Toward a New Paradigm of Management
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-07-05 - 1 clipping

Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: George Starcher, Toward a New Paradigm of Management, bahai-library.com.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM
OF MANAGEMENT
by

George Starcher
Revised May 1997

European Baha’i Business Forum
© George Starcher 1991
revised 1997

All rights re s e rve d

ISBN 2 - 911423-05-4

Published by :
European Bahá’í Business Forum
45, rue Pergolèse
75116 Paris, France
INTRODUCTION

Do business leaders and managers live by a different code of ethics than
doctors, lawyers, politicans, and other professionals in society?

The press is full of stories of greed, self-aggrandizement, lust for power,
corruption, and dishonesty. Yet, there are forces at work that create powerful
motivations to change this behavior and there is increasing evidence of a
potentially dramatic shift in both the values of business leaders and the
practices of management.

The basic proposition of this article is that we are on the brink of a shift
in the paradigm of management. If this is the case, what will characterize
the new paradigm?

This paper explores some of the forces and changes underlying the new
paradigm, offers some relevant Bahá’í concepts which will inevitably influence,
and in fact provide the philosophical basis for, this paradigm shift. It then
describes the possible characteristics of the new paradigm of management.

This exploration is organized in four sections:

A. The Paradox : Divergence or Convergence? . . . . . . . . . . . . .                        5
1. Present confusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .         5
2. Forces at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .      7
3. Promising signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .       9

B. A Bahá'í Perspective on this Paradox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               13

C. Some Relevant Bahá'í Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .              15
1. Macro-economic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          15
2. Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    16
3. Individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    17

D. A New Paradigm of Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                   21
1. What is a paradigm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          21
2. New paradigm of management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                   24
3. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   28

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

A. THE PARADOX :
DIVERGENCE OR CONVERGENCE ?
It has been said that the spirit of our age is fraught with paradox. On the one
hand, business ethics seem to be eroding and the question is being asked,
"Why be honest when honesty doesn't pay?" On the other hand, there are
encouraging signs of a new sense of moral responsibility emerging. In which
direction are we heading?

A - 1 DECLINE IN BUSINESS ETHICS

The profile of business leaders that emerges from the press, television and
public opinion polls in Europe and in the United States is one of egotistical,
greedy, power-hungry men with lavish standards of living and unreasonable
compensation levels:
• 82% of Americans believe businessmen are predominantly
motivated by greed. Harris poll
• "I think in our society we have sort of reduced ourselves to
an equation where net worth equals self worth." Richard Darman
• Many CEO's are bureaucrats obsessed with exercise of
power." Carl Icahn

This image is reinforced by daily headlines in the press about top executives
that have been involved in some form of illegal behavior. Increasingly,
corruption and conflicts of interest are being denounced by the public,
exposed by the press, and prosecuted by the magistrates. A wave of high-level
corruption investigations has rocked Europe’s boardrooms and government
offices. The jailing and indictment of many business leaders and politicians in
Italy, Spain, France and Japan presage new standards of behavior as well as
further indictments of white collar crimes throughout the world. In Germany,
some estimates of the annual cost of corruption in government contracts run
as high as fifty billion Deutche Marks.

Other examples of unethical management practices abound:
• Discrimination in employment policies and practices.
• Business involvement in illegal financing of political parties.
• Manipulation of share prices, insider trading.

However, business leaders are not alone in this decline. There is also
a clear erosion of ethics in other professions: accounting, advertising,
law, consulting, medicine, and in government. According to Transparency
International, a non-governmental organisation fighting corruption in
international transactions, most major cases of bribery and corruption occur at
the interface between government and business, not between businesses.

In addition to the decline in business ethics, two other potentially momentous
trends preoccupy futurists, business leaders, and concerned citizens. The first
of these trends is the increasing social injustice and gap between the rich and
the poor, the north and the south. Capitalism as we know it cannot survive
unless this explosive trend is reversed.

The second trend is the degradation of our environment and increasing
concern about the sustainability of life on our planet. The quality of life of
future generations has already been seriously compromised.

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

A - 2 FORCES AT WORK

While the lack of business ethics appears alarming, there are trends that are
putting increasing pressure on business leaders to change these practices:

1. The globalisation of markets, finance, and consumer behavior.

2. The internationalization and increasing intensity of competition

3. A shift from an industrial economy to a knowledge and information -
based economy. This has created new demands and priorities:

• human capital is replacing financial capital as the most important
strategic resource.

