Intro - Noel Dickover LO830

NDICKOVE (NDICKOVER@dc.lld.com)
Wed, 19 Apr 1995 09:26:32 EST

Hello everyone. I am have been receiving mail from this group for about
two weeks now, and am very interested in the topics and the high level of
discussion that characterizes this group. I have a BA in Anthropology and
an MS in Cybernetics and GST, specializing in organizational change. I am
currently working for a small company in the Washington D.C. area doing
organizational change for activities in the Department of Defense. We
regularly use variants of John Warfield's Interactive Management
Methodology, and have found it very helpful in providing a groundwork for
organizational change. I also employ various modeling methodologies to
aid in understanding system organization and design.

I am interested in understanding what is necessary for creating and
maintaining flexible organizations. By this, I mean the creation and
maintenance of an organizational system that, over time will be able to
adapt to changes in the environment as well as optimize itself internally
based on its strategic goals. I think Senge's learning organization, as
well as Beer's Viable Systems Model touches on some critical elements to
making this type of organization a reality. Additionally, the make-up of
the organization's information system and communications structure will
either enable of hinder an organization's ability to adapt. No less
critical are cultural issues - the reward systems, accepted defensive
routines, the degree of information sharing, the degree of innovation, and
decision making processes can all be seen as affected by the
organizational culture.

Additionally, a different method of organizing work is needed, one that is
different from the current, traditional large scale organizational
approach to producing outputs. Both TQM and BPR have been brought forth
as providing change from the traditional organization. Yet it seems to me
these approaches do not advocate a new organizational sturcture, but only
designed to allow the traditional organizational structure to work better.
While TQM attempts to allow the overall organization to adapt slowly to
changes, and BPR attempts to affect drastic changes to the organization's
business and production processes, both are still attempting what might be
seen as a Band-Aid approach. The organization of work is designed to take
all resources to optimize outputs according to the CURRENT understanding
of the environment, instead of being designed to adapt to changes in the
environment. Inherently, this approach will hinder overall flexibility.

I am in the beginning stages of looking for a Ph.D. program (just got my
company to agree to fund it!!) to understand how to develop an
organization that is designed to adapt to changes in the environment,
while still producing outputs in an efficient manner. There seems to be
many discussions touching on these issues, and I would welcome any
comments on flexible organization development or for suggestions for Ph.D.
programs.

Thanks in advance,

Noel Dickover
NDICKOVER@dc.lld.com