Policy: Difference between revisions

66 bytes added ,  31 July 2020
no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 6: Line 6:
Management orthodoxy is predicated on policy and process being the fundamental layer of organisational competence. So, for example, a [[root cause analysis]] using the 5 why's method is intended to reveal as the root cause the policy which had not been complied with.
Management orthodoxy is predicated on policy and process being the fundamental layer of organisational competence. So, for example, a [[root cause analysis]] using the 5 why's method is intended to reveal as the root cause the policy which had not been complied with.


Policy is the mountain; the workers are Mohammed. So calling out substandard performance in the workforce is orthodox business management practice. But calling out substandard process or, heaven forfend, [[policy]] — to allege [[executive failure]], that is — is a kind of sedition. Yet history tells us catastrophic failures are far more likely a result of [[executive failure|executive]] than [[operational failure]].<ref>Let me cite some examples from {{author|Charles Perrow}}’s magnificent monograph {{br|Normal Accidents}}: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Erebus_disaster Air New Zealand’s Erebus disaster] in 1978. [[Enron]]. The Three Mile Island near miss in
Policy is the mountain; the workers are Mohammed. So calling out substandard performance in the workforce is orthodox business management practice. But calling out substandard process or, heaven forfend, [[policy]] — to allege [[executive failure]], that is — is a kind of sedition. Yet history tells us catastrophic failures are far more likely a result of [[executive failure|executive]] than [[operational failure]].<ref>Let me cite some examples from {{author|Charles Perrow}}’s magnificent monograph {{br|Normal Accidents}}: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Erebus_disaster Air New Zealand’s Erebus disaster] in 1978. [[Enron]]. The Three Mile Island. Chernobyl. The S&L scandal. Theranos. Madoff. List continued on page 94.</ref>
===Policy and subversion===
===Policy and subversion===
But policy is a [[proxy]]. It is a second-order derivative of the intractably complex life of a modern organisation. Compliance with policy is a quantifiable thing that [[internal audit]] can glom onto. It requires no qualitative assessment, no [[subject matter expert]]ise and no judgement. There is a simple enquiry with a simple answer.  
But policy is a [[proxy]]. It is a second-order derivative of the intractably complex life of a modern organisation. Compliance with policy is a quantifiable thing that [[internal audit]] can glom onto. It requires no qualitative assessment, no [[subject matter expert]]ise and no judgement. There is a simple enquiry with a simple answer.