• work needs to be meaningful and fulfilling to attract, motivate
and retain capable people.

• to capture peoples’ hearts and secure their commitment, the
purpose and vision of the enterprise must be derived from moral
and spiritual principles and communicated widely.

• the best and brightest people gravitate to jobs that foster personal
growth.

4. Quality, customer service, and innovation are becoming critical to success
in competitive global markets.

According to the PIMS Group (Profit Impact of Market Strategy),
"In the long run, the most important single factor affecting a business unit's
performance is the quality of its products and services relative to those of
competition. Quality drives market share". The return on sales and the return
on investment for quality leaders are double the average returns.

'Total Quality Management" means doing things right, the first time,
with minimum resources, with a high level of involvement of personnel,
and with a high level of support of management. Achieving this involves
enormous changes in management practices - changes most companies have
been unable to make.

5. Value systems, life styles, and expectations are changing. For example,
younger employees are increasingly seeking fulfillment in their jobs.

Bill O'Brien, president of Hanover Insurance Company, is quoted by
Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline as saying: "Our traditional organizations
are designed to provide for the first three levels of Maslow's hierarchy of
human needs: food, shelter, and belonging. Since these are now largely
available to members of industrial society, our organisations do not provide
sufficiently unique opportunities to command the loyalty and commitment
of our people. The ferment in management will continue until organizations
begin to address the higher order needs: self-respect and self-actualization."

6. The economic environment is increasingly unstable and turbulent.
Futurologists seem to agree on one thing: that the environment in which
businesses operate will be increasingly turbulent. To use Peter Veill’s analogy,
permanent white water will continue to characterize the markets in which
we compete. Several recent studies indicate that, in unstable environments,
value-driven and human resource oriented companies perform significantly
better than companies that do not have these characteristics.

7. Rapid technological change is simultaneously alleviating many burden-
some tasks, permitting greater customerisation of production, and contributing
to chronic unemployment. Modern information technology makes it possible
to decentralize decision making without losing control and to introduce more
flexible and less hierarchical structures.

8. A demographic revolution is creating labor shortages of qualified people,

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

bringing to light the mismatch between our education systems and the needs
of an information society. The OECD warns of a "demographic time bomb"
and a "monumental mismatch" between jobs and workers able to do them.
As a result, according to the recent World Leadership Survey conducted by
the Harvard Business Review, education is considered by business leaders to
be the most critical issue for the future of their organizations.” Peter Veill, in
his recent book, Learning as a Way of Being, emphasizes that education and
learning must change dramatically to meet the requirements for managing
in “permanent white water.”

9. The participation of employees in ownership and management is expanding.
According to Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse in their book, The New
Owners, employees now own more than $150 billion worth of stock in US
corporations, and control an average 12% of the 1,000 largest US companies.
To a large extent this ownership is through pension and savings plans and
trusts that hold stock for workers. The issues of employee representation
on boards of directors, and the role of employees in corporate governance
will be subjects of debate.

A - 3 PROMISING SIGNS

Management literature on excellence, quality, ethics, leadership, and more
recently even spirituality in business is expanding, reflecting increasing top
management interest in these areas. More importantly, there is growing
recognition that higher and deeper values than money must be tapped to
attract and motivate competent people.

Networks of business executives concerned about ethics, social responsibility,
sustainability, and corruption are springing up like mushrooms both in Europe
and in North America. Most of these networks have developed since the first
edition of this monograph in 1991. The World Business Academy is a support
network of nearly 500 business practitioners from around the world exploring
fundamental paradigm shifts in business. Its members promote the concept

that business, as the most powerful institution on the planet, must assume
some responsibility for the transformation of society and the shaping of the
future of our planet. The European Business Ethics Network has grown to
nearly 500 members and is closely linked with the European Business
Ethics Institute. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
spoke out at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio for the
positive action and responsibility of large business in promoting sustainable
development. Similarly, the Business Association for the World Social
Summit (BUSCO) expressed the commitment of a number of business leaders
to contribute to world social progress. The Caux Round Table of business
leaders from Europe, Japan and the United States published its “Principles
for Business” emphasizing the importance of global corporate responsibility
in reducing social and economic threats to world peace and stability. The
Social Venture Network and the Social Venture Network Europe link social
entrepreneurs and decision makers committed to the social responsibility
of business, as does Business for Social Responsibility, a 1,200 member
network of companies in the United States. The Berlin based Transparency
International is leading a crusade to fight corruption in international business
transactions. In Scandinavia, the Natural Step (Sweden) and the Common
Cause (Denmark) are in the forefront of this paradigm shift.

