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1ofus
Posts:103
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| 11/17/2006 12:02 PM |
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| I can speak from experience in a very large organisation (BP) where more than 10 years ago the structure was changed to reflect better what we term here 'communities'. It is called there Peer Networks and this new organisational structure is in large measure credited for the surge in fortunes of the company over this period. |
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joe_flum
Posts:151
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| 11/17/2006 12:05 PM |
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| Lilly, let's try to keep our heads open here. we need to respect the beliefs and professions that each member has. If not, the forum could degenerate into a semantic war. Why don't we focus on the base ideas, and not on the validity of someone's profession. |
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joe_flum
Posts:151
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| 11/17/2006 12:07 PM |
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| How are these "Peer Networks" organized? What is the basic idea? |
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1ofus
Posts:103
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| 11/17/2006 12:10 PM |
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OK, let me try here.
You say:
"We believe communities will prove valuable to business. We want to explore all of the ways this is true."
I suggest:
"We have gathered evidence to show that communities are valuable to business. OUr hypothesis is that this value is largely untapped due to the inappropriate corporate structures. We explore in this book how can this be changed and provide guidance from examples of where this has been done. Note that the examples and the book itself are direct result of the community involvement."
It is not as suscinct but I think it is easy to falsify and test for accuracy. Belief just can not be put to that test. |
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joe_flum
Posts:151
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| 11/17/2006 12:16 PM |
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good point, so where you're going is to increase the clarity of the statement.
I think this is a good direction to take in general. For now, the community is struggling with a lot of these ideas, and the ambiguity is only fueling confusion. Once we are all on the same page and understand fully the concepts, I'm sure we can fine-tune the language and put some of that fuziness back in. |
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1ofus
Posts:103
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| 11/17/2006 12:24 PM |
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Joe,
I suggest we have BP Peer networks as one of the examples for the new Management structure. I am just looking where it could go in existing Chapters and find no space for it in my proposed Part I.
I see where there is a disconnect. If you work in an organisation where the product is not sold on an open market a lot of the chain assumed here is not present. In oil business upstream, the issue is not selling but actually finding it and then getting licence to pump it - with lots of experience and hussle in between. In a perverse way, your customer is the Government of the country in which 7you operate and you pay them for the priviledge. To boot, you have absolutely no control over the price of your end product - a very volotile market decides it!
So, no marketing, nor selling, nor distribution to speak of. Lots of really hairy politics though. Downstream is very different.
Before we discount such strange companies, we should look where the growth is. |
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1ofus
Posts:103
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| 11/17/2006 12:56 PM |
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| Joe, thank you for the reminder about the best in community etiquette. I should not get carried away on my hobby horse!:blush: |
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joe_flum
Posts:151
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| 11/17/2006 1:25 PM |
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Lilly,
Even if you have to sell to government, it's still a sales effort isn't it? In terms of where are the relevant challenges to explore these ideas, here are my suggestions:
1) The idea of alternative management structures (ala Peer Networks) would definately make an excellent contribution to "Challenge 10: Can Communities Effectively manage themselves?". I haven't had the chance to propose themes for this challenge (I'll need to sit down on the weekend for that), but the general idea of the challenge is how we structure our companies to leverage communities in the management process.
2) On the idea of politics, there is "Challenge 12: How Do Communities Govern Themselves?". Which could explore themes not only of internal community politics, but also how communities can be leveraged in traditional political environments. The ideas of e-government and community-based government could be explored. For me this is really important. In Mexico, you'd be suprised at how much private business is forced to work through the government to achieve it's goals. I as a reader would be really interested in the this discussion. |
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1ofus
Posts:103
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| 11/17/2006 9:49 PM |
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Joe,
I think your two suggestions on where to deal with topics I raised are spot on. Will you put a marker there or shall I?
As for the process by which an oil company gets to explore in a country, it is called 'licence to operate'. It is far more involved and complex than sales. It involves a lot of diplomacy on top of everything else.
Plus, often you can lose a licence for no obvious reason to do with you, your company or the operation. Just look at Russia in the last year for examples. Wish it could be so easy.
Having said all this, it is a special case and should not concern us here. |
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joe_flum
Posts:151
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| 11/18/2006 12:30 AM |
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Lilly,
Why don't you start a couple of threads in the related forums, to begin a discussion there. I'm going to spend the greater part of Saturday trying to identify themes in the chapters. Once I've gotten through them all, maybe you can help fill in any holes.
cheers,
joe |
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