Australian insurance industry. What the paper shows are dangers that can be avoided. Whilst short-term profitability can be achieved by technological means, the planning of change to internal information systems must also pay due attention to the “hidden” social dimensions, or longer-term organisational atrophy is likely to follow. The social dimensions requiring attention include control vs. autonomy, surveillance vs. encouragement of goal achievement, horizons of career expectation vs. closed horizons of de-skilling, and integration of relations between staff and their customer environment with the organisational system vs. alienation of customer relations by system dominance. Implied in all of those social alternatives is the need to pay attention to the often unexamined social assumptions of introducing efficient technological systems.

The Survivability of Humanity Within the Current Global Economic Paradigm

World society in the 21st Century is moving precariously close to its ‘tipping point’. Every indicator of progressive change—from human population and community to environmental impact is showing this. At heart is the dynamic of current global economic assumptions and practice. Chapter 2 exposes the urgency for change in the current global economic paradigm and proposes ways to make change happen—based on rediscovering and asserting the essential power of our humanity as the platform for future global economics.

“The Kyoto Manifesto for Global Economics”. “The Platform of Community, Humanity and Spirituality”

This, the final Chapter in the book is the ‘Encore’, a depiction of the Manifesto itself. It moves from basic underlying principles to applications. Basic change strategies employ interacting principles of ‘fractals’—the nesting of the same configuration of values and vision within ever widening levels of aggregation—from CEO to cleaner, to government; the ‘swarming’ of small disturbing influences in transforming complex systems as a whole—with guidance from a principle of the dialectic: the new thesis derives out of antithesis to the past thesis not from elsewhere, so focus for initial interventions should be on the most disturbing antitheses to neo-classical economics and action. To this is added the expansionary power of ‘global localism’—focus on transformation at local level with mechanisms designed to expand impact to other communities and domains; the ‘Creativity Imperative’—building an overall societal fabric which encourages creativity at all levels; inclusion of core values of the Kyoto Manifesto, trust, emotion, altruism and so on, within future economic calculation as is beginning to happen in ‘Behavioral Economics’. Whilst now largely extrinsic equilibria outside the economic mainstream, it is this assertion of our humanity within economic equilibria that offers the potential to take humanity from its present role as extrinsic ‘sunspot’ activity into forming a humanity base for the economics of our sustainable future. The Manifesto concludes with an outline of specific actions which follow.

‘Sacred Silence’—The Stillness of Listening to Humanity

The greatest power of social transformation lies in our shared humanity. However, to capture this power requires bringing others, even from across widely different cultural worlds, into our very self—to truly listen, suspend the noise of our own inner dialogue of consciousness that otherwise gets in the way. This is the spiritual power of ‘silence’. Chapter 17 demonstrates the power that lies within our immediate social world if we truly listen. It is here that we can bridge ‘diversity’ and employ this community-focused cultural center to ‘connect with’ and ‘empower’ others’ diverse cultural worlds and meanings. The strategy to expand the power of this dynamic of change, even out into the global community, is then indicated through the concept of ‘global localism’—building action at the local level and then finding ways of linking more broadly from this base. Lessons are developed from broad exploration of the power of ‘silence’ in and across societies, and in learning from history.

“The Future’s Not What It Used to Be”—Ogden Nash

Currently, the ‘Harmony of Humanity’, the quest of Chapter 21, is deeply disturbed, most evocatively, by the 2016 Presidential Election in the United States of Donald Trump, a signal of deep concern spreading across the experience of globalization from its negative consequences. Chapter 25 starts with an exploration of the ‘meaning’ of the “Trump Phenomenon” which basically represents an emerging broad-ranging desire to erect boundaries against globalization, and to return to past securities. The most fundamental problem with the ‘return to the past’ in Trump’s philosophies however, is that it is no longer realistic. Productive enterprise, in particular, has moved on, so employment rich industries of the past simply do not compete any more, and the assumption of unlimited resources requiring no need for conservation and care, is demonstrably wrong. This Chapter starts with this analysis and parallel resistance to globalization elsewhere, but moves on to explore what we can expect in terms of our immediate technology-driven and robotic-inspired future. One key finding is that world society is likely to have to make major adjustments to a future of non-work which some describe as a society of ‘unemployment’ rather than ‘employment’. It is not just jobs which are at stake, but the whole social and meaning fabric which is associated. The Chapter finishes with an assessment of new experiments on the role of ‘universal basic income’ in the society of our future.

