Available Roles in the Western Society

The roles that are available to individuals in the society largely defines the nature of that society: many roles for factory workers constitute an industrial society, while roles for knowledge workers constructs a knowledge-based society. The concept of a social role is tightly connected to the institutions that make those roles available. The institution of state enables the role of the public servant, university makes the role of the scientist possible and the large quantity of production and leisure time creates the consumer.

In this timeline I have tried to describe the available roles in the Western society in the last 200 years. This timeline is, of course, highly subjective and dependent on the society in question. To whom are the roles available? Can an individual switch between roles? I have approached this with the idea that social roles used to be selected at a young age and that in the past they were more fixed for the whole lifetime than they are now.

It is a matter of another debate to consider which roles are currently available. There can also be a mismatch of available roles between the educational system and the economy. Studying how large percentage of graduates are employed to their own field is one indicator for the amount of mismatch. For example, the fact that Masters and Doctors of Philosophy end up as cleaners and cashiers indicates the inflation/disappearance of the role of the scientist.

Understanding Companies as Organisms

This model is to understand the actual dynamics in companies. Two definitions should be mentioned:

• Interests are what the actors think is good for them on a deeper level. Interests can be real, perceived or imaginary, but it cannot be said if a particular interest is “real interest” or “imagined interest” because such statements inevitably include value judgments. That is to say, “real” and “imagined” are loaded words.

  Interests depend on the point of view: for example, shareholders view of the management’s interests (“what management thinks is good for them”) may be different from their own views, as well as differ from the employees’ point of view. These points of view are also constantly fluctuating, depending on recent events, cultural discourses and personal experiences.

• Goals are the practical aspirations of the actors. A goal might be to increase sales by 20 % or to increase health of the employees. Goals spring from interests.