Corporations and the military share a number of features. Both tend to fairly strictly organized with specific procedures and qualifications required for advancement. Both tend to employ large numbers of people, which requires significant administration. Most importantly, corporations and the military both have a fundamental need for a preparedness to implement change. What is interesting is that, even though corporations exist free of many of the constraints of the military and employ fewer people, they exhibit less preparedness than the military when it comes time to implement change.
In theory, both organizational structures should be in the practice of anticipating changes. The military should be anticipating changes in terms of potential attacks, responses to attacks, and protocols for dealing with new threats. Corporations should be anticipating potential changes in areas which affect them directly, such as oil prices or new legislation.
What is interesting is that the military, for all the flack it takes for excessive bureaucracy, tends to practice preparedness to a greater degree. It is standard practice for the military to run exercises which mimic a variety of circumstances, ranging from best to worst case scenarios. Corporations, on the other hand, tend to eschew the practicalities of how to implement change until such changes are thrust upon them. This may explain why instances where corporations are forced to implement change create so much internal culture shock.
History has shown that the unprepared often suffer for their lack of preparedness. The argument can be made that this lack stems in part from the tendency to fixate on the present moment problems of running a business. However, such a fixation on running the business inevitably results in a detriment of preparedness and a reduced ability to implement change. In a world where change is happening ever faster and more frequently, the ability to implement change effectively is going to determine which corporations thrive and which ones will fail.
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