Introduction to Achieving the VITAL ENTERPRISE: VITALITY™
The study of the organization and operation of enterprises can be traced back more than 100 years to the publication of Henri Fayol’s groundbreaking work General and Industrial Management (1916). A French mining engineer and executive, Fayol (1841-1925) conceived the idea of an enterprise as a whole operating system, whose efficiency had to be raised to its highest level which required the accomplishment of many different tasks that were to be fulfilled in accordance with some principles governing the system.
In 1987, the Corporate Psychology Center© published Achieving the Vital Enterprise, which introduced and explained a comprehensive conceptual model for understanding and enhancing organizational performance. That model, VITALITY™ - a theory of healthy and well-functioning organizations, was based on a review of the previous 30 years of study of corporations and other organizations of all sizes.
Over the intervening 30 years, VITALITY™ has continued to influence the work of organizational psychologists and other management specialists. The time has come to restudy the basic assumptions of VITALITY™ in the context of three decades of advances in management theory and practice. It is the intent of this revision and update of Achieving the Vital Enterprise to do just that.
Roots of VITALITY™ 1957-1987
Our original analysis identified eight critical characteristics of healthy and well-functioning - that is, integrated, flexible, self-directed and quality conscious - organizations. These characteristics of what has been referred to as the vital enterprise have been consolidated into the acronym, VITALITY™.
Vision of itself and its future — Visionary
Information oriented and competent — Knowledgeable
Thinking precedes acting — Decision-oriented
Adaptable in changing environments — Adaptable
Leadership at all levels — Distributes leadership
Industrious and productive — Productivity
Trustworthy and fair in all dealings — Integrity
Yearning to be the best — Quality-oriented
In short, a good organization is marked by capable leadership at the top; the vital enterprise is marked by capable leadership throughout. In the vital enterprise top leaders confidently and competently direct the organization's efforts. Top leaders' actions are guided by both a clearly articulated vision of the future and quality oriented standards of performance.
Intermediate leaders translate the vision, transfer the standards and transform the meaning of the organization to its members, and reciprocally they represent the aspirations, requirements and experiences of the members to their top leadership.
The vital enterprise is adaptable in changing environments. Whether or not the organization changes, the environments in which it must operate surely will. If there is one constant it is change.
Based on its vision, mission, standards and plans, it takes appropriate risks. The vital enterprise initiates new courses of action, and eliminates obsolete or unproductive activities. It is tolerant of ambiguity. It minimizes unnecessary internal changes and conflicts. It communicates to its members the need for any change, and helps them to adjust.
The vital enterprise is information oriented and competent. In it, thinking precedes acting. The successful conversion of vision to action requires that the organization properly process all levels of information, relating to both its internal and external environments. Communication, and the information it transmits is free from bias and distortion.
The vital enterprise is pro-active. Its decisions are made on the basis of competent information and sound assumptions. For the vital organization, planned change is marked by systematically securing necessary new resources and skills. Even when it must be reactive, the vital enterprise is not reactionary.
The vital enterprise organizes its activities to be industrious and productive, and it is trustworthy and fair in all dealings. The conversion of standards of excellence to action requires the organization to act with integrity, and to set and monitor standards of quality performance.
Productivity is kept at an optimum level by providing employees with adequate resources to carry out their duties. Successful performance is appropriately recognized, and sub-standard performance on achievable objectives is promptly rectified through supervision, training or reassignment.
The vital organization demonstrates its integrity not only through principled actions, but also through the congruity of its values, vision, standards, communication and actions. With the vital organization, what you see and hear and feel is what you get, and what you see, hear, feel and get are honorable words and deeds.
All successful organizations strive to be the best at what they do. But times, tastes, products and personnel change so that the subject or objective “best” status can flee. More than “be best,” the vital organization constantly strives to be and remain the best through the incorporation of the VITALITY™ characteristics listed above in all participants in everything they do,
To ensure survival and growth in times of persistent change, organizations must build and maintain a repertoire of skills to be healthy and well-functioning. In short, organizations must develop organizational vitality.
Vitality - the word itself evokes feelings of well-being, productivity, progress and success. Nevertheless, VITALITY™ is more than an acronym or slogan. It is a total organizational philosophy or value system impacting on a variety of functions, such as:
decision-making
environmental scanning
goal and objective setting
data collection and analysis
staff development & training
individual and team performance
internal & external communication
personal & organizational integrity
leader, manager & employee selection
delegation of authority and responsibility
leader, manager, & staff member accountability
establishment of standards of performance & quality
reporting mechanisms for individual & team performance
organizational vision and the mission on which it is based
Organizations that expect to survive and grow in environments marked by high expectations for quality, continuing technological improvements, escalating competition and ongoing organizational change must build and maintain competencies in the eight VITALITY™ areas.