The Democratic Corporation or The Modern World System I

The Democratic Corporation: A Radical Prescription for Recreating Corporate America and Rediscovering Success

Author: Russell Lincoln Ackoff

We all know that American business needs fixing, and there is no shortage of prescriptions: imitate the Japanese, or follow the example of successful firms, or practice right-sizing. But these approaches do not work very well, says Russell Ackoff, because they only attack the problem piecemeal--and it is the entire system of American business that is flawed. In this revolutionary new book by a widely respected business thinker and pioneer in the fields of operations research and systems thinking, Ackoff underscores the urgent need to overhaul the kinds of systems found in America, from our business schools to our boardrooms. And he shows how firms can break out of the mold--and leapfrog the competition in today's volatile economy.

To give managers insight into the concept of organizations, Ackoff shows how they have been viewed since the Renaissance: first as machines, later as organisms, and today as social systems. As social systems, companies produce and distribute wealth and raise our standard of living. They are also responsible for facilitating and encouraging the development of the larger systems that contain them and all their stakeholders. The quality of worklife within an organization is key. Work has to be challenging and enjoyable if workers are to give it their full commitment, and Ackoff outlines major ways to achieve this goal. Along the way, Ackoff explodes a number of fashionable business notions. He asserts that firms that try to imitate successful competitors are doomed to play catch-up forever. He attacks the idea of continuous improvement, showing that it has failed to make quantum leaps in quality, and he demonstrates how to re-orient the pursuit of quality.After revealing the weakness in many current practices, Ackoff describes three organizational schemes that will lead to success. In the Circular Organization, a democratic hierarchy, everyone participates directly or indirectly in decisions that affect their work. In the Internal Market Economy, organizations treat their different parts like a collection of firms doing business with each other--which promotes cooperation and eliminates wasteful internal competition. And with the Multidimensional Organization, a company becomes so powerful and flexible that continuous adaptation can happen without reorganization.

Ackoff caps off the book with an incisive critique of business schools, describing how they must be transformed to turn out the leaders we need for the competitive American organization of the 21st century. Enabling managers to understand the profound interrelationships in the American economy and to tap into them for success, The Democratic Corporation is a major work by an innovative thinker that is certain to cause ripples throughout the business community.

Publishers Weekly

This sophisticated study describes how the modern firm interacts with society. Ackoff, chair of the Institute for Interactive Management and professor emeritus of the Wharton School, traces the evolving conception of organizations since the Renaissance, first as machines then as organisms and today as social systems; he argues for fundamental changes in the way work is designed and organized and in the way companies are managed. He espouses the stakeholder theory of the firm, in which employees, suppliers, customers, investors, creditors, debtors and government all play a role in helping a company to grow and develop. Ackoff maintains that corporations can be transformed to improve employees' quality of life. An epilogue critiques business schools as ``bastions of dynamic conservatism'' and suggests ways they can better train leaders for the competitive global business environment. Illustrations. (June)

New interesting textbook: Rights At Work or Mutual Funds

The Modern World-System I

Author: I Wallerstein

This book was written during a year's stay at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Countless authors have sung its praises. Aside from splendid surroundings, unlimited library and secretarial assistance, and a ready supply of varied scholars to consult at a moment's notice, what the center offers is to leave the scholar to his own devices, for good or ill. Would that all men had such wisdom. The final version was consummated with the aid of a grant from the Social Sciences Grants Subcommittee of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research of McGill University.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
On the Study of Social Change
Medieval Prelude
The New European Division of Labor: c. 1450-1640
The Absolute Monarchy and Statism
From Seville to Amsterdam: The Failure of Empire
The Strong Core-States
Class-Formation and International Commerce
The European World-Economy
Periphery versus External Arena
Theoretical Reprise
Bibliography
Subject Index