Beyond Leadership: Balancing Economics, Ethics and Ecology, Revised Edition

Conclusion

As much as this entire structure is alleged to be totally democratic, when it comes to discipline within the context of a typical Third World socio-political climate, definite dividing lines have still to be retained between power as a prerogative and power as an earned right. Hopefully, these strong dividing lines will not be necessary once maturity and knowledge has been built up but, be that as it may, the system can survive given the constraint.

A new-paradigm manager needs to look at this industrial democratic model as a matter of necessity. If we sincerely want to be masters of our destiny then we must design that destiny through creative negotiation and not fall by the wayside, or possibly be sucked into the maelstrom. We simply have to grasp the opportunities as they present themselves, and in our case the opportunity is now!

At the same time, it is important to recognize that a fully fledged industrial democracy will only be approximate in some companies, in some places, at some times. What is essential is that our institutions are continually developing. The institutional base of the new-paradigm manager, then, is the learning organization.