Good Day to All,
As the world is becoming more VUCA it is difficult to manage the business operations.
In this scenario, how can we develop a simple yet effective solution for process owner and business leaders to face the Volatility; Uncertainty; Complexity and Ambiguity in business operation is a million dollar question.
Therefore I invite the members of RG to share their insights and thoughts over the impact of VUCA in business practices and how to develop viable solution that are easy to implement.
I don't think this involves only the operational level of an organization, it also spans the strategic, tactical, and managerial levels too, even if the objective is to improve operations in face of VUCA. One thread of thought could be regarding the location of decision making and the distance between sensors, control and actuators. Distance in this context is not limited to physical distance but also refers to the process involved in capturing and transmitting the VUCA view of the world to the decision-making and control unit then back to executers that operate in VUCA. Accordingly, one may think here of evaluating and comparing omniscient centralized architectures (the traditional model of hierarchical organization structures) versus distributed/decentralized flat architectures. As opposed to centralized modes, decentralized architectures tend to be more robust and of higher response to VUCA due to its autonomy obtained by pushing decision-making closer to sensor/actuators. This is not only applied in recent IoT applications (edge computing) but also in managing people, departments, branches etc.. On the other hand, the design of a decent decentralized/distributed system requires many considerations to be taken such as the degree of local knowledge, communication, incentive mechanisms, local-global goal alignment, agency problems and moral hazards among other issues. As such, a good decentralized/distributed design could be by applying concepts of economics in market-based organizational environment. It is worth mentioning though that centralized control would always outperform decentralized/distributed designs in stable environments. However, as VUCA increases, the performance of both converges and, in extreme VUCA cases, well-designed decentralized/distributed mechanisms can overcome traditional centralized structures in terms of overall performance due to its reactive behavior as opposed to passive behavior in centralized models. My PhD thesis 10 years ago was about that topic and it hasn't been as relevant as nowadays.
Amplified by information and communication technology (ICT), the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) of situations challenge organizations to anticipate and reap opportunities. The article hyperlinked below maps out core concepts of agility that organizations can follow to renew themselves and succeed in turbulent environments, signifies principles that leaders should honor for reflective and effective organization design, and touches on practical approaches to exploiting agility for advantage. Citing lessons of experience, the article underscores the need to leverage ICT with e-leadership in ways that synergize people and technology in newfound workforce ecosystems, especially with respect to the virtual teams that characterize the "New Normal".
Article Information and Communication Technology in Organizations: P...
Managing in a time of VUCA will require strong, knowledgeable and ethical leadership. Leaders must have integrity and be agile in terms of sudden change, and implementation of agile strategies. Hence good governance becomes a key factor. However, there are many more factors as well.
Some principles based on practical experience:
1. Use a toolbox of models instead of one - to learn what is relevant
i.e. agile, lean, purpose driven etc. is not always the best for every situation
2. Know your goals and restrictions and understand your perspective
3. Enable others to share their visions and activate their creativity - based on necessary frameworks for constructive division of labor
4. Be transparent enough (not to competitors) in order to enable our cooperation partners and staff members to help you to adopt in an unexpected crisis
5. dont calculate with expected outcomes use of slack and buffers -
you will not anticipate every crisis or be resilient to every form of it - but by simulated tests you will have the ability to react and by the use of buffers you will have the possibility to do so.
For german speaking people:
https://www.allgemeiner-fachverlag.de/hefte/2020-12/
- Badges
- Science topic