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Change according to Kaufman, comes with time and leads to structural alterations and the assembly of new alliances. Statistical probability must be recognized as a contributor to success or failure in organizations.
The ability to withstand change is reduced by the over committal of resources to produce specific outcomes. Resources and diversification are linked. When diversification is used to counter environmental threats costs are incurred in resources and unity. Over time, the ability to generally apply resources throughout an organization increases the chance for survival. Changes are also initiated in the overlapping jurisdiction of organizations.
Organizations use various devices to develop member loyalty. Time, adjustments to roles, and maintaining the status quo lock people into established modes of behavior. The resulting instilled behavior patterns exacerbate problems. Conversely, these same attributes, under opposite circumstances would increase the chance of success. In organizations with strong centralization, the diversity of sub organizations diminishes to create more stable internal environments. However, in these organizations failure anywhere in the web of relationships causes problems everywhere.
Kaufman’s analogy of organisms and organizations recognizes that evolutionary differences are appropriate for different environments. Organizational traits such as sexual reproduction, reasoning and multiple memberships are appropriate for environments characterized by gene variations.
The traits of asexual reproduction, strong biological bonding and self contained physical components are advantageous in stable environmental niches.
For both groups evolutionary adaptation becomes increasingly complex with time. When organizations die they release attributes into the environment that merge with other attributes. Member turnover facilitates the transfer of skills and specializations and development takes different courses.
The synergism of different skill levels suggests trends in organizational development. However, these trends are best recognized only after they emerge. The more we understand the relation of different environments and organizations the greater the chance to proactively manage change. Chance interaction within organizations challenges speculation. Chance, according to Kaufman, is a major factor in organizational success because no other specific factors have yet to be isolated.
The conclusions presented here are reminiscent of the phrase that statistics don’t lie, statisticians do. In the postscript Kaufman states that he believes his hypothesis, if not refuted will stand up well when tested against specific competitors. Within the reality imposed by the covers of this book, his writing does have a relevance to the social applications of organizational behavior.
I strongly feel that Kaufman’s omission of historical references and or case studies has minimized the practical applicability of this book for public managers. Since public sector management encompasses daily planning and goals in conjunction with long term planning and goals, documenting the daily changes for a year end synthesizing of facts may reveal trends and or situations that can be compared to or remedied by the information in this book.
Future publications may refute or strengthen Kaufman’s book. Each idea of Kaufman must be considered as an augmentation to the tools used by public managers to manage in dynamic environments. We make decisions based on the best information available at the time. Conditions change, are unpredictable, and our responses sometimes end up causing more problems than they solve. Though not a very optimistic observation, still a valid one.
