Strategy Versus Tactics
Ford Assembly Line, Circa 1913
Long hours, repetitive,
unfulfilling tasks and harsh supervision made Ford Motor Company an unpleasant place to work.
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Strategic issues relate to
the long-term, difficult-to-change elements of a business
that create competitive advantage. They are elements that
competitors cannot quickly duplicate.
Action Learning is a strategic tool because it changes corporate culture. It encourages people to examine the
mental models of
the current culture as well as their own assumptions, prejudices, beliefs and mental models. As
this re-examination migrates through the organization, it allows for the
possibility of creating
new models and beliefs that are more consistent with the current environment, more productive
and more conducive to company survival.
Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is usually the most strategic of
these elements. It is notoriously resistant to change,
particularly in larger organizations. Attitudes, policies, practices and behaviors are
unconsciously interwoven into the daily patterns of employees.
Many companies find success with
approaches to business that suits a particular time and technology. Then,
when external conditions change the organization cannot cope because
the culture perpetuates the original formula. When changes are made in some organizational areas, the mental
models in surrounding functions and areas resist. The changes then revert as the pervasive influence of culture restores things to fit the
original mental models.
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Battle of The Overpass, 1937
Ford "Goon Squads" beat labor leaders Walter and Victor
Reuther.
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The Ford Example
Ford Motor Company during the 1930s and 1940s is a
well-known example of this.
The problems at Ford during this period were generally blamed on the
founder and his peculiar personality. That is certainly true in the
sense that Henry Ford established the culture.
However, this author worked at Ford in the late
1960's, nearly two decades after Henry Ford's death and there were still many
of his counter-productive
attitudes and policies in place. The corporate culture originated by Henry Ford I outlived him
by at least several decades. I suspect that it may still be an influence.
The same phenomena affects the other Detroit automotive companies
and is largely responsible for their recent troubles. When it comes to cultural change,
the only certain
things are uncertainty, inertia and difficulty. This is the least understood and most
troublesome aspect of a Lean implementation. Action Learning can
help.
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