More Efficient Form Of Organization

More efficient than the CorporateCommunists, that is. What would such a beast look like?

In order to make progress, I think we need clarity on ThePurposeOfOrganizations.

If you read what Coatse said (see CorporateCommunists), he argues that companies internalize things because it's cheaper than the market alternative. As transaction costs change, so does what's cheaper to internalize. So, on that argument, a corporation might change what it does, but what it does will be more efficient (than the market, at least).

That doesn't mean there isn't a MoreEfficientFormOfOrganization than a corporation. The burden of proof remains with you to demontrate there ain't.

No, the proof doesn't remain with me. I could propose we search for Organizations that can be run by dogs. It's not then up to others to prove it's not possible, but for me to provide evidence why I think that might be so. If you think there can be a more efficeint form, propose it. It's still ProofByUtility from where I'm sitting.

This page is an exploration, not a proof. But otherwise you're quite right, many apologies if I've treated your material unfairly. Perhaps there is a MoreEfficientFormOfOrganization that is neither a corporation or a market. Substantial wiki notions take time. Let's be patient and see.

So you'll have to choose some coordinating mechanisms that are cheaper than direct control, and are cheaper than market-based mechanisms. Good luck. cheaper = efficient? rather limited viewpoint. Plus the inference that corporates seek efficiency (nope, they seek return on investment).

And how do you get a better return on investment? By more efficient use of that investment.

Okay, so it won't be cheaper. But it might be more effective, more profitable, more productive, and more sustainable - ergo more efficient.

As you might expect, this is a key part of the study of management. They assuredly don't have all the answers, but looking at what's been discussed there might be a good place to start. On the other hand, you might argue the concepts established there are not relevant - personally, I can't see what they would not be.''

Traditional corporations have a fairly long history, so are clearly fairly resilient form of organization. Some of that comes from being efficent, I'd assert - but things are changing. What things might be changing that would affect the forces on organizations to make other forms more efficient? Technology is one proposal - see below.''

Needs a discussion of 'efficiency' here. 'Cost' is not the only criterion. Exactly! It looks like a commom belief among us ( technical people ) to think that 'cost' or 'profit' are main drivers of corporate behavior.

Economy: how much input you use Efficiency is how much output you get for your input. Effectiveness: the value of the outcome given your inputs (how good you were at achieving your purpose).

So, cost (for a given output, I'm assuming) is one dimension of efficiency. There are of course others, agreed.

So, I think we're really talking about effectiveness. But in any case, more discussion on which outputs we're trying to optimise would be good.

Here's my thoughts on an alternative:

Technoanarchy. For anarchy is the attractor around which all political structures flow. Property is a natural mode. I think collectives will get together for stuff they can't necessarily afford individually. This is a traditional tribal mode. Normally it wouldn't have a great deal of leverage, and thus is weak under 'force majeure', that's where the techno bit comes in. Technology is a lever. Technology allows the tribal mode of humanity to be retained by giving small collectives enough power to be self-sufficient at any level of energy consumption. An energy economy is the natural extension. I could blarg on about this, but technology is the machine in this ghost. ;) -- RichardHenderson

My company is a global multimillion-dollar tech company. They centralized IT (support, hardware/software ordering, provisioning, etc.). As a result, it takes weeks to get any hardware delivered, software configured, network problem resolved, and nearly impossible to order productivity software. The phone queues for IT support are 30 minutes or more, and you get someone from a 3rd world country who has no clue. Because of this we have rampant unlicensed software and rogue VMWare images that are hidden from the network overlords. All this instead of letting each department order exactly what they need to get their job done. Nice efficiency.