Synopsis: Communication For Productivity
Letters written to some 7500 Workers / Managers /
Union Leaders, following a period of strike / Go slow / Murders (1979 -
1987), at Mumbai factory of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. This direct / open /
honest communication led to a remarkable atmosphere of trust between
Workers and Management, which, in turn, increased productivity at 3% per year
(ave). |
6 Feb 1985
To:
Dear
Colleague
HERE COME THE INTRAPRENEURS
Americans
are fond of coining new words and
what they mean
by "Intrapreneur" will
become clear when
you read the enclosed article.
A word is
only a symbol for a concept. Concept comes first, the
symbol later. But the concept
itself follows a certain behaviour.
In this
article, the author
speaks about innovative behaviour
in large firms - or rather a lack of it
- and what some of the companies are trying to do about it.
The question
being raised is :
Can Intrapreneurship (innovativeness ?) flourish
in large companies which are characterised by
- many layers of hierachy
- centralised decision-making
- controls from the Top
- rigid structures of
reporting & analysis
- intolerance for failure
etc. etc.
- innovations are doomed to failure in large
companies?
- lack of innovation is a price a company must pay for growing big ?
But
even if it
be so, the kind of innovation that is being mentioned in the article, largely
concerns "new products".
What
about
- process innovations &
- procedure/system
innovations &
- people re-novations &
Must these
too suffer as a company grows big ?
And even if
we assume for a moment that Powai has grown big (a somewhat dubious assumption ! ) what,
" - resources and freedom to pursue own
ideas,
- cutting back on traditional red-tape,
- endless meetings and other
obstacles"
are holding
back the innovations of the kind
which I just mentioned ?
Or is it
that, these are merely convenient scape-goats ?
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