The world today is thinking inclusion. The political nose quickly recognised the scent of a new buzzword and the idea of inclusion soon entered the lexicon of our leaders. In the political context, of course, inclusive, describes what one's own goals are and what the goals of your opposition are not.
Truth is in an increasingly competitive world it makes more sense to seek supportive rather than adversarial relationships. And the notion of inclusion should not be dismissed instantly as a fad. If organisations are to learn to live with rapid and discontinuous change, they need to develop new skills in managing all of their relationships.
This was the conclusion of a British inquiry sponsored by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (or RSA). The RSA brought together the leaders of 25 of Britain's top companies to provoke them to think about the sources of sustainable business success.
The Tomorrow's Company Inquiry
- led by Sir Anthony Cleaver, at the time Chairman of IBM in the UK - concluded that, to achieve sustainable success, organisations in the future will need to take an inclusive approach to their operations.
What is of great interest in this conclusion is its focus. It is not bottom line, it is not profitability, not rate of return on assets nor earnings per share. The focus is on relationships.
Through an inclusive approach, the report states, organisations achieve success by effectively managing their key relationships.
This places a burden on the organisation to balance and trade off the conflicting claims and concerns of customers, suppliers, employees, investors, media, government and other interest groups.
The reason for adopting an inclusive approach is that the nature of competition is changing and forcing greater interdependence between organisations and their communities of interest.
Failure to develop a shared agenda between, say, government, commerce and the community will have a retarding impact on business effectiveness and competitiveness.
So, what then constitutes the inclusive approach?
First, the organisation is clear about its own distinctive purpose and values. There is no common formula here, since every organisation has its own culture that develops over time and forms the basis of its relationships. It is a primary management responsibility to ensure that positive values and attitudes are strengthened and that those not instrumental are eliminated.
The organisation consistently communicates its purpose and values. An organisation which tries to be all things to all people or, to put this another way, which presents different messages to different audiences, will be unable to inspire or deliver competitive performance because at best it will confuse and at worst it won't be trusted.
The organisation sees itself as part of a wider system. Tomorrow's organisation understands the importance of its relationships to its success. It understands, also, that relationships overlap and it seeks to reinforce the commonality of interest between them. It knows it is easier to act with consent than without it.
The organisation is able to trade off the conflicting claims of different stakeholders. Where decisions have to be made that disadvantage one or other stakeholders, the organisation needs to understand the degree of risk involved. This is because such decisions change the nature and balance of relationships.
The organisation measures its performance in all its relationships. Non-financial performance measures of success in relationships with each stakeholder will have to be developed if the success of an inclusive approach is to be evaluated.
The RSA's inquiry into tomorrow's organisation urges us to include stakeholders. But who are these stakeholders? What defines them? And why, when all is said and done, are they so important? You need to turn to our training session on The Idea of the Constituency.