The need for a change in the Cuban business system

Administration is a controversial science. Almost everything that is known about it is articulated, according to the theory, the school or the approach, around specialized areas trying, from its vision of the problem, to enhance the achievement of the goal declared by the organization, suffering from a confrontation of the problem administrative systemically.

Most schools of business thought have been based on a partial approach, which brings with it the need to isolate an element in order to understand it independently of other simultaneous and, indisputably, related events. Experts have taken advantage of sectoral approaches instead of using the advantages of the systems approach, to ultimately pay dearly for their position. The limitations of atomism and holism mean that the authors do not hesitate to adopt a systems approach when analyzing management.

The insistence of many administration "evangelists" on proving they have the right answer has made such biased approaches fashionable that have had fans and enthusiasts who believe that there is truly a unique answer to administration-related problems. This explains why the state of the art in administration has evolved at the rate of «gurus» who, at the head of their administrative faction, supported with enough money to make their proposal a «magic recipe», try to make it salable to the organizational world. This makes it difficult for administrators to adopt an administrative philosophy that is adjusted to the specific conditions of their organization; reality has shown that, generally,its "recipe" has been changed in view of its appearance in the "market for administrative philosophies."

Given the increasing complexity of organizations and the environment in which they operate, the use of recipes acting on a single variable seems futile. All organizations seem to be affected by the imperative search for new ways of managing, but it no longer seems possible to reason in terms of management tools and techniques that are always and everywhere applicable, but rather to approach the organizational phenomenon with a global philosophy that allows to make use of tools and techniques as usable means at certain times and not as ends in themselves.

The approach to the controversy

The "administration jungle", as H. Koonz called it, confronts us with a diversity of criteria, which make it almost impossible to follow a single approach in order to manage. Each of them proposes management concepts in which the dominant paradigms that characterize the points of view of the line of thought that govern the theoretical approaches on which they are based are recognized with crystal clarity. So it is considered necessary to take sides in the already perennial discussion on the controversial term Administration.

From the authors' point of view, Administration is: The science that studies the conscious and uninterrupted process of improving the Systemic Quality of an organization, in relation to its environment and the causes that determine its behavior. Which is your goal.

This process is carried out through the diagnosis and application of concrete actions on the restriction that opposes said improvement, combining information, technologies and economic factors made available to executives and subordinates, some by the owner of the organization and others by creditors due to the management of the organization's executives. The success of this process rests, as a premise, on achieving minimum levels of dissatisfaction with customer needs and, as an essential requirement, minimum levels of dissatisfaction with the needs of its workers. These two elements constitute the essence of the Mission of any organization.

Defining the systemic quality

The Systemic Quality of an organization is the category that expresses the unity, the integrity of the organization, its relative stability and its identity with itself. She determines that one type of organization is her and not another, constituting the supreme objective or ultimate goal expressed in terms of Goal and Indispensable Condition that determine the trend of development and survival of the system.

The Systemic Quality has the following properties:

1. It can be constantly improved for the benefit of the organization itself and the larger system to which it belongs.

2. Theoretically it can grow to infinity.

3. It can be measured objectively.

4. It is measured by itself.

Goal

The existence of an organizational Goal is a conception supported by several authors. For the authors of this article, the Goal is the ultimate reason why and for which the organization exists, it is that objective so transcendental that it does not allow postponements other than temporary due to extraordinarily complex conjunctural situations and its most significant attributes are being measurable and always growing At the same time, it is the unifier and promoter of the actions of the organization characterized not only by its results, but also by its process.

The Goal does not characterize only one organization but all of its kind within the system to which it belongs.

The authors will adopt a very direct position to explain the Goal that profit-making organizations pursue, this Goal is necessarily associated with the final result, that is, obtaining benefits - a favorable and ever-growing relationship that is established between their income and their expenses. that guarantees its gradual and continuous development - that allow the Administration as a guide of the organizational process and its members as creators of said result, feel useful to society and simultaneously contribute with their capacities to obtain goods and services that they are going to provide. the satisfaction of the needs of its customers and, in general, a welfare of society.

