Systems thinking has a wonderful concept called 'variety' to help managers 'control' their divisions or departments without inviting the dysfunctional consequences of overcontrolling. Ashby's book on variety is the bible on this concept. The book name is W. Ross Ashby (1956): An Introduction to Cybernetics, (Chapman & Hall, London).
We use different ways of attenuating and hope that it will work. For instance, police assume that criminals are more likely to repeat 'crime'. In short, by reducing the systems variety and enhancing systems variety to manage it , we try to match the environment's variety with the systems variety. When we succeed in matching the two, we can manage that environement well.
We use different ways of attenuating and hope that it will work. For instance, police assume that criminals are more likely to repeat 'crime'. In short, by reducing the systems variety and enhancing systems variety to manage it , we try to match the environment's variety with the systems variety. When we succeed in matching the two, we can manage that environement well.
Typical western executives are prone to increase the variety of senior managers and executives by instituting control systems, governance systems as compared to increasing the variety of bottom workers and front end officials. Increasing popularity of ERP can be explained to the need of western executives to increase variety at the senior levels . On the other hand, eastern executives use worker participation methods ( and enhance vareity at bottom levels) to increase the variety of a system.
Let us take example of how police can increase the variety of a system. Police can use ‘technology’ to increase their variety or they can use ‘community’ to increase their variety.
An article of Trichy police, Page number 47, in Business World of 3 July 2006 explains how police can enhance their variety by involving community. Some of the ideas quoted in the article are
- Engaging community in street lighting and other issues to gain the community’s trust and confidence in police
- Inviting community to become part of the policing system, through use of suggestion boxes and complaint system
- Using NGO's like self help group of women to counsel women ( who are divorcees, who are wives of difficult men like drunkards and small criminals ) to help them start new businesses
- Using NGO's to address the specific professional issues of fisherman to help them avoid criminal activities
- Running an ex-convict rehabilitation program with NGO to ensure that criminals do not 'return' to crime
Both methods of enhancing variety have their positives and negatives. What methods can managers use in their departments, divisions and units?
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