Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 12:09:53 -0400
From: Dr I Price <PEWLEYFORT@compuserve.com>
Subject: RE: What does the replicating?
To: "INTERNET:memetics@mmu.ac.uk" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Bill Benson responding to discussion about what percentage of memes CCInc=
and Boeing might share and my guessing 95% or more.
>When I came up with those numbers out of thin air I was thinking about t=
he
rather large differences in the R & D, design & manufacturing operations =
in
the beverage industry and the aircraft industry.
When you get down to it, though, I'd hate to try to make such estimates i=
n
earnest.<
First I agree it would be hard and I would maybe hate to try but there ar=
e
approaches that might work.
One crude one is language and jargon. My guess is that the language of th=
e
traditional paradigm of management prevails in both CC and Boeing.
A second would be to try and isolate the language that actually determine=
s
behaviour and strategy in the organisation. Research on this is happening=
in other fields and there is a body of empirical consulting that works on=
the cross correlation of epistemology, ontology and language.
A third would be to look at 'The Unwritten Rules of the Game' in the
comparable organisations. Again the work so far is empirical and
subjective however those of us who have worked on this for a few years fi=
nd
that small differences in thinking are often a key to big differences in
corporate behaviour, and somtimes to apparent similarities. For example t=
he
'don't take bad news upwards' symptom can arise from cutlures where
'looking good and profile' are key drivers and from cultures where 'loyal=
ty
and believe in the company' are key drivers.
There is a serious topic here for potential memetics research.
If Price
Active Personal Learning, Guildford UK
http://members.aol.com/ifprice/ifresch.html
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