About the Internet Influence on Organization:
Ideas from Ronald Coase
Recently I read an
editorial in the Washington Post that described Howard Dean's ability
to engage individuals by using a mixture of the Internet and creative thinking.
Dean is demonstrating that he can effectively work as a change agent
by effective communication with individuals via a small organization.
All other politicians
work as change agents by effective communication with the leadership of
special interest groups via large political machines.
If Dean can effectively harness the Internet
and bring individuals back into the political process, then there
is hope for new initiatives in the educational world.
The basis for Dean's ability to communicate with a huge following via
a minimal staff is based on an insight from Ronald Coase, an
economist who started his exploration of industrial behavior
at the same time I started my exploration of human behavior.
The main idea is that organizational size and complexity is related to the
cost of a business transaction. If the cost of interaction with Dean
is free, then why bother with either political party's apparatus? If
Dean's strategy succeeds, then the market for established political
parties will shrink. See:
I find the notion of "cost of a transaction" as defining the utility of
an industrial enterprise appealing and as applicable
to the structure of universities and medical schools as it is to
industrial organizations. All are producing products from raw materials
and there should be similarities. As students find they are able to
access information without formal university training, as they discover
that they can contribute to society without formal university training, then
the market for formal university training will diminish.
Explore Coase's ideas and lets continue this discussion.
Thoughts about the Medical Monopoly
I have expressed my views about the constraining influence of the
medical school monopoly. I have located others that are adding
to this discussion. Below are useful links:
A number of folks have talked with me, written about my views
etc. Here are some links and PDF files for information related to
my life and the development of the Physician Assistant program.
Interviews
Chinese water torture: All about the PA initiative
Over my career, I have mastered the art of Chinese water torture. If
I don't get my way on the first try, I continue to drop water on my
target until they either convince me I'm wrong, or they finally get it.
The PA program at Duke was my most successful venture and required
many episodes of such pressure. The results speak for themselves
References to learning and forgetting
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