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Related Experiment Videos

Interpretive management: what general managers can learn from design.

R K Lester1, M J Piore, K M Malek

  • 1Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Industrial Performance Center, Cambridge, USA.

Harvard Business Review
|February 6, 1998
PubMed
Summary
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Modern management requires an interpretive approach, not an analytical one, to navigate unpredictable markets. This shift helps companies adapt to rapid marketplace changes and maintain industry leadership.

Area of Science:

  • Business Strategy
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Management Science

Background:

  • Marketplace dynamics have accelerated, prompting organizational restructuring towards flatter, less bureaucratic models.
  • Traditional management mind-sets, rooted in industrial-age analytical problem-solving, are ill-suited for today's unstable and unpredictable markets.
  • Managers struggle to adapt, remaining locked into outdated approaches that assume clearly definable problems and optimal solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the inadequacy of traditional analytical management in rapidly changing markets.
  • To propose an interpretive management approach, drawing parallels with design and research management.
  • To demonstrate the applicability of interpretive management for sustained industry leadership.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparative analysis of traditional analytical management versus interpretive management.
  • Examination of organizational structures and manager mind-sets in response to market volatility.
  • Case study analysis of companies like Levi Strauss & Company and Chiron Corporation.

Main Results:

  • Companies face challenges defining problems and solutions in unpredictable markets.
  • The interpretive approach, common in design and research, is better suited for volatile environments.
  • Successful companies have adopted interpretive strategies to thrive amidst uncertainty.

Conclusions:

  • The traditional analytical management paradigm is insufficient for contemporary unpredictable markets.
  • An interpretive management approach is essential for navigating complexity and fostering innovation.
  • Adopting interpretive strategies enables organizations to achieve and maintain competitive advantage.