How to manage the development of complex organizations… and beyond

Abstract

The article starts with a synthesis of traditional Theory of organization.
This vision of the organization is inspired by the classical view of world, and we use to summarized this theory the “metaphor of the machine”. As gears of a machine, people are treated as systems of skills, which can be analyzed and used to achieve organizational goals. This vision is too primitive due to the fact that it is impossible to design procedures that prescribe all behaviors and measure in an absolute manner the ability of each person. People have an undeniable autonomy that make them create a so called informal organization which autonomously evolves.
“To Manage” does not mean to make an organization function. Instead it means to manage the evolution process it-self. We have developed a methodology to govern the self-evolution processes of informal organizations. We present a specific case history in one of the major Italian metallurgical companies, to increase the level of safety and improve management of the human factors.