On the one hand we are trying to figure out how best to satisfy one’s needs and on the other hand, who is best to satisfy it?

Season 1, Episode 9

Sometimes reflection can help bring about new insights on an old problem — and cause one to rethink one’s own view. In this episode, I revisit my own sidecast with the Talking About Organizations main program from earlier in this year. Titled Milton Hershey and an Organization’s Commitment to its Members, the sidecast presented the story of Milton Hershey, who is rightfully lionized in the region where I live — south central Pennsylvania in the U.S. — as a good man who founded both a company and the town around it. In doing so, he made special effort to provide for the needs of the people. I showed how he served as a perfect contrast to the seemingly uncaring or hands-off forms of management that one sees nowadays, such as in algorithmic management.

Well, I gave my views some additional thought. Not that my views of Milton Hershey had changed (they have not), but that the idea that organizations have some sort of innate responsibility to provide for its members was too simplistic. There was more to the story — and that individuals, organizations, and societies had to be considered in the conversation. But in what way?

From the Talking About Organizations Network:

TAOP Episode 41, “Images of Organization – Gareth Morgan,” covering Morgan, G. (2006). Images of Organization, Updated Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

TAOP Episode 41 Sidecast, “Milton Hershey and an Organization’s Commitment to its Members,” Tom Galvin.