ORGANIZATION

WAITING FOR CICINATUS

In 458BC  the Aequie a tribe near Appeinine mountains near Rome besieged the city.The Romans approached Cincinnatus who was intent on farming his land.Far removed from the power struggles of the city he was surprised to know he had been appointed dictator.He reluctantly took on the responsibility considering it his duty to defend Rome.His term was to last at least six months. Instead after leading the Roman army to victory he relinquished his post and returned to farming.

Two decades later the Romans again approached him ,this time to ward of a threat from a corrupt politician, Cincinnati again led the city to eliminate the threat. He stayed in power for 28days and thereafter went back to his farming.

Today organizations exist everywhere. In prehistoric times the tribe ,based on kinship ,was an organization. Later,with the rise of cities and civilization priest and temple society ,kingships arose. Still later the industrial society spawned business and political organizations.

    Organizations  arise when individuals cooperate due to some benefit,which can be called a gradient. The benefit in cooperation may be security,exchange of goods The cooperation is voluntary.      However organizations are unstable if only based on voluntary behaviour.  

   Organizations are long lasting if there is enforcement of rules by a central authority. As the size of an organization increases the share of an individual decreases as the benefits are received equally by all. However those who do not contribute will still get the benefits. So Organization need to enforce rules for compulsory participation of efforts.

   There is a story about enforcement where a priest was visiting the interior of China. On a river he saw some men rowing a boat laden with a heavy load. One individual standing with a whip was beating anyone who was lax in rowing. As the priest attempted to protest ,the individuals on the boat stopped him. They had themselves hired the person with the whip. The purpose to do so was to ensure no cheating occurred.

 However due to requirement of a control mechanism organizations make possible unlimited exploitation . This occurs if the person ensuring discipline is corrupt and cruel.The consequences are devastating for those working in the organization.say a private firm where employees are at the mercy of the owner. In case of public organizations ,such as the police ,the victims are the ordinary people who are treated with injustice.

    When organizations are so vulnerable there should be mechanisms to prevent power hungry individuals capturing executive posts.We should make sure that our organizations have people like Cincinnatus at their helm.

Recruitment in organizations Effort must be made that individuals who are idealistic are preferentially chosen during recruitment.Every method should be considered to prevent power hungry people being recruited by repeated behavioral screening

Promotions Here the stakes are higher. A power hungry individual in a post with authority can destroy the entire organization for his own benefit. The selection  has to be meticulous for high authority posts and thorough to prevent this.

Oversight. Oversight means to monitor compliance and irregularity of workers.However white collar crimes,frauds cost about 350billion dollars in United States. These are committed in corporate boardrooms. In contrast petty crimes are responsible for loss of only 17 billion dollars. A lesson is that it is the controllers rather than controlled who need larger oversight

Ack :Corruptible.This book inspired me to write the post. Please read it .A marvellous book

The logic of collective action. This book details why rules and authority are required in organizations