This is so because there is no result after it, from now on there is only distribution, destinations and a restart of the process. This is not to say that the other goals are unimportant or unimportant to many organizations, but simply that in the end, the non-profit for-profit organization does not survive. Some of these other goals could be interpreted more as ways to profit than Goal in their own right.

In some profit-making organizations, a Goal that delays obtaining the Systemic Quality may predominate, according to the specific situation through which it transits and provided that said Goal is taxed for social benefit and does not go against the social reason with the that has to be met, but said Goal, as already said, must be temporary.

If you accept the concept that for-profit organizations exist to make a profit, then strategy management becomes a much clearer task. Thus, other ideas can be evaluated against the Profit Goal, and performance can be measured against that of other organizations of its kind. Above all, the basic need to generate profits can underpin the entire Administration process, reinforcing the authority of the Administration and its ability to make decisions at all levels of the organization and not just at the strategic apex.

The situation of a nonprofit organization is quite different. The lack of a "measurable bottom line" means that managers of nonprofits or assisted organizations have a harder time acting with clarity and certainty when making decisions.

Therefore, for non-profit organizations, the Goal must be expressed in terms of satisfaction of needs, and not the organizational process or part of it, because its development does not depend on the client's remuneration for the product or service. borrowed, but from the budgetary allocations that the instances, in which it is inserted, assign it. Beyond customer satisfaction there is no downside for these organizations.

In the first type of organizations, customer satisfaction is a means to achieve the Goal, in the second it is the Goal itself, in this sense the managers of non-profit organizations have much more need for a well-developed Mission than managers of for-profit organizations, as indeed she is your Goal. There is a tendency to confuse the Goal with the Vision of the organization, a component of Strategic Planning.

From the point of view of the authors the Vision is the future aspiration of the state of the organization related to one or more means to achieve its Goal. The danger of confusing the Vision with the Goal is to leave it there without delving into the most transcendental, that is, the improvement of the Systemic Quality and not the means through which that improvement is reached.

Indispensable condition

The Indispensable Condition is a necessary and sufficient means that determines the threshold below which the survival of the system is not guaranteed, and can temporarily take the place of the Goal.

The Indispensable Condition in this type of organization is a minimum of cash that guarantees payments in time and quantity. The shortage of money may cause the eventual use of another means to make such payments.

Another means may also be an indispensable condition, in a circumstantial way, when the available money does not have the purchasing power and the absence of said means puts the achievement of the Goal in obvious danger.

This approach is rooted in the condition of money as a redundant medium that replaces any depressed element of the system.

In non-profit organizations, it is the most important, scarce or difficult means to obtain the Goal. It is a regularity of the Indispensable Condition in non-profit organizations the variability according to the conjunctures, although it generally consists, as in the lucrative ones, in a certain amount of money, coming from donations for the realization of their work.

A necessary clarification

Economic relations, understood as the way in which the men of a certain society produce sustenance for their lives and exchange products among themselves, determine, fundamentally, social development and establish the direction, character and content of the functioning of all the others. social systems. F. Engels says in this regard: «The economic structure in each epoch of history constitutes the real base whose properties explain, ultimately, the entire superstructure made up of legal and political institutions, as well as religious, philosophical ideology, etc.., of each historical period ».

An organization is an open system that engages in transactions with a larger system, society, thus constituting a subsystem of it, so it can only survive when it is committed to certain objectives imposed by it that legitimize its activities.

Taking into account the above, it is possible to say that every organization is a complex system governed, on the one hand, by its own internal laws of development and, on the other hand, by the laws that govern the functioning of society, in which it is inserted, as a whole. There is, therefore, an interdependence between the functioning of a given social system and the activities of the organizations that comprise it.

