In the forewords and introductions to the book, Galbraith sets out his reasons behind the writing and looks to reply to any criticism. He writes as an insight into corporate society, referring to “technostructure” which is my chosen chapter to analyse. Glabraith tells the reader that the book took him ten years to write, saying it was necessary because corporate society was constantly changing. Galbraith led an interesting life – he was ambassador to President Kennedy in 1961 which he says gave him a lot of knowledge and experience to draw upon when writing. His main point, as far as I can determine, is that in society the individual has increasingly less power. Galbraith was criticised for writing too matter-of-factly: he states “I succeed rather better in telling what exists than in drawing the moral”. But he is quick to remedy this in his new book - he is always writing a new book because things are ever-changing.
Chapter 6 – The Technostructure
The Technostructure is the group of decision makers within a corporation.
As Galbraith has previously stated, the individual’s power is almost a myth. Instead, in the industrial state the power to make decisions lies with groups or committees. He asserts that this is due to the fact that technology requires specialists, simply to understand it. It’s simply not viable for an individual to become a specialist in all the required fields of knowledge. It is much better to have a team of ordinary men, all specialised in their field but only their field, than to have one exceptional man who knows it all – educate them narrowly and deeply.
Also, the organisation of tasks within the industrial state needs more than the individual – another example of their lack of power. However, creating a committee of ‘talented’ people creates a problem in itself – it’s a difficult thing to do. In essence, Galbraith’s point is that all important decisions in the industrial state are made (and should be made) by groups. This has several consequences: lack of a superior to veto a group decision (because one individual can only be superior to another individual). This is why the significant decisions made by a corporation are made by groups – usually in the middle of the company hierarchy. Any individual who makes a decision is undermining the process.
Below are some key quotes and ideas from Galbraith's chapter on Technostructure:
“The replacement of the free market with a planned solution puts action and decision-making beyond the reach of individuals.”
“The prevalence of group, instead of individual, action is a striking characteristic of management organisation in the large corporation”
The individual has more standing in our culture than a group – they have souls, evoke sympathy and are easily relatable to. However, within business the group is king. To be part of the “group” with which decision making is their task, any individual must first be vetted for reliability and relevance. The need for genius is “dispensed”, as Galbraith puts it, as a group of able yet unremarkable men take on each task. He gives the example of the moon-landings which were orchestrated by great teams of men, not an individual.
“Better orderly error than complex truth” – the example of a farmer from Wisconsin whose life is controlled by the market and society… he need not think or worry. Galbraith discusses how one man ultimately has no power – referring to Major General Leslie R. Groves and the development of the atomic bomb. In the footnotes he writes of his own experience of this during WW2 in which he was put in charge of price control. “Effective power of decision is lodged deeply in the technical, planning and other specialised staff”.
The Technostructure is concerned with asserting control over the company and then retaining it. Long term planning, the predictability of results and the assured reliability of its groups are crucial.
No comments:
Post a Comment