A Glance into the Future

Abstract

No doubt a great deal of work needs to be done to develop the instrument set we need for the Fractal Factory. But a start has been made. Direct horizontal communication will become more important than the vertical flow of information. The transformation of a function-oriented, vertically structured organization into a process-oriented, horizontally structured one, tilting it, as it were, through ninety degrees — accompanied by a simultaneous change in management methods in the interests of decentralization and of procedures in the interests of integration — will demand courage and effort. Even when the need has been identified, it is still a big step to put it into practice. There are not yet enough demonstrative examples for us to be sure of the way. And the task is so complex that each factory must find its own way, whereas in such a situation the way itself is in fact the objective.