It is in organizations where the economic development of society is guaranteed. Men develop the economy and at the same time transform their consciousness in such a way that the new social values resulting from this transformation distinguish it from the capitalist way of increasing the wealth of their organization and therefore of the society in which they live.

In capitalism, competitiveness is sought through the creation of goods and services ever closer to the needs of customers in order to compete and win in a restricted market and thus obtain a profit for the satisfaction of the owners of the goods. means of production, which in the present case is the minority. The pragmatism implicit in obtaining money as a central objective of the organization generates ambitions and distorts ideology quickly.

In socialism, the competitiveness of organizations is sought through the creation of goods and services for the ever-increasing satisfaction of the needs of society and thus obtain a profit for the satisfaction of the owners of the means of production, who on this occasion they constitute the majority, so for the society in which we live, the author understands competitiveness as multiplying the wealth of society by constantly increasing the wealth of organizations. The forced slowness with which the social benefit is redistributed requires from the member of the organization a high degree of awareness, a level of information and ideological solidity.

It is necessary to remember the approach of Karl Marx in his "Critique of the Ghota program" that the distribution of wealth can only take place after wealth is created. In other words, it is not only possible, but necessary, that the efficiency of each organization becomes the efficiency of society.

The fundamental economic law of socialism defines that, along with economic advance, there is social advance with a new consciousness. This shows the relevant role of economic development promoted by the organizations created for these purposes.

Social unity, social solidarity, social integration of society, etc., are based on objective laws of social development, whose determining factors are economic, so that the ultimate causes of all social changes must be sought in the economy of the time in question. This was clearly demonstrated by Marx, Engels and Lenin.

All of the above allows us to state that the goal of all administrators is the same: to make their companies generate more and more profits. In a very real sense, in all kinds of organizations, whether profit-making or not, the logical and socially desirable goal of managers should be to make a profit: they have to establish an environment in which people can feel useful to society by contributing. with their capabilities to obtain goods and services that will provide well-being to society with the least amount of time, money, materials and personal dissatisfaction, or in which they can achieve, as much as possible, the desired goal with the available resources.

The social responsibility of the company must be understood as the consideration, in all seriousness, of the repercussion of its actions on society, taking this into account, its fundamental task is to achieve the Goal since society expects and deserves it. In other words, companies respond to their environment and become active participants to improve the quality of life of society.

Although it is true that the goal of the organization is to obtain benefits, every organization has a social purpose or basic task that, generally, is related to the production and sale of goods and services, which is the part that society perceives as final result of companies, but to a certain extent to the same extent that the company should be concerned about society, society should be concerned about the economic result of companies since, if these products and services do not leave a positive economic balance for them, they will soon be unable to continue fulfilling their corporate purpose and what is worse they will stop contributing their taxes and dividends, the latter in the case of public companies,to the increase in the quality of life of the nation through the state budget by financing meritorious and public goods that are the duty of the State to offer to its citizens in general and in particular to the weakest and incapable of being directly satisfied in the market. Extended reproduction basically depends on the advantageous results obtained by your for-profit organizations within the framework of their corporate purpose for which they were designed.

Organizations such as media, social bodies, which finally tend to carry out a social task; They are instruments to produce at the same time necessary results for society, so at the top of its Goals is the Social Goal aimed at caring for the environment, security, generating a greater volume of employment, increasing the country's wealth contributing to the state's income with its taxes and collaborating with the improvement of the quality of life of society in general (including its members who are also part of it), through social benefits.

But in order to comply with their social responsibility, organizations must, first of all, achieve economic results in a satisfactory and growing way, so that Systemic Quality becomes a Determining Goal that has as a requirement to take advantage of the activity of the organization defined in a social object. Both Goals constitute dialectical opposites and only the balance between them guarantees the survival of the organization itself and that of society.

