A volume in Research in Management Consulting Series Editor Anthony F.
Buono, Bentley University This volume continues the collaboration
between the RMC book series and the French management research think
tank ISEOR (Socio-Economic Institute for Firms and Organizations). Those
familiar with Henri Savall's and his colleague Véronique Zardet's
earlier work on the socio-economic theory of organizations will
recognize their assessments of organizational dysfunctions and hidden
costs - but in a different context. In their current work, the emphasis
is on the tensions created by the wider environment - the idea of
tetranormalization - and how those tensions shape and influence
organizational life. Drawing a wide range of examples from the news
media and popular press, Savall and Zardet paint a disturbing picture of
the underlying dynamics and challenges posed by a literal avalanche of
standards and norms - which are often ambiguous and conflicting - that
literally encompasses all that we do. Their analytic framework is
composed of four "poles" - two social dimensions and two economic
dimensions - that capture social norms and quality, safety and
environment standards (the social dimension), and trade-related norms
and accounting and financial standards (the economic dimension).
Throughout the volume, Savall and Zardet's analysis captures the myriad
ways in which these dimensions interact, shaping the "rules of the game"
that dictate how organizations compete and collaborate. Differentiating
the "rules of the game" from "playing with" those rules, they delve into
the subtleties and nuances that underlie these "poles," providing
further insight into how these forces are manipulated through lobbying
and the seemingly 24/7 cycle of exposing, publicizing and rule-making
surrounding social and economic as well as scientific and technological
controversies. As Savall and Zardet argue, we are in the midst of a
profound upheaval that will play havoc with our economic and social
lives for some time to come. If we are going to exert influence on that
reality, the challenges that we face moving forward must be
conceptualized, constructed and implemented today, for, as they argue,
"the road to durable prosperity will be a long haul." Yet, moving beyond
these challenges per se, they underscore that we are also presented with
an exceptional opportunity - the very real opportunity to create a
sustainable commitment to responsible and responsive organizational
performance, one that can be fuelled and financed by our ability to
translate the hidden costs that exist in all our organizations into
productive, value-added activities and true wealth creation. Their
analysis presents an intriguing challenge to traditional notions of
corporate social responsibility, delving into the idea of "durably
acceptable" responsibility, ways to facilitate greater stakeholder
engagement, and how we can capture ongoing and sustainable improvement
in organizational performance.
