Restoring American Competitiveness: Looking for New Models of Organizations.

Americans need entirely new ways of thinking about organizations if we are to respond to wildly altered business and economic circumstances. Using the American Revolution as an analogy, Peters contends that U.S. organizations would do well to capture some of the spunk and agility of Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys who, using guerilla tactics new to 18th century warfare, outmaneuvered the better equipped but inflexible British forces. According to Peters, formality in organizations is incompatible with the reality of our 20th century economic wars. Peters presents two "organization maps," both bearing little similarity to each other beyond their circular scheme. The first depicts the inflexible, rule-determined, mass-producer organization of yesterday and today. The organization of the future, as portrayed in the second map, is radically different - a disrespector of formalism and a hustler, swift in action and in a constant state of improvement. Peters stresses what he calls the nonoptional nature of the latter: This is what U.S. organizations must become to survive in today's worldwide competitive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]