Any system is explained first by the function that it fulfills or must fulfill in the larger system in which it is immersed and then by the way in which it fulfills its purpose through the combination of the means it has to achieve it. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of an organization, as already stated above, is to obtain, increasingly, benefits within the conditions imposed by the power groups that influence it (society in general, customers, shareholders and owner, workers, political organizations, etc.), so these conditions must be resolved by the organization with the minimum of dissatisfaction.

The fact of framing the Determining Goal of the organizational activity within the economic incentive of the benefit is not because it is considered that the goods and services in themselves are not essential for raising the standard of living of society but because the process of redistribution that it carries out The State with fiscal policy and in the case of public companies, as in Cuba for the most part, with taxed dividends it achieves a much higher effect because their destinations are not defined by the market, which is served according to effective demand, Rather, the goods and services that are provided have the characteristic of being meritorious and public, which means that they are within the reach of the majority of society regardless of the monetary resources available, as it thus fulfills its main duty as a State.,working for the common good and assisting in a subsidiary way those who are incapacitated to achieve the market goods that are required by their own means.

In fact, from the Business Improvement in the FAR Companies, the economy is considered as a strategic problem of socialism, highlighting that when the true objectives of each production or service activity are rescued, a solid stage in the path of economic efficiency recognizing that, however, these activities often fall into the error of losing their central objective, their reason for being; and they put a high percentage of their forces and resources to achieve secondary and often third-order objectives.

This way of managing an organization, as stated in the aforementioned document, must cease since it violently attacks the economic possibilities of the company, in a particular way, and of the national economy in general. Every production or service organization must and has to achieve its main objective. That is the gateway to the efficiency of the world of economics that must be approached as a necessary entry into the rational maze of economic requirements.

From this perspective, it would be necessary to reconsider the economic indicators that really define the fulfillment of the plan of a socialist state company and this perspective also teaches us which indicators should be in the center of attention of business administrators. The fulfillment in assortment and volume of the production together with the positive result of the economic management of the company, manifested in the profit indicator, are the indicators to which we refer. This last indicator has been chosen because it is the appropriate way to measure the level of efficiency with which resources have been used. These indicators should take the leading role in the analysis of business performance.Compliance with the planned figures in these indicators are those that characterize the fulfillment of the state task assigned to the organization, or what is the same, its social duty. The economic achievements of our socialist society are manifested in a more concrete and tangible way in the fulfillment of the aforementioned indicators.

At first glance the question of the objectives of a profit organization may seem uncontroversial. Historically this type of organization has been understood as an economic institution developing the profit obtained as a measure of its efficiency.

Organizational objectives are currently the most controversial elements of organizations. Many authors have removed profits from their position as a central objective and have replaced it with various objectives. Some authors have marked the profits as immoral and socially unacceptable. This assertion is really doubtful. As said, it has gone from profits, profit maximization and survival to satisfying power groups through idyllic objectives such as excellence, total quality, zero defects, etc.

Any organizational action, if it is not the result of crazy and unstrategic ideas, must seek greater competitiveness, that is, ensure survival in the market, its profitability and growth.

An awakening in this sense has been reflected in Cuba. It has been explicitly stated in the Economic Resolution V Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba that in its Section II (Economic policy in the recovery phase of the Cuban economy) states the following: «Efficiency is, therefore, the objective Central to the Economic Policy, as it constitutes one of the greatest potentialities that our country has… Achieving a purpose of this magnitude requires deepening in some conceptual aspects and in the practices of the functioning of the economy that allow sustaining the economic recovery. "

In this sense, some guidelines are proposed to be followed, of which we will mention those that are closely related to this work and what we want to demonstrate:

"The use of modern business management techniques, adapted to our characteristics and based on the best and most advanced contemporary practices…"

"Carrying out market studies and practicing a more dynamic and coherent management policy is an indispensable condition for accessing income and market segments for our exports."

"Science, innovation and the assimilation of technologies are essential elements in raising economic efficiency and a fundamental condition for development…"

"Raising the quality of production, both for national consumption and for export…"

Later on, it is proposed that «foreign investment will continue to be promoted… and that the necessary link between the most global elements of Economic Policy and those that correspond to the business sphere has its expression in institutional, organizational, legal aspects and in the principle of direction economic and business management. "

It is also highlighted that "within these aspects, Planning plays the fundamental role in driving the economy, even when a space has been opened for the operation of market mechanisms under state regulation." However, the necessary remark is made that “it is up to the socialist State to correct the distortions inherent in market mechanisms in order to reduce their negative effects and, above all, take into account that their inevitable presence implies challenges and dangers that it is essential to face economically, politically, ideologically and socially… In the new conditions in which the economy operates, with a greater degree of decentralization and more linked to the demands of international competition, the timely and effective control of economic activity is essential for the direction at any level… »

However, it is recognized that “despite the progress, there are still weaknesses and insufficiencies in the state business system, which is why the completion of the transformations should continue in a systematic way, through the organizational reordering and the faculties that are progressively granted to companies and having as a definition that their main mission is to increase the contribution to society. "

The V Congress specified the need for the improvement of our companies, therefore the State Business Improvement of the Cuban State Company, was approved as a five-year challenge and a goal for the VI Congress of the Party, becoming law.

This entire process shows an open gap towards the recognition of the need for a shift in our business system towards a search for better performance. This need cannot be postponed at this time of changes in the productive structure that our country is going through and of a world where geographical borders no longer mean anything for commercial and financial relations.

Only to the extent that we are able to make our companies more successful will we be able to make our region and as a consequence our country more successful.

Better business performance means, among other things, effectively and efficiently carrying out the processes of adaptation to changes in the market and the organization itself as required by the business environment, this implies:

1. Another way of thinking: a new management philosophy that facilitates a new way of seeing and managing the company, 2. Another form of organization: of the company and its interaction with the market, 3. Another form of measurement: of the results that point to the true restrictions to have better performance, 4. Another way to analyze the results: taking into account how competitive the company is or not.

However, it must be recognized that in the midst of the changes that have been taking place in the Cuban economy, the absence of changes in the state company was felt. Business Improvement has come to answer this "call." It is aimed at continually enhancing the levels of efficiency, authority and enforceability of the Cuban State Enterprise as a fundamental link in the economy, demanding that they cover their expenses with their income and generate a profit margin in such a way that it is achieved a high performance to produce or provide services with the competitiveness, quality and opportunity that our people deserve.

Without wishing to conclude the controversy

In the authors' opinion, Business Improvement is the most important, decisive, strategic and complex economic process carried out in the country, since it presupposes a change in the conception of the way of doing and thinking that can lead to The current company towards a new stage, that is, towards a perfected company, although it does not constitute an administrative philosophy and is still remarkably influenced by functional thinking, it is, as already said, a new way of doing and establishing new and better relationships (more autonomous) and functions (more profession). However, this new company must take care that the process does not fall into the tendencies of conservatism. This process requires that each employer capture what is being asked of him,it is a process of change and any hint of resistance can lead the company to stagnation or its total decline.

Stoner (1995): «Perhaps the most obvious common element among them is a Goal or purpose. Goals will vary, but without a Goal there will be no reason for an organization to exist.

Talcott Parsons (1969) Suggestions for a Sociological Approach of the Theory of Organizations. Chicago, Aldine Publish. Cited by Idalberto Chiavenato (1981). Introduction to the general theory of administration. Editorial McGraw - Hill de México. Mexico: "The organization must be analyzed as a special type of social system, organized around the primacy of interests for the achievement of a certain type of Systemic Goal."

Kenneth J. Albert (1984) Strategic Management Manual. Mc.Graw - Hill. Mexico: "Often companies confuse the ultimate objectives of the organization (what they want and by when) with their strategies (how they are going to achieve the objectives)."

Marx, C. and Engels, F. (1974) Selected Works. 3 t. Progreso Editorial. Moscