Project Overview
Motivation and Rationale for the Study
- The need for improved strategic decision making especially:
- in crises,
- when innovating strategy, and
- when confronting wicked problems.
- The acknowledged, critical inadequacy of accounting profits and ROI as criteria for motivating and guiding strategic decision making in business.
- The growing recognition of the positive economic impact, in both the long-run and immediately, of "humane" programs and criteria such as:
- Safety
- Quality
- Environmental Sustainability
- Workforce Diversity
- Integrity
- Social Sustainability
- Ergonomics
- Good Design
- Gender Equality
- The imperative of recognizing and responding to "humankind"
- The global nature of the business environment
- The economic advantage and innovation stimulating nature of addressing the needs of lower-income customer segments
- The increasing significance, activism and diversity of stakeholders
- The emergence of social enterprises
- The budding understanding of profitability of "good works"
- The continuing and fundamental importance of business as a social institution
Primary Objectives of the Study
- Developing an economic model informed by the criterion of "humanity"
- Endogenizing factors traditionally viewed as externalities
- Rethinking the strategy paradigm by incorporating "humanity"
- Redefining the strategy process
- Recognizing the significance of social networks
- Shifting from emphasis on competition to "co-opetition" and alliances
- Incorporating multi-criteria, multiple stakeholder decision processes
- Responding to the wicked nature of many strategic issues
- Integrating content and process
- Demonstrating how the criteria falling under the rubric of "humanity" can be employed to guide strategic decision making in practice
- Recommending revisions to the design and content of MBA curricula
Methodology
- Case studies of selected companies in multiple industries and countries, exploring:
- Management Philosophy
- Business Identity
- Values, Aspirations and Competencies
- Management System
- Strategy, Structure, Style and Systems (Techniques and Processes)
- Strategic Decision Processes
- Humanity-based Decisions' Links to Economic Performance
- Conferences
- Promoting Dialogue between Academics and Practitioners
- Reviewing and Documenting Progress
- Revising Goals and Methodology
- Online Network of Managers and Academics
- Web 2.0 Interactive Creation of Content
- Case Studies and Analyses Made Available for Feedback
- Annotated Bibliography Shared
The Elements of Humanity
