business as harmony

In Chapter 10 the authors of your text observe, "Whereas in the past enormous capital expenditures went into buildings and materials, today the two most critical parts of any successful business are people and technology" (p. 319). The July 7 issue of TIME reports on two organizations that take what Deetz calls a stakeholders' (as opposed to a shareholders') perspective. According to the article, the CEOs of Whole Foods and The Container Store believe the organizations have a commitment to multiple groups--employees, the communities in which they exist, and the customers they serve.

The two use a business as harmony metaphor, quite different from a business as winning or business as dominating metaphor. By empowering employees, the CEOs argue that the organization runs more smoothly and the shareholders still get good returns on their investments. From the description of the organizations in the article, it seems that the CEOs put into practice many of the principles of dialogic democracy I discuss in the web lecture. As Roy Hobbs wrote, such an approach can result in greater collaboration among employees--as well as chaos if participants aren't prepared to engage in this type of communication. Kim Mai also blogged about the advantages of dialogic democracy, but noted that individuals may still feel disenfranchised if their ideas aren't part of the final decision. Fabió also blogged about dialogic democracy, wondering about the opposite time point--the beginning. Who starts the conversation? And how does the reality of the organizational hierarchy impact the dialogic process?

sp1028 follows a different thread related to business as harmony--training and development in organizations. Although in tough economic times this is the first line of an organization's budget to get cut, investing in employees has many indirect and even direct returns. Providing training for employees also demonstrates a commitment to them.

The Container Store and Whole Foods likely aren't perfect organizations. But having CEOs who seem committed to a stakeholder model and an investment in employees certainly is an improvement over CEOs who put shareholder (or the CEO's own) gains as the organization's top priority. Yes, businesses must make money to survive. But making money must be balanced with other concerns, such as the impact on the community, environment, and employees. What if all organizations took a business as harmony approach?

--Professor Cyborg