"Most organizations aren't human, what are you going to do about it?" asked Michael Mazarr, president of an international security think tank in Washington, in his discussion of sociology and psychology of people in the electronic workplace on Friday.

Mazarr, president of the Henry R. Stimson Center, said that the high performance management technique is the answer to this challenge.

"[It is] a style that is aimed at creating an organization in which employees consider themselves owners of the organization," he said.

He also noted we are in a transitional era of management in the business world.

"We are of a generation that will be managing in this transition," Mazarr said.

Due to the turbulence of this transition, the business community needs a unique generation of leaders who have the opportunity to have "a bigger impact that any other generation."

While some strategies work for certain companies and others do not, Mazarr said dozens of studies show the high performance enlightened management technique makes organizations more effective and profitable in the long term.

In addition, he stated the need to motivate employees to encourage active participation, and a desire to remain at the company for a long period of time.

"Organizations need to be structured in a certain way to meet fundamental needs of human beings," Mazarr said, noting that people don't like to be pushed around.

Successful management requires human answers to a non-human organization, he said. Furthermore, for those companies that are now adopting the enlightened technique after years of a different strategy, it will take time for the employees to change and trust the new strategy, but when the people are living it, that's when people will start to see the change.

Mazarr also said there is "no denying the fact that a strong clear vision is important [for high performance technique companies] and there is definitely a role for such visionary and directive leaders."

Prior to becoming president of the Henry R. Stimson Center, Mazarr was the senior vice president of the Electronics Industries Alliance where he established strategic firm alliances and developed an electronic magazine profiling companies and their management techniques.

This lecture is part of the Mendoza College of Business' E-Commerce and Society Lecture Series.

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