"This Treatise on Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) will be a major reference work for a long time to come, not only for companies but also, and more globally, for the definition of public policies and in our understanding of "living together." This treatise would not have been possible and would not have brought together so many eminent contributors without the determined and absolute commitment of Professor Henri Savall, joined by Professor Véronique Zardet, to put the human dimension at the center of economic and social activity"--
The result of half a century of research and experimentation in economics and management, this Treatise is intended for management practitioners. Socio-economic management (SEAM) makes the demands of humanism in professional life and sustainable economic prosperity compatible. It is illustrated with numerous cases from 2,150 companies and organizations from a wide variety of sectors and presents observed and measured results. Most of these chapters are written jointly by managers or executives of companies and organizations, and scholars or consultants involved in the pilot actions. This book is the work of 193 authors, from 16 countries and 4 continents, practitioners or academics in management sciences and management. This reflects the diversity of national and sectoral contexts of SEAM applications. Some chapters situate this concept in relation to the major currents of current thought. Each chapter is preceded by abstracts in French, English and Spanish. The prefaces, signed by Herman Aguinis and Rene Ricol, show the scope of socio-economic theory and management beyond the borders of the company. The book illustrates the international influence (48 countries) of the innovative and robust methods created and developed by the ISEOR team. Socio-economic theory constitutes a "breakthrough innovation", both in terms of its conceptual contribution and the practical methods and tools of its applications. This holistic approach touches on the different functions of the company and its multiple problems. It provides a structured change management method, focused on stimulating Human Potential and on self-financing the development of the company or organization, through the periodic recycling of hidden costs.
This volume is part of the ongoing collaboration between the RMC series and the Socio-Economic Institute for Firms and Organizations (ISEOR), a French intervention-research think tank co-directed by Henri Savall and Véronique Zardet. Building on an earlier collaboration on the ISEOR approach – Socio-Economic Intervention in Organizations: The Intervener-Researcher and the SEAM Approach to Organizational Analysis (IAP, 2007) – Buono and Savall bring together over 30 talented intervener-researchers to explore and examine the ongoing evolution of the Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM). This volume revisits the application of SEAM in the context of intervention challenges in the wake of the recent economic crisis and the disruptive change that has taken hold across the world. The basic foundation of SEAM – built on the idea of strategic patience, the need to undertake holistic intervention in organizations, and the challenge to get organizational members to listen to themselves (through what they refer to as the mirror effect) – has remained the same. In response to economic and organizational pressures in the current environment, however, there has been a concomitant emphasis on helping client organizations achieve short-term results while still maintaining focus on the long term. Many ideas that have become part of the current discourse within ISEOR today were not as explicitly addressed in the initial volume – from the destructive effect of the Taylorism-Fayolism-Weberism (TFW) virus, to the need to focus on ways to ensure the sustainability of a SEAM intervention, the growing importance of collaborative interactions between external and internal consultants, and the growing importance of cocreating knowledge with client firms and organizations.
In May 2014, the French research laboratory ISEOR (Socio?Economic Institute for Firms and Organizations) and the University of St. Thomas co?sponsored a second conference on the application of the Socio?Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) paradigm and methodology in the United States. SEAM is a scientific approach to consultancy that focuses on uncovering the dysfunctions and hidden costs that exist in organizations, “hidden” in the sense that they are not captured by traditional accounting methods and financial analyses. Through intervention that encompasses the entire organization – what the ISEOR team refers to as the HORIVERT approach (combining horizontal and vertical intervention) – the underlying goal is to enhance organizational performance by attacking the “TFW virus,” a vestige of the early work by Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, and Max Weber that has sufficiently infiltrated our thinking about management and organization to the point where are falling well short of our own potential. The resultant dysfunctions this virus unleashes creates hidden costs that readily destroy a firm’s value?added possibilities. The volume captures the ideas, applications, and exchanges of that meeting, attempting to bring the reader into the conference itself. Chapters include the contributors’ presentations (“Chapter Prologue: Conference Remarks”), revised conference papers, and the question and answer dialogue for the session.
This book is the 20th volume in the Research in Management Consulting series and the sixth major collaboration with Henri Savall, Véronique Zardet, and their team of intervenerresearchers from the Socio-Economic Institute for Firms and Organizations (ISEOR) in LyonÉcully, France. In 2013, for the first time, ISEOR co-sponsored a conference on its Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) paradigm and methodology in the United States. The volume captures the ideas, applications, and exchanges of that meeting hosted by the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The book attempts to bring the reader into the conference itself. The different chapters include the contributors’ presentations (“Chapter Prologue: Conference Remarks”), revised conference papers, and the question and answer dialogue for the session. For those interested in delving further into the SEAM approach, the volume also contains a general bibliography on the development, critique, and application of the framework.
The volume begins with a chapter by Henri Savall, founder and director of the ISEOR Institute and creator of the SEAM methodology, that presents an overview of the development of the socio-economic approach to management, and its guiding frameworks and methodology. The chapter s detailed explanation of the underlying thinking, tools, and techniques of socio-economic management serves as the primer for the remainder of the volume. The book is then divided into three sections. The first part presents illustrations of SEAM interventions in different types of organizations, including industrial and service companies, and not-for-profit organizations, including cultural institutions and sports clubs. The next section looks at cross-cultural applications and assessments of SEAM experiments in Africa, Asia, Mexico, and the United States, with a concluding chapter on intervening in multinational corporations in general. The volume concludes with a section that examines different issues and challenges in SEAM intervention, ranging from the impact on and role of middle managers in the SEAM process, intervening in small organizations, SEAM s facilitative role in operationalizing and institutionalizing information technology, conceptualizing, and implementing organizational change, facilitating merger and acquisition integration, and the application of socio-economic management in sales and marketing. The book also contains a combined glossary and chapter index that provides a definition of key terms and concepts in the SEAM methodology and where they appear in the volume. These key terms are highlighted in bold italics throughout the volume, illustrating their application in different contexts.
The Handbook of Research Methods in Organizational Change offers innovative and practical information to aid in the successful implementation of research methodologies. Written by a collective of experienced scholars, it provides inspiration for future academics wishing to advance research into human system changes.
The volume begins with a chapter by Henri Savall, founder and director of the ISEOR Institute and creator of the SEAM methodology, that presents an overview of the development of the socio-economic approach to management, and its guiding frameworks and methodology. The chapter's detailed explanation of the underlying thinking, tools, and techniques of socio-economic management serves as the primer for the remainder of the volume. The book is then divided into three sections. The first part presents illustrations of SEAM interventions in different types of organizations, including industrial and service companies, and not-for-profit organizations, including cultural institutions and sports clubs. The next section looks at cross-cultural applications and assessments of SEAM experiments in Africa, Asia, Mexico, and the United States, with a concluding chapter on intervening in multinational corporations in general. The volume concludes with a section that examines different issues and challenges in SEAM intervention, ranging from the impact on and role of middle managers in the SEAM process, intervening in small organizations, SEAM's facilitative role in operationalizing and institutionalizing information technology, conceptualizing, and implementing organizational change, facilitating merger and acquisition integration, and the application of socio-economic management in sales and marketing. The book also contains a combined glossary and chapter index that provides a definition of key terms and concepts in the SEAM methodology and where they appear in the volume. These key terms are highlighted in bold italics throughout the volume, illustrating their application in different contexts.