“Building the Kyoto Platform for Change” (Fourth Movement)

Chapters in the Conclusions Suite overview the evolving argument of the book, represented in the previous ‘Movements’ of the argument’s Symphonic form. Having now established the fundamental piers on which we can build a new Global Economics Platform, Chapter 30, drawing together the lessons of the Fourth Movement, now builds that platform. The central reference point is the depth of our spirituality, which in turn, is anchored at its deepest level in the cosmic Void and our non-material genesis within a material world. Connected is our creativity in an open world, not closed into self-interested separation. A caution is added that whilst scientific explanation is immensely valuable it is not enough, as it limits human experience in validity to what is legitimated in scientific explanation, thus excluding the irrational, non-recurrent, non-constant phenomena which make up this human experience. Chapter 30 is a rich analysis which defies further summary as it trawls back through the whole book for the way forward. Contrast of lessons learnt is made in the Fourth Movement against economics based in alternate belief systems, Buddhist and Islamic, as well as against a ‘hospitality’ model derived from Western philosophic principles and the practical case of the Mondragon Movement originating out of southern France, and micro-producing communities elsewhere.

“Foundation Stones of Spirituality” (Second Movement)

Chapters in the Conclusions Suite overview the evolving argument of the book, represented in the previous ‘Movements’ of the argument’s Symphonic form. Chapter 28’s summary of the Second Movement takes the reader to the depths of our humanity, and its relationship to our world and wider cosmos, as a core platform for exploring human power embedded in our spirituality. That this is the “Kyoto” Manifesto is deeply significant, for Kyoto—the place—is foundation of Japan’s “spiritual heart”, whilst demonstrating in the modern age the human craft and creativity that has evolved over more than a millennium and is represented in many generations of family production. These lessons from Kyoto can instruct our action now. Each of the International Symposia from which the Manifesto was constructed were preceded by an “On-Zen” performance within joint Shinto/Buddhist temple ritual by Stomu Yamash’ta—of sacred music using, as percussion instrument, the unique and sacred ‘sanukite’ stone. This stone was employed in ancient pre-Bronze Age ritual and music because of its extraordinarily large frequency range and vibrant sound. As performances to bring people together in peace, the sanukite stone performances allow us to hear, in Stomu’s words, “the grandeur of memorial vibrancy”, a connection between the energy of nature generated from the Void and the harmony of our humanity. This force and connection is then explored in the Second Movement of the book and validated from the latest advances in cosmic physics and relations to the long-term teachings of Buddhism. In both physics and Buddhism, the ‘Void’ or ‘emptiness’ is the state of impermanence and change but at the same time the heart of energy which generates everything in the real world. Chapter 28 then goes on to demonstrate the implication of these phenomena for social arrangements, specifically in ‘vernacular democracy’ in rural India—a world where equality and diversity can stand together.

Recognizing the Need for Change (First Movement)

Chapters in the Conclusions Suite overview the evolving argument of the book, represented in the previous ‘Movements’ of the argument’s Symphonic form. Chapter 27, representing the First Movement in the book’s Symphony, draws together the premise of the Kyoto Manifesto, that in the 21st Century, society is rapidly approaching a ‘tipping point’ beyond which recovery could be impossible. Basic is the observation that is increasingly being described as that the earth has entered a new age, the ‘Anthropocene’, where human activity is now altering the overall physical dynamics of the planet at an alarming exponential rate. The underlying dynamic for this impact is born out of global economics. Endangered are our food supplies, our social structures and welfare. At heart is massive and increasing inequality, highly centralized profit-oriented ownership. The global economy not only invades but disempowers alternate action, yet the philosophies of ‘neo-liberalism’ (‘let the market rule’) and growth continue unabated. Ultimately, infinite growth in a finite system is an impossibility. Cracks in the fabric of globalization are starting to emerge.