“Constitutionalizing” the corporation

To become effective instruments in the attainment of a sustainable society, corporations should have their constitutional status settled. Thus far, mainly by Supreme Court decisions, corporations have an uncertain status. They are “persons” under the Constitution and have certain rights; but unlike natural persons, they do not have concomitant constitutional duties. Corporations should be viewed as “private” governments exercising substantial power in society. They are, however, considered to be associations of individuals rather than divisions of society. The need is to legitimate their governing power by “constitutionalizing” them. That can be done by corporations accepting, or having imposed upon them, two principal constitutional duties. First, means should be developed whereby corporate officers routinely take the general good into account. That duty could be implemented by making “social impact statements,” analogous to but broader than the familiar environmental impact statements, before making important corporate decisions. Secondly, as “sociological communities,” corporate officers wield considerable power over members of those communities. A bill of rights similar to the Constitution's Bill of Rights is recommended so as to make corporate power that is necessary for achievement of societal goals as tolerable and decent as possible. Acceptance of those duties would make corporations parts of, not separate from, the greater corporation called society. They would be private, profit-making entities with a definite public function. Preferably, the duties should be voluntarily accepted. Congress, however, has undoubted constitutional power to impose both, should it so desire.     

The Applicability of information-revealing incentive schemes in economic organizations

The applicability in centrally planned economies of bonus functions that are designed to encourage subordinates to report information honestly is evaluated. If central planners seek Pareto-efficient outcomes, a unique bonus function and therefore a unique distribution of managerial incomes results. Hence, income distribution considerations must be embodied directly in the objective function. However, once such a change in the objective function is introduced, an optimal bonus function can no longer be found.     

Revitalization: The most difficult of all strategies

American industry following World War II has enjoyed much success, primarily built on growth and easily consumed material and human resources. Since 1973, however, resources have become increasingly critical and problems increasingly complex. Organizations large and small are faced with dramatic change. Strategies for growth and decline are clearly understood. A little-noted strategy, yet the most difficult of all strategies to implement, is that of revitalization. This article emphasizes the use of technology, middle managers, and interdisciplinary organization analysis as the necessary ingredients for American revitalization strategy success in the 1990s.     

Structural constraints on organizational change: A longitudinal analysis

The results of a longitudinal study assessing the impact of internal constraints upon both organizational responsiveness to the environment and efforts to change structures for symbolic signaling of policy are presented. The causal model used is developed from a theoretical elaboration of Williamson, Thompson, and Meyer. The implications of the analysis for the signaling metaphor of organizational change are emphasized. The data indicate (i) that the varying resistance to change observed within core dimensions of organizational structure may be largely due to durable capital investments, (ii) that within capitalized dimensions of organizational structure, the resulting resistance to change leads to a longitudinal persistence of centralized decision making, and (iii) that failure to incorporate such constraints in analyses of organizational change leads to misleading results.     

Telecommunications planning and the power of expertise

The article points out the often neglected political importance of telecommunications planning experts. It does so by first locating policy planning in the larger socletal phenomenon of technocracy. Next discussed is the relationship of policy planners to political power. Finally the article examines some instances of national telecommunications planning, in particular the USA.     

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER SUCCESS: THE PERILS OF EXCELLENCE*

This article examines how past performance influences the way an organization evolves, makes decisions, and adapts to its environment. It argues that compared to other periods of history, those that follow a lengthy interval of success will reveal companies that are especially apt to: (1) exhibit inertia in many aspects of structure and strategy-making process; (2) pursue immoderation, that is, adopt extreme process orientations; (3) manifest inattention, that is, reduce intelligence gathering and information processing activity; and (4) demonstrate insularity by failing to adapt to changes in the environment. an empirical analysis of the long-term histories of 36 companies provides tentative support for these notions.