Process – Page 4 – understand-culture

Empirical

Inductive: Latin inducere, from in + ducere to lead. To induce means to: move by persuasion or influence; call forth, effect; cause the formation of. Inductive reasoning begins with observing particulars.

Should the particulars indicate a pattern, a conclusion might be drawn or inferred. The particular is the starting point. To infer means: to derive as a conclusion from facts or premise; guess, surmise; involve as a normal outcome of thought; point out, indicate, suggest, hint.

Deductive: Latin deducere, to lead away, from de- + ducere to lead. To deduce means to: infer from a general principle; trace the course of. Deductive reasoning draws a conclusion about particulars based on general or universal premises. The general is the starting point. A premise is something assumed or taken for granted, presupposed, believed.

Empirical: Originating in or based on observation or experience; relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory; capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment. Latin empiricus, from Greek empeirikos, doctor relying on experience alone, from empeiria experience.

Inductive reasoning

Jennifer leaves for school at 7:00 a.m. Jennifer is always on time. Jennifer assumes, then, that she will always be on time if she leaves at 7:00 a.m.

Every windstorm in this area comes from the north. I can see a big cloud of dust caused by a windstorm in the distance; so, a new windstorm is coming from the north.

Bob is showing a big diamond ring to his friend Larry. Bob has told Larry that he is going to marry Joan. Bob has bought the diamond ring to give to Joan.

The chair in the living room is red. The chair in the dining room is red. The chair in the bedroom is red. All chairs in the house are red.

How the work is done

Germans are results-driven. The strength of their economy underscores this. For Germans work results and work processes are synonymous, inseparable, integrally linked with each other. Germans focus on the details of how the work is done.

Processes are, therefore, results. They are how the work is done. If something does not function properly, if a product has an imperfection, the Germans analyze rigorously how the work was completed.

All problems, product deficits, signs of diminished quality are from the German perspective a failure in work processes. If something new has been developed, Germans not look first at its benefits for the user, but how it is made. How something is done, processes, craftsmanship, approach is always the focus of Germans.

Pet Rocks

In 1975, Gary Dahl, a freelance copywriter, bought several smooth Mexican beach stones and began selling them in the United States as “pet rocks.” But what was initially meant as a joke soon became what Newsweek called “one of the most ridiculously successful marketing schemes ever.”

Within a few months, Dahl had sold over 1.5 million rocks. He was a guest on The Tonight Show, and at one point Gary was selling approximately 6,000 rocks per day.

The reason for his success was largely due to marketing: every pet rock came in a carrying case (with air holes), nestled on a bed of straw. Additionally, the purchase of a pet rock also bought its new owner a manual on the care, feeding, and house training of their new pet. Other factors, especially processes, were of very little importance in driving this pet trend.

Rules

Gesetz. Law, passed by the government; legally binding directive; an inherent way of doing something, an order of things; an unchangeable set of relations in nature.

Verordnung. A directive set by a governmental body.

Anweisung. A command, order; a written document communicating what is to be done.

Richtlinie. A guideline; an indication, recommendation, suggestion of how one should behave, handle a certain situation.

Regel. Rule. Latin regula, a standard, a set of measures; an agreement about behaviour, for how to do something; how in general something is done.

Leitplanke. Literally a guard rail along a road or highway; a guideline.

Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor was an American engineer from Philadelphia whose studies in the early 20th century had great influence on American industrial processes. His Principles of Scientific Management focused process standardization, systematic training and the definition of roles and responsibilities. It led to the term Taylorism.

Caucus discipline

Members of the German Parliament are expected to vote with their party caucus. The term is Fraktionsdisziplin or caucus discipline.

Casting their individual votes in a unified way is the result of an internal process: party conventions define the political plattform; policy positions are worked out in detail; the parliamentary members are issued their guidelines for voting.

For in the end a party’s power and influence in the Bundestag is based on its ability think and act as a unified body.

Fraktionsdisziplin, however, does not mean Fraktionszwang – caucus coercion. On certain legislation Members of the Parliament can deviate from the party line.

They have what the Germans call the Prinzip des freien Mandats – principle of independent mandate, which on matters of conscience is greater than maintaining caucus discipline.

See the Christian Democrats in the Bundestag.

Amazon’s Assembly Line

Automation, surveillance, and scientific management, or Taylorism, in the digital age compares in uncanny ways to that of the factory era spoofed by Charlie Chaplin in his film Modern Times (1936), as Sheheryar Kaoosji, Executive Director of Warehouse Worker Resource Center, Ontario, California, suggests in his 2019 commentary.

New media – New political parties

Before the Internet offered new ways to communicate, small political parties in Germany had barely a chance to make it into the Bundestag, or parliament. By law they have to receive at least 5% of the vote.

Each and every political party receives government subsidies to finance their election campaigns, but based on how many votes they get. The more votes received, the more money to run campaigns. The problem for new parties is that they have to first finance their campaigns out of their own pocket in order to gain any degree of name recognition.

Traditional modes of political advertising are simply too expensive for start-up parties. They can never get enough voter momentum to receive significant amounts of money from the government. A catch-22 situation, or chicken and egg situation.

The rules of the game have changed, however, with the Internet: Facebook, Twitter, and other kinds of social media. Now small, unknown parties like the Piratenpartei, literally Pirate Party, are able to compete with the major, long-established political parties: Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Free Democrats, Green Party.

The Fractal Factory

In 1995 Hans-Jürgen Warnecke, Head of the Fraunhofer Insititute in Munich from 1993 until 2002, published the anthology Aufbruch zum Fraktalen Unternehmen: Praxisbeispiele für neues Denken und Handeln – loosely translated as Breaking out into the Fractal Company: Concrete Examples of New Thinking and Acting.

Warnecke instantly became known in the production world both in Europe and internationally. The book takes a deeper look at manufacturing processes addressing questions such as: On what principle are production processes based? How does change best occur in material flow processes? How can the quality of processes be improved?

Prof. Thomas Bauernhansl from the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing at the University of Stuttgart underscores the ongoing importance of Warnecke’s work:

“The concept of the fractal factory, which Hans-Jürgen Warnecke proposed in the 1990s, remains highly relevant and meaningful today for manufacturing companies. The visionary power of his organizational model can be seen at work in agile and flexible production structures.”

Klaus-Hardy Mühleck, considered one of the top experts among CIOs, stresses time and again the influences of Warnecke on his work.