Darwiportunism.
(Modern work without job guarantees – Christian Scholz)
“Darwiportunism” is a
conventional approach of Scholz (1999: 2003). It is means the
combination of Darwinism and Opportunism. It may be used for descriptions of
economies as well as for single organizations of any kind, such as companies,
clubs, or Universities.
Darwinism.
Caharles Darwin detected
the logic of evolution with the mechanisms of “Variation, Selection, and
Retention”. It is based on the idea of a population, which consist of a major
group of independent individuals, who show specific characteristics. Example of
populations include species of animal such as rabbits and horses, but the team
population can also apply in the business world to describe enterprises of the
same industry, employees, or managers. The competition between different groups
of the populations is based on the evolutionary paradigm “survival of the
fittest” A phrase coined by Herbert Spencer.
The first step of an evolutionary
process called “Variation” During this step all individuals of a population
change their characteristics, so that they will have a better chance to survive
in comparison with others. In nature, this variation arises by chance.
In the second step “selection”,
the environment decided which population has adapted best. In nature selection
means the difference between the surviving and not surviving because those
populations, which are not adapted as well as the others, will be eliminated.
The third step of Darwinism is
called “Retention”. Only populations which survive the selection are able to
reproduce. Consequently, only the best characteristics persist. In the concept
of Darwinism these three processes alternate.
This evolutionary logic is
immanent in any collectives of living creatures and can also be found in the
business world, even if hardly any company openly confesses to use darwinistic
systems. Every day, the fight for market share take place in all industries. In
influence the whole life within companies, where Darwinism is the explicit or
implicit ideological foundation for reconstruction in the direct ion of
“radical market orientation”.
The Darwinistic phenomenon does
not only take place between companies, but in every part of the company itself.
The dominance of darwinistic ideas is reflected in several instruments of
internal leadership. For example, the positive-sounding team of “shareholders
value” means in fact the selection of companies in the capital market. Both
“optimization of the value chain” and “ profit center” means to eliminates
weaker parts from the value chain. The “personal selection” is the intended HRM
part, “mobbing” occurs unintentionally. The consequence of these competitive
mechanisms for the individual employees is that they no longer have guaranteed
jobs.
Companies only survive
competition if they focus on their corporate strategy and their core
competencies. Thus, only companies that have better capabilities in this
respect than the other companies in the industry will be able to survive.
Opportunism
This logic can be found in
respect to the behavior of individuals in organizations. Employees behavior is
described as “intentionally rational, but limited so” (Simon 1957) and as
“opportunistic” (Williamson 1975).
The core of opportunism means “do
the same as all do; Look for your opportunities and exploit them” individuals
act in order to maximize their own benefits, using their individual strengths
to get ahead in the business world. They give priority to their own
advancement, even if their goals are not concurrent with the objectives of the
company or even if they may harm other peoples’ interests.
In consequence, there is no
longer assumption that the company’s objectives are the same as the objectives
of the employees. Instead of pushing common interests, individual and egoist
needs are met; from maximizing the income to optimizing one’s career. These
individuals are characterized by self-motivation and ambition. If they can get
another better paid job, they will seize this opportunity at once, without
regard for loyalty to their current employer.
Darwiportunism
Darwiportunism is a phenomenon of
modern work life. It is composed of the search for individual chances
(Opportunism) and the collective mechanism of selection (Darwinism).
Darwiportunism as a concept assumes that both components influence each other
and might even escalate. Although many companies think that this phenomenon
would not appear in their work at all, it is real and cannot be easily ignored.
But this phenomenon is not necessarily bad but also bears chances to develop
the organization.
The core question is – given the
behavioral assumptions of Darwinism and Opportunism, what happens, if companies
play open or hidden Darwinism and if employees look for open or hidden
self-optimization….?
Combining both behavioral
assumptions in different intensities, one receives four basic constellations.
They are also called “implicit contracts” for the collaboration in companies.
(Scholz 2003)
Figure 1 : Darwiportunism Matrix (Scholz 2003)
1.
Good old time.
This is describe
the traditional work life. On the one hand, the employees shoe their loyalty
towards the company, on the other hand the company provides the employees with
a feeling of job security. If can have both positive and negative consequences.
Looking at the
positive side the company will be stabilized. The enterprise and employees will
work together in an atmosphere of harmony without internal competition.
The negative side
of the “good old time” is characterized by a stagnation resulting from a lack
of internal or external competition.
2.
Kindergarten.
Highly
opportunistic behavior of the employees. They seek to maximize their benefits
and chances, with little concern for the survival of the company in which they
work. This behavior is typically found in the new economy. In the positive case
there will be a high level of innovation and the negative case the individual
opportunistic behavior will put the company in to the difficult position by a
low capability to survive in competition.
3.
Feudalism
Employees must
accept the main objective of the company is to survive in competition and that
it cannot consider the problems and needs of the employees. The employees know
that they must behave in a way dictated by the company. They feel forced to show loyalty towards it
and fear for the security of their job if they do not comply. Positive side of
feudalism is the increase efficiency and the negative effect of increase
absenteeism from work offset this.
4.
Pure Darwiportunism
An open
communication between the two parties. Both know that the other party will only
maximize his utility, but they also know that they only can maximize their
utility together. The companies give the employees uncertainty and the
employees show disobedience towards the company. Both parties accept this, if,
on the other hand the employees will earn enough money. Furthermore, the
employees often change the enterprise, when there is another better paid job,
which offers more benefits for the individual. The positive is there will be a
better chance for the company to survive in competition Negative is the
employees will change the company again and again.
Practical Implementation of the
Drawiportunism
Above all four constellations in
their openly communicated from can make sense in different contexts. A problem arises
the constellations are hidden. In that case the communicated position and the
really intended position are differ. For an example, if the employees see
themselves in the “Good old time” but if at the same time the company seeks to
implement “Pure darwiportunism”, a leadership crises can be expected.
In corporate implementation the
concept of Drawiportunism lead to a differentiated management and personal development.
The modern work system in the global context today does not mean that “Hire and
Fire” of the companies or “Sign and Leave” of the employees should be the
normal situation. On the contrary, it means that new rules of behavior have to be
defined which improve the range of action of the companies and of the
employees, regardless how strong the competition is.
It is based on a clear
communication of the behavioral intentions. Company and employees must accept
their opportunism and Darwinism, and they must also reduce all mechanisms, which
help to prevent Darwinism and opportunism. To accept mean not to feel insulted
as a company when employees decide to leave and to follow different objectives.
This is still a different to ultimate tolerance. If an employee refuse to do
his work or work less or worse than he should, this special kind of opportunism
has not to be tolerated by the company. To accept does also not mean that
companies no longer try to keep their employees.
There are three steps to
implement of Darwiportunism.
01. The
diagnosis of the current position of a managerial decision topic in the
drawiportunism matrix.
02. The
target position in the Drawiportunism matrix has to be define. This leads to
behavioral rules for the companies and for the employees.
03. Specific
actions can be drive based on the previous steps.
References.
·
Darwin, Charles H, The Origin of Species,
London (Murray) 6.ed.1900.
· Scholz, Christian, Darwiportunismus: Das
neue Szenario im Berufsleben, in: Das Wirtschaftsstudium 28(1999), 1182-1184.
· Scholz, Christian, Spieler ohne
Stammplatzgarantie. Darwiportunismus in der neuen Arbeitswelt, Weinheim
(Wiley-VCH) 2003.
· Simon, Herbert A., Administrative
Behavior. A study of Decision- Making Processwes in Administrative
Organization, New York (Macmillan) 2.ed.1957
· Williamson, Oliver E., Market and Hierarchies.
Analysis and Antitrust Implications, New York (Free Press) 1975.
