Vector of Organizational Change: Products

A vector is both a force or influence and a course or direction. There are four of what Dick Buchanan calls "Vectors of Organizational Change;" four "things" that can be used separately or together to affect organizations. The first of these is products.

Products are the baseline of what a designer contributes to an organization; they create opportunities and allow change. But we're not talking products as an end to themselves; organizations use products to do things. Products in this sense are commodities, material, stuff. They aren't a final goal; they are a means to an end.

Products provide many things to organizations. They can provide physical support for work, create or augment the skills of workers, provide a new language to think and do, instigate structural changes to create new products, reduce costs, and change the company's vision and operating values. The product itself can be an expression of the company's values and vision.

The iPod is a great example of a product as a vector of organizational change.

Originally posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005

 
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