This list would be incomplete without mentioning the European Baha’i
Business Forum (EBBF), a network of several hundred business people
familiar with the Bahá’í social and ethical teachings and seeking to apply
them to business and economic issues. The core values of EBBF include
ethical business practices, the social responsibility of business, stewardship
of the earth’s resources, partnership of women and men, the need for a
new paradigm of work, and non-adversarial decision making based on
consultation. Underlying these core values is the fundamental need to
apply spiritual principles - or human values - to the solution of economic
problems.

Another promising sign was the success of the World Business Forum at

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

Habitat II, The City Summit, in Istanbul in June 1996. More than 300
leaders of business, non-governmental organizations, non-profit associations
and networks committed themselves to join in partnerships with national
and local governments and United Nations agencies to improve the quality
of life in cities throughout the world. This conference created considerable
momentum which can be expected to foster closer collaboration among
business, governments, NGO’s, United Nations agencies, and non-profit
associations in combating social disintegration.

An increasing number of corporations are developing statements of mission,
values and beliefs and codes of conduct. The process of developing and
communicating these credos serves to mobilize management and employees
to-gether in the pursuit of a common purpose and a common vision that
go well beyond profits, pay, and promotions. In France, these "projets
d'entreprise" constitute an important area of intervention by consultants.
When one analyzes a number of these statements, one finds them to
be strikingly similar (see Exhibit 1). They reflect a balancing of top
management's accountability to shareholders with a sense of responsibility
to other stakeholders which include employees, customers, suppliers and
business partners, the earth, and the communities in which they operate.
This clearly represents a higher stage of ethical consciousness on the part
of business.

Management practices are changing. Some executives and authors even
talk about a revolution and a transformation in management practices and not
simply about changes. This is particularly so in sectors subject to fierce global
competition, rapid technological change and increased complexity. Much has
been written about the delayering and decentralization of structures, about
the increased use of interdisciplinary teams, and about self-managed work
groups. In addition, we are beginning to see:

• more use of consultation in decision making to foster creativity
and innovation and to facilitate the functioning of autonomous work

groups. The Chairman of L'Oréal, world leader in cosmetics and
hair products, recently said that every strategic idea is submitted to
contradiction because "c'est du choc des idées que naît la stratégie".
("It is from the confrontation of ideas that strategy is born.")

• greater empowerment of individuals as companies are moving
decision-making authority and initiative to the people who are
clos-est to the customer and the product.

• increasing investment in continuing education and the development
of human resources and potential.

• greater employee participation in profits and ownership.

• more diversity in the workplace.

And there is increasing emphasis on "leadership" and somewhat less on
"management". By “leadership” is meant mobilizing an organization and
moving it to accomplish some defined purpose, whereas “management”
can best be described as a series of processes (ex: planning, budgeting,
organizing and controlling). Leadership increasingly involves filling such
roles as servant, educator and facilitator. As Lao-Tse said, “Leadership is best
when people say ‘we did it ourselves.’”

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

B. A BAHA'I PERSPECTIVE
ON THIS PARADOX
It seems clear that there is a paradox. On the one hand, the decline in
business ethics is only one facet of widespread social disintegration and of an
erosion in the credibility of our traditional institutions such as government,
religion, and even the family. On the other hand, there are promising signs
that a new world order is emerging and that business leaders are destined to
play a vital role in transforming society.

Shoghi Effendi, the great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í
Faith, in writing about universal fermentation, not only highlights and
contrasts the two opposing trends toward integration and disintegration; he
explains that the very forces of disintegration "tear down the antiquated
barriers . . . and accelerate the realization of humanity's distanced goal".
Is this not a very positive answer to the paradox and to those who seem
paralyzed by the disintegration of society? He goes on to say:

"As we view the world around us, we are compelled to observe
the manifold evidences of that universal fermentation which, in
every continent of the globe and in every department of human
life, . . . is purging and reshaping humanity in anticipation

of the day when the wholeness of the human race will have
been recognized and its unity established. A two-fold process,
however, can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way
and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax
the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The
first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is
fundamentally disruptive. The former, as it steadily evolves,
unfolds a system which may well serve as a pattern for that
world polity towards which a strangely disordered world is
continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating
influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence,
the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity's progress
towards its destined goal.

