Indigenous thinking and industrial thinking 12BUS – Introduction to the quadruple bottom line

A new wave of thinking is hitting businesses in this generation The most successful businesses over the next 10 years will be businesses that combine indigenous thinking and industrial thinking. New Zealand is in a prime position to use this line of thinking for businesses, as we are a country of an indigenous culture (primarily found with Maori) and an industrial culture (primarily Western). Your generation is in the prime position to take this all in and apply it to your ideas for either running a business or working within a business.

Indigenous thinking E.g Maori and Eastern cultures Collective needs first (what are the needs of the group before the needs of the individual) Everyone has a role in the community, and people give to the community they are in. They become interdependent on each other’s roles. All ideas welcome, and a place to discuss and debate these ideas is created to decide on the best decision for the group moving forward. The third position is established. Creative thinkers

Industrial thinking Productivity and efficiency the key. Use the lowest amount of resources for the most output. Scientific evidence of more efficiency important. Focus on improving what is not working. Break down the business into parts, and work out how each part can be successful. Change happens in separate moments, so we can analyse if the change is working or not. The motivation is more individualised than collective – what motivates the individual person or business. [i] Jacob, M. C. & Stewart, L. (2004). Practical matter: Newton’s science in the service of industry and empire, 1687-1851. Harvard University Press., [ii] Burke, W. W. (2008). Organization change: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, As seen in: https://kakiewrites.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/industrial-thinking-mindset-ch ange-management/

Industrial thinking can bring you great gains, but it has it’s issues… We can sacrifice the people and planet for maximum efficiency of producing a product. With individual motivations, people become protective of their methods, and hold onto information for personal gain. Once an efficient method is created, people can become fixed on that method, and no new ideas come up or are knocked down.

Indigenous thinking and industrial thinking is like a binary system If indigenous thinking and industrial thinking stay separate, they have their value but do not capitalise on their true potential. The true potential is when they come together Like the 0’s and 1’s for a binary system

Family Businesses Imagine a family business What characteristics would you see in a successful family business? What characteristics would you not see in a successful business?