Human Systems Management - Volume 34, issue 1

Authors: Pirson, Michael

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The various crises require a different paradigm for business theory and practice. For this special issue contributors were asked to conceptualize such an alternative paradigm and propose and discuss heretofore unnamed phenomena. We present six contributions from renowned experts in the field that argue for a shift in perspective of management and organizational research and practice to allow us to conceptualize a life-conducive economic system.

Keywords: Humanistic management, paradigm, post-crisis world, alternative business

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150833

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 1-4, 2015

Authors: Lovins, Hunter

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Unsustainable business practices endanger our own survival. Current business, rooted in the toxic neo-liberal narrative is endangering life as we know it. This piece, invited by the Open Working Group of the United Nations to help it frame the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sketches the pillars of a regenerative narrative for business that can lead towards an economy in service to life.

Keywords: regenerative capitalism, narrative, Sustainable Business, sustainability

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150832

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 5-15, 2015

Authors: Turnbull, Shann

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The research question is how to achieve a prosperous environmentally sustainable global society. The objective is incompatible with economic policies of full employment or of uninhibited use of non-renewable resources. Politically attractive incentives of smaller taxes are identified as a way of changing the way capitalistic economies operates by introducing ecological forms of owning and controlling realty, firms and money. Ecological capitalism facilitates increases in prosperity even with de-growth from a declining and aging population. Crucially, it introduces localisation in citizen ownership and control of the means of production and exchange to provide a basic minimum dividend income for all …citizens. A basic income allows full employment policies to be replaced with policies of fulfillment in employment and/or leisure. The cost of welfare and the size of government reduced from the tax reductions creates the political incentive for change. Localisation also enriches democracy with the power for citizens to nurture their host environment. Increased life expectancy with depopulation is already occurring in over twenty countries and this is expected to spread globally in the current century. This phenomenon with current environmental degradation creates an imperative for introducing ecological capitalism as an answer to the research question sooner rather than later. Show more

Keywords: Basic income, ecological capitalism, network-governance, stakeholder-society

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150831

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 17-32, 2015

Authors: Dierksmeier, Claus

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A paradigm change from mechanistic to humanistic management theories and practices is underway, exemplified in a shift from an economics oriented at the fictional homo oeconomicus towards novel models oriented at the real conditio humana. This methodological turn brings about both the opportunity and the necessity of re-orienting management theory as well as business education to the idea of human dignity, as was common in the long-tradition of moral economics from Plato up to Adam Smith. In order to contribute to this theoretical move, in its first part, this paper surveys important conceptions of dignity throughout the ages, …and then, in the second part, discusses their implications for a future humanistic business education. Show more

Keywords: Economics, homo oeconomicus, moral values, human freedom, humanistic management education, global ethic

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150830

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 33-42, 2015

Authors: Aguado, Ricardo | Alcañiz, Leire | Retolaza, José Luis

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: At the macro level, different institutions (the OECD, the WEF, the UN) have developed sound methodologies to measure the economic, social and environmental impacts of economic activity. At the micro level (i.e., the firm level), it is crucial to develop a methodology to measure how firms contribute to human dignity and social welfare by generating value for stakeholders. Common accounting principles are primarily focused on determining annual profit/loss figures, contributing to shareholders’ interests and paying taxes. This accounting model must be complemented with a new approach that can interact with stakeholders while informing them about the value that firms are …generating. The accounting process should be able to quantify not only profits but also the impact of firms on suppliers, customers, the environment, local communities, workers’ quality of life, employment and society overall. This paper’s primary contribution is to present a model that has the ability to monetize all of those interactions and impacts in a manner that is comparable, auditable, understandable and possible to be used by firms of all sizes. Show more

Keywords: Stakeholder theory, theory of the firm, human dignity, monetization, blended value, sustainable business

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150829

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 43-56, 2015

Authors: Spender, J.-C.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The economics literature on the ‘theory of the firm’ is extensive. But it fails to address Coase’s 1937 ‘killer questions’, his pointing out that we have no rigorous theory of the firm that can explain or justify their existence. In particular we have no theory of how real people, as opposed to computational devices, fit into notions of the firm that can address Coase’s critique. This is surely a problem for those teaching firm management in business schools and elsewhere - albeit an elephant that has been swept under the carpet. This paper sketches a theory of the firm that …stands on the managers’ creative judgments that their reasoning supports but does not dominate; hence the ‘theory of the managed firm’ (TMF) rather than merely the ‘theory of the firm’ (ToF). Along with Adam Smith, I presume human judgment is the source of all new economic value and so see the managed firm as democratic capitalism’s principal apparatus for channeling creative inputs into the socio-economy. Thus managers have both economic and political functions. Firms generate value as managers contribute their judgment in the course of shaping their firm’s responses to the Knightian uncertainties (KUs) and bounded rationalities (BRs) met with as the firm’s freely chosen goals are pursued. Under KU/BR, an analysis of managers’ agentic activity and rhetorical practice complements their rational decision-making and helps us see more of the nature of the managed firm. The TMF provides a post-positivist basis for re-theorizing entrepreneurship, business leadership, strategizing, and innovation management. Practice rather than theory is its basis. It also rejects the ‘separation thesis’ of the business ethics literature, and so provides a theoretical basis for an ethics of managing. Show more

Keywords: Theory of Firm, judgment, uncertainty, managed firm

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150835

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 57-80, 2015

Authors: Pirson, Michael | Turnbull, Shann

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: 10.2 trillion dollars have been lost in the US alone in the first two years after Lehman Brothers collapse. In its wake 45% of world’s wealth has been destroyed and three of the largest bankruptcies in the US have occurred. Just as the majority of observers thought lessons from Enron had been learned, crisis had struck again. Massive government intervention, the collapse of the banking system, and public outrage at the missteps of executives have highlighted once more the weaknesses of mainstream corporate governance systems. Contrary to popular opinion the principal cause of the crisis was not sub-prime mortgage defaults …but a failure of corporate governance, states the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. While the OECD is brainstorming new corporate governance codes, public policy makers are calling for more comprehensive and tougher regulation. How likely will those changes help to prevent a future crisis? Not very likely, we argue, unless we fundamentally rethink the underlying failures inherent to the Anglo- Saxon structure of corporate governance and regulation. In the following article, we thus examine the systemic shortcomings of Anglo-Saxon corporate governance that arise from too much power being vested in a single board. We also lay out alternative governance models based on the natural science of communication and control. We then identify why a single board cannot adequately and reliably control the complex firms that wield influence over our lives. Examples of alternative models provide evidence that managers can design governance architectures that significantly reduce the risk of systematic blind spots, and the ensuing massive wealth destruction. Show more

Keywords: Corporate governance, financial crisis, network governance, corporate architecture, corporate boards, humanistic governance

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-150834

Citation: Human Systems Management, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 81-89, 2015