A titanic, a spiritual struggle, unparalleled in its magnitude yet
unspeakably glorious in its ultimate consequences, is being waged as a result
of these opposing tendencies, in this age of transition through which mankind
as a whole is passing."

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

C. SOME RELEVANT BAHA'I CONCEPTS

Few prescriptions for managers are to be found in the Writings of the Bahá’í
Faith, yet these Writings are rich in underlying principles which bear directly
on the major changes taking place in management. An excellent example of
the relevance of Bahá’í concepts and principles is that brainstorming came
directly from these teachings on consultation in decision making. Apparently,
in the early 1950s several advertising executives from New York visited
the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois and were told about the
functioning of Bahá’í consultation. Upon their return to New York they put
into practice these principles of consultation, detachment from one’s own
ideas, building on the ideas of others, and not criticizing others' comments.
They called it "brainstorming".

C - 1 MACROECONOMIC LEVEL

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the macroeconomic concepts
and teachings in the Bahá’í Faith. These are developed very well in two
publications, Economics for a World Commonwealth and Faith & World
Economy. Among the macroeconomic principles are:

1. Spiritual principles should be applied to solving economic problems.
2. Material conditions are a reflection of spiritual conditions.
3. World government.
4. Universal auxiliary language and system of weights and measures.
5. International monetary system.
6. International control of the exploitation of major raw material resources.
7. Free trade
8. Interdependence of capital and labour.

C - 2 THE CORPORATION

Similarly, there are certain principles that will influence management
practices at the level of the corporation. These include:
1. The spiritual and the material must go hand in hand. In other words,
both spirit and form are necessary; there is a dynamic coherence between
the material and the spiritual aspects of life. An increasing number of
corporations are recognizing this. In the words of Robert Haas, President
of Levi Strauss, "A company's values - what it stands for, what its people
believe in - are crucial to its competitive success. Indeed, values drive the
business." And again, "Values provide a common language for aligning a
company's leadership and its people." Dr. Dorothy Marcic, in her recent
book, Managing with the Wisdom of Love, and in an article ”The Spiritual
Foundations of the New Management Paradigm”, published by EBBF,
emphasizes that spiritual principles such as justice, integrity, unity, respect,
and service underlie the new management paradigm.

2. Consultation: Achieving excellence, gaining a competitive edge through
quality, improving motivation through worker participation, accelerating
new product introduction through multi-disciplinary task forces, increasing
creativity and innovation - all of these changes so critical to success and

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

even survival require more consultative and participative approaches to
management.

3. Collaboration of management and labor - without which few companies
will survive in the post-industrial market place.

4. Arbitration of disputes.

5. Profit sharing in recognition of the important stake employees have in
the enterprise.

6. Equality of rights of men and women.

C - 3 THE INDIVIDUAL

Shoghi Effendi wrote in a letter dated 26 December 1935, "By the statement
'the economic solution is Divine in nature' is meant that religion alone can, in
the last resort, bring in man's nature such a fundamental change as to enable
him to adjust the economic relationships of society".

The Bahá’í principles concerning individual conduct in business emphasize
the qualities of honesty, trust, integrity, rectitude of conduct, truthfulness and
trustworthiness. Other concepts developed in the Bahá’í writings that serve as
guidelines for individual behavior in today's business world include:

Excellence: long before the myriad of books on excellence were conceived,
Bahá'ís were exhorted to strive for excellence both in their personal lives
and their professional pursuits rather than remaining in a comfortable state of
satisfaction with the status quo.

Voluntary sharing: considered to be "a greater thing than equalisation."
"Man reacheth perfection through good deeds voluntarily performed."

Wealth is spiritual, as well as material. Material wealth is considered
to be praiseworthy if it is acquired through an individual’s own efforts and
if it be shared or expended to improve the welfare of society as well as
that of one’s family.

Moderation in all things. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í
Faith, "In all matters moderation is desirable. If a thing is carried to excess, it
will prove a source of evil. Consider the civilization of the West, how it hath
agitated and alarmed the peoples of the world.”

Work as service: We all know the French musical refrain, "le travail, c'est
la santé" (work brings health). Yet for many workers and managers as
well, work and worship are considered two different "worlds" with two
different sets of moral values. Bahá'u'lláh brings these two worlds together
through the principle that work performed in the spirit of service is an
act of worship.

Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is replacing negative feedback.
This practice derives directly from Bahá'í philosophy that we should look
always at the qualities in others, not at their faults. By focusing on
and encouraging the good qualities and strengths in others, we reinforce
them. Bad qualities that are ignored tend to disappear through lack of
reinforcement.

In addition, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, says: "In the Bahá’í Cause
arts, sciences, and all crafts are worship. The man who makes a piece of
notepaper to the best of his ability, consciously concentrating all his forces
on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put
forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship if it is prompted
by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is
worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people.
Service is prayer."

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

So, we need to seek work in which we can find this motivation of service
and the will to strive for excellence and distinction. But as managers we
also need to organize the work of our colleagues in a manner that permits
them to derive meaning and personal fulfillment from it. Willis Harman, in
his excellent book Creative Work, says “meaningful work is not necessarily
work that is exciting and challenging at every moment; it is enough that it
be part of a larger endeavor which is infused with meaning. It is mainly
that larger endeavor for our modern, mass-consumption society which is
lacking.” And this is the reason many chief executives are trying to define
and communicate socially meaningful purposes for their enterprises as a
vehicle for building greater loyalty and motivation at all levels.

Not only is work thus elevated to worship, but the Bahá’í writings make it
clear that we must all work and have a profession. As Giuseppe Robiati said
in his book already referred to, "Man is incomplete without work . . .Work
should develop human potential, and use such technology as will promote
individual growth, so that the new meaning of work, as an act of service
and worship, may be understood". Bahá'u'lláh made this obligation to work
very clear when he said, "Trees that yield no fruit have been and will ever
be for the fire."

So, it is clear that work has significance over and above its utilitarian value,
and contributes to the development of spiritual qualities if the spirit and our
motivation are correct. As companies become more customer-driven, with
quality and customer service given an overriding importance in the hierarchy
of values, employees will be able to see their work as a service to mankind,
that is to customers, both external and internal, on whose confidence their
own employment depends.

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

D. TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM
OF MANAGEMENT

D - 1 WHAT IS A PARADIGM?

The word paradigm comes from the Greek paradeigma (pattern). It is said to
have been coined by Thomas Kuhn , the philosopher and science historian,
who used it to refer to the dominant theoretical framework, or set of
assumptions, that underlies any particular science. He defined paradigm as
"a constellation of concepts, values, perceptions and practices shared by a
community which forms a particular vision of reality that is the basis of the
way a community organizes itself."

Webster defines paradigm as "A cluster of basic assumptions that form a
world view" and "a pattern, example, or model".

Marilyn Ferguson, in her book, The Aquarian Conspiracy, develops the
concept further, referring to a paradigm as "A framework of thought ... a
scheme for understanding and explaining certain aspects of reality." She goes
on to talk about a paradigm shift as a distinctly new way of thinking about old
problems, “new paradigm involves a principle that was present all along but
unknown to us. It is a transformation of our consciousness.”

New paradigms are nearly always received with coolness, even mockery and
hostility. The classic example of a paradigm shift is the theory advanced by
Nicolaus Copernicus in the sixteenth century that the Earth did not lie at the
center of the universe. His mathematical calculations showed that if the sun
lay at the center, many of the anomalous motions of the planets could be
explained. This was of course heresy to the Church, and Copernicus did not
publish his work until late in his life. Some of his supporters were punished
by the Church, some even burnt at the stake. His own work, when it was
eventually published, was placed on the papal index of forbidden books.

Eighty years later, Johannes Kepler came to the realization that the sun-cen-
tered system could explain the various planetary movements provided that
the planets traveled in ellipses rather than circles. These two major shifts
away from the idea of the Earth being at the center of the universe and from
the idea of circular motion together gave birth to a new paradigm, a radically
different world view and of our place in it.

Similar shifts in thought are now occurring in many areas of science and other
intellectual domains. One hears more and more about a new paradigm in
health: a holistic concept emphasizing the interdependence of the body, the
mind, and the environment. In education, the shift is away from the notion
that education involves only the acquisition of knowledge to the idea that
the essence of education is learning how to learn and that it is a lifetime
under-taking not limited to the young.

Looking at these and other paradigm shifts, changes seem to go through
the following stages:

1. Anomalous findings that cannot be explained in terms of the currently
accepted paradigm. Initially these anomalies may be rejected as spurious or
fallacious, or the model may be "stretched" to incorporate them.

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

2. An increase in the number of such anomalies until they can no longer be
so easily discounted or accommodated, and it is realized that the paradigm
may be at fault.

3. The formulation of a new paradigm that explains the new findings.

4. A transition period in which the new paradigm is challenged by the
establishment, sometimes leading to bitter opposition by those who are
attached to the old paradigm.

5. Acceptance of the new paradigm as it explains further observations and
predicts new findings.

One thing which is striking: when an idea or a new model has reached its
time, it takes very little to trigger a paradigm shift. Witness the tremendous
influence of Gandhi and his concept of passive resistance. Ervin Laszlo has
referred to this phenomenon as the "butterfly engine" effect: when an idea
is ripe, it is not necessary to have a large engine to drive it through; it takes
something as small as a butterfly to make it catch on.

Václav Havel senses that mankind may well be in the midst of a paradigm
shift when he writes:

“There are good reasons for suggesting that the modern age has
ended. Many things indicate we are going through a transitional
period, when it seems that something is on the way out and
something else is painfully being born. It is as if something were
crumbling, decaying and exhausting itself, while something else,
still indistinct, were arising from the rubble.”

Also, Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, wrote: “The world’s equilibrium
hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new
World Order . . . the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.”

D - 2 TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

Some say that there is no such thing as a new paradigm of management to
which all organisations must adhere. Each organisation, they say, and not
without reason, has its own set of governing ideas, its own vision of the
fu-ture, its own purpose or mission, and its own core values. Sometimes these
are implicit, increasingly they are in writing. They are shaped by external
forces such as culture, competition, and characteristics of the business, forces
which are common to other companies. But they are also shaped by internal
forces such as the traditions, the culture, and the chief executive office.

Yet, the winds of change are blowing, new global patterns are emerging, and
a new spiritual and social paradigm is taking shape which seems destined to
bring about a new world civilisation. Within this context, it seems evident
that a new paradigm of management must emerge, a paradigm shaped by
the external forces at work to which individual organisations are reacting.
Bahá’ís feel that this new paradigm must inevitably reflect the new spiritual
values and teachings inspired by Bahá'u'lláh.

How can we best describe this new paradigm? Its overriding characteristic
must be the balancing of material values so predominant today with spiritual
values. To capture the hearts of those who determine the very survival of an
enterprise, and to win the commitment and motivation of those concerned,
a more holistic vision of the purpose and the functioning of organizations
is emerging.

On the one hand, this holistic vision broadens the purpose of the corporation
beyond that of satisfying shareholders with dividends and capital gains
to embrace a responsibility toward employees, customers, suppliers, the
communities in which the enterprise works, and our planet, Earth. This is
referred to as the "stakeholder concept", as contrasted to the "shareholder
concept", and is reflected in many written statements of vision and mission.

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

This holistic vision also broadens our definition of organisation. Traditionally
"organisation" was equivalent to structure: hierarchy, chain of command,
span of control, and was closely associated with strategy and systems (the
hard values). Increasingly organisations are viewed as living organisms, and
the "soft" dimensions such as people, shared values and management style
are being given equal consideration. One way of visualizing this holistic
concept of organization is the 7S concept developed over twenty years ago
by McKinsey & Company.

The Seven S Framework

STRUCTURE                            STRATEGY                             SYSTEMS

SKILLS
SHARED                                                                     STYLE
VALUES
STAFF

Strategy Plan or course of action leading to the allocation of a firm’s scarce
resources, over time, to reach identified goals.
Structure Salient features of the organisation chart (i.e., functional, decentralized,
etc.) and how the separate entities of an organisation are tied together.
Systems Proceduralized reports and routinized processes (such as meeting
formats), etc.
Staff “Demographics” description of important personnel categories within
the firm (i.e., engineers, entrepreneurs, MBA’s, etc.). “Staff” is not meant in
line-staff terms.
Style Characterization of how key managers behave in achieving the organisation’s
goals; also the cultural style of the organisation.
Shared Values The significant meanings or guiding concepts that an organisation
imbues in its members.
Skills Distinctive capabilities of key personnel and the firm as a whole.

This concept provides a framework for summarizing some of the shifts
already underway in the models and practices of management in leading
edge organisations.

