This paper describes the results of a two-and-a-half year effort in proactive planning at the Bureau of the Census in Washington, D.C. Most large-scale organizations merely react to their future(s) instead of actively planning for and thus anticipating the future(s) they would like to bring about; would the Bureau be bold enough to try and break out of this pattern by engaging in what Ackoff and others have termed proactive or interactive planning? This paper not only describes the substantive results of the effort, but more importantly, the methodology that was utilized and developed to achieve those results. Approximately 120 self-selecting participants from all branches and levels of the Bureau (from secretaries to division heads to the Director) were first given the explicit instruction to think as freely as they could about the year 2000 (i.e., not to be hampered by current constraints in the internal or external environment) and to write out a scenario indicating what for them the Bureau should be like in the year 2000. Because of the difficulties that most people experience in freeing themselves from current operating constraints and in thinking significantly beyond the current time frame in which they exist, a series of psychological exercises were designed to make the participants aware (1) of the source of the difficulties and, as an important side benefit, (2) of the often deep and intense psychological differences between them. Above all, these exercises, including lectures on the philosophy of inquiring systems, were designed to make the participants more conscious of the different assumptions that different planners unconsciously bring with them to the planning process. What one type of planner often takes as a "given" another takes as a "taken," i.e., as an unwarranted assumption. Different planners have different innate preferences for different givens, sources of data, kinds of information, methodologies, etc. One of the most important aspects of the methodology concerned the use of a recent social systems design technology developed by Ralph H. Kilmann, which was applied to cluster (via multivariate analysis) the ideas contained in the scenarios on the future and the people who produced them into a strategic-planning design (from questionnaire data on individuals' task and people preferences). The MAPS Design Technology (Multivariate Analysis, Participation, and Structure) thus answers the question, "Who is `best suited' as a group to work on which set of ideas and issues?" Several such groups resulting from the MAPS analysis were utilized to write characteristically different reports on the future. When the groups were satisfied with their reports and when they and the project directors felt that the reports of the groups differed significantly from one another, representatives were selected from each MAPS group to form an executive group. The latter was charged with the task of integrating the diverse themes of the different MAPS groups and of writing a final report for presentation to the exe...
Purpose
Professor Vijay Govindarajan’s “Three Box Solution” framework provides a useful way of looking at a transformative business innovation initiative started at General Motors almost three decades ago and now being further developed by its current CEO Mary Barra.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on 18 years of experience at GM the author offers insights into how the company used the “Three Box” aproach: 10;•9;Box 1: Strengthen the core. 10;•9;Box 2: Let go of the practices that drive the core business but hinder the new one. 10;•9;Box 3: Invented a new business model. 10;
Findings
GM management found creative ways to enable the current business to thrive while exploring the potential market for a visionary business model.
Practical implications
%2010%3BThe%20paper%20provides%20new%20insight%20into%20how%20General%20Motors%20has%20changed%20and%20how%20it%20is%20continuing%20to%20adapt%20%20emerging%20future%20markets..
Originality/value
Based on actual experience of participating in strategy development this paper should help decision makers address their current actions and future strategies simultaneously.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.