My last entry was about how transaction costs and some organizational forces are causing my job of changing a work environment very difficult. The reason is that the change will incur costs, and not one time change costs either. These costs will be ongoing. And even though its true, the costs on the other side of the exchange will be significantly less. I need to emphasize this discrepancy in the communication channels, so the decision making includes the real costs.
And it is this decision making that is so interesting. All kinds of financial analysis is performed between option A and option B and comparative tests, but often is the case that the answer is predetermined or it doesn’t factor in some of the harder to measure nuances. People have complex jobs and making decisions is tough. I’m not surprised when simplification occurs.
Peter Tingling of Octothorpe Software reached out to me this weekend. He has a startup that helps in the decision making process. I’m going to read some of his work and probably talk about it some in the future. Coincidently, as he and I are thinking about these costs, the Nobel committee for economics gives out the 2009 prize to Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to receive the prize, and to Oliver E. Williamson. Williamson has written several papers on transactions costs and how organizations deal with them. I’m very intrigued and I will pursue his ideas.
So Congratulations to Oliver E. Williamson and Elinor Ostrom. And Thank You.
Working Thoughts 