A COMPARISON OF TWO PARADIGMS
OF MANAGEMENT

OLD PARADIGM                        NEW PARADIGM

STRATEGY

Profit: the ultimate measure        Quality and customer service
Time-based competition
Big is beautiful                    Simplicity
Rational                            Opportunistic, intuitive
Centralized                         Decentralized
Short-term focus                    Medium and longer term focus
National focus                      Global focus

STRUCTURES

Hierarchical                        Horizontal
Vertical                            Networks
Pyramidal                           Interdisciplinary teams
Autonomous work groups
Communication through hierarchy     Open communications

TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS

Scientific management,              Empowerment
“Taylorism”                      Job enrichment
Content: tools and techniques       Process of greater value
Information centralized             Information decentralized
“A day’s pay for an honest          Profit sharing
day’s work”                      Employee ownership

SHARED VALUES

Management                          Leadership
Command and control                 Value-driven, vision
Military model                      Commitment model
Competition                         Cooperation
Male domination                     Feminine balance

STAFF (PEOPLE)

People as a cost                    People as assets
Continuing education and learning
Task oriented                       People oriented
Contract                            Covenant

STYLE (CULTURE)

Individual decision making          Consultation
Avoid or resolve tension            Contention management
Work and play are separate          Blurring of work and play
Work as a means                     Work rewarding, source of
self-realization

D - 3 CONCLUSION

Turbulence and change have become a permanent part of the environment
of most businesses. In many sectors of the economy, a serious threat to the
very survival of many companies is forcing managers to make fundamental
changes in their management practices, changes which we refer to as a
paradigm shift. As we review some of the changes summarized above, several
generalizations seem appropriate.

First, there is a shift in focus from “management” toward “leadership”.
Well designed strategies, structures and systems, the classical pillars of
management, no longer suffice in periods of rapid change and great
complexity. Equally important are the formulation and communication of
purpose, vision, and process, the key ingredients of leadership.

Second, an essential part of the paradigm shift discussed in this paper is the
balancing of economic and material goals with spiritual and human values.
Traditional measures of progress such as return on investment, earnings
per share, and gross national product are at best incomplete. Increasingly,
progress also refers to the development of human potential and skills and the
participation of the company in the wider community.

Finally, given the decline in the credibility of other institutions in our society
such as our churches, our governments, and even our families, business
leaders are being called upon to a much greater degree to help solve the social
problems, the environmental crises, and the injustices which endanger our
global system. Growing numbers of corporations are in fact recognizing that
they have a social responsibility as well as an economic mission.

Exhibit 1

COMMON CORPORATE VALUES

A Synthesis of Statements of Values of Ten Corporations

Shareholders:      Profits and growth are essential
Create value
Provide reasonable returns

Employees:         Central to the success of the company.
Encourage, recognize, value and reward creativity
and productivity
Encourage expression of views and opinions
Equal opportunity for employment, development, and
advancement
Respect dignity and recognize merit

Customers:         Satisfaction of customers' needs is our primary mission
Provide superior quality and value in products and services.
Constantly listen to customers and be responsive to their
needs.

Suppliers:         Partners who share our high quality and service standards
Contribute significantly to our quality and value.

Communities: We strive to be good citizens, to contribute resources,
time and talent to community improvement.
Preserve quality of the environment and natural resources

Statements         Honesty and integrity (with employees, customers,
on Manage-         suppliers and shareholders)
ment style:        Participative
Flexible, innovative, responsive, entrepreneurial organization
Quality and excellence

REFERENCE LIST

• Autry, James. Love and Profit: The Art of Caring Leadership. New York:
William Morrow & Sons, 1991.
• Capra, Fritz. The Turning Point. London: Fontana Paperbacks, 1982.
• Capra, Fritz. The Tao of Physics.London: Fontana Paperbacks, 1984.
• Collins, James and Jerry Porras. Built to Last : Successful Habits of
Visionary Companies. New York: HarperBusiness, 1994.
• Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1989.
• Dahl, Arthur. The Eco Principle : Ecology & Economics in Symbiosis.
Oxford: George Ronald and London: Zed Books Ltd, 1996.
• Dupree, Max. Leadership is an Art. New York: Doubleday, 1989.
• Ferguson, Marilyn. The Aquarian Conspiracy. London: Paladin Books, 1980.
• Fussler, Claude. Driving Eco Innovation : A breakthrough discipline for
innovation and sustainability. London: Pitman Publishing, 1996.
• Harman, Willis and John Hormann. Creative Work - The Constructive Role
of Business in a Transforming Society. Knowledge Systems, 1990.
• Mack, Manfred. L’Imperatif Humain : Pratiques Managériales des
Entreprises Avancées. Paris: Masson, 1992.
• Makower, Joel. Beyond the Bottom Line: Putting social responsibility to
work for your business and the world. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
• Maynard, R.B. and S. Mehrtens. The Fourth Wave, Berrett-Koehler, 1993.
• Marcic, Dorothy. Management With the Wisdom of Love: Uncovering
Virtues in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
• Nesbitt, John and Patricia Aburdene. Reinventing the Corporation.
New York: Warner Books, 1985.
• Ohmae, Kenichi. The Borderless World. New York: HarperBusiness, 1990.
• Peters, Tom and Robert Waterman, Jr. In Search of Excellence.
New York: Harper and Row, 1982.
• Renesch, John and Bill DeFoore. The New Bottom Line : Bringing Heart &
Soul to Business. San Francisco: Sterling & Stone, 1996.
• Robiati, Guiseppe. Faith and World Economy: A Joint Venture. Gruppo

Editoriale Insieme, 1991.
• Russell, Peter. The Global Brain. J.P. Tarcher, Inc., 1983.
• Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline. Doubleday, 1990.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN BAHA’I BUSINESS FORUM

• Dahl, Gregory, William Hatcher, and John Huddleston. Economics for
a World Commonwealth: Essays on Economic Theory from a Bahá’í
Perspective.
• Emerging Values for a Global Economy - A Statement of EBBF, 1996.
• Marcic, Dorothy. Spirituality and the New Management Paradigm, 1997.
• Marcic, Dorothy and George Starcher. Ethics and Socialism - Now or
Ever? 1995.
• Palazzi, Marcello and George Starcher. Corporate Social Responsibility
and Business Success, 1997.
• Rodey, Barbara. The Spiritual Dimensions of Microfinance, 1996.
• Starcher, Diane. Women Entrepreneurs: Catalysts for Transformation,
1996.
• Starcher, George. Entrepreneurship, 1992.
• Starcher, George. Ethics and Entrepreneurship - An Oxymoron?, 1995.
• Zahrai, Ezzat. Group Decision Making and Bahá’í Consultation, 1991.
• Zahrai, Michel. Ethics and Third World Development: The Role of
Multinational Corporations, 1993.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Badí’í, Hooshmand. The True Foundation of all Economics : A Compilation.
Bahá’í International Community, Office of Public Information, The Prosperity
of Humankind, New York: Bahá’í International Community, 1995.
Shams, Badi. A Bahá’í Perspective on Economics of the Future. New Delhi.
Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1989.

THE EUROPEAN BAHA’I BUSINESS FORUM

The European Bahá'í Business Forum (EBBF) is an association of women and men
involved in business and management who are exploring ways and means of
applying Bahá'í ethical and social teachings to issues arising out of their business
activities. It is registered in France as a not-for-profit association. There are nearly
250 members of EBBF from 46 countries, primarily from Europe.

The activities of EBBF include an annual conference, a newsletter, a directory of
members, and career counseling for student members. In addition, EBBF publishes
selected articles and books written by its members on management. The external
activities of EBBF are aimed at promoting the following core values and principles:

• Ethical business practices.
• The social responsibility of business.
• Stewardship of the earth's resources.
• Partnership of women and men in all fields of endeavour.
• The need for a new paradigm of work.
• Non-adversarial decision making based on consultation.
• Application of spiritual principles to economic problems.

EBBF collaborates in projects which contribute in meaningful ways to the social
and economic development of selected countries in Eastern and Central Europe
such as Poland, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Romania, and Russia. These projects
are organized in collaboration with other associations and non-governmental
organizations in these countries.

Equally important, members of EBBF led a number of workshops at the non-
governmental (NGO) forums in conjunction with United Nations conferences: the
World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, the Fourth Conference
on Women in Beijing, and Habitat II, the City Summit, in Istanbul. EBBF also
participated actively in the World Business Forum in Istanbul.

For further information, contact the Secretariat:
c/o George Starcher, 35 Avenue Jean Jaurès, 73000 Chambéry, France
Fax: +33 479 96 35 70, Email: ebbf@fr.inter.net
-- Toward a New Paradigm of Management (Used by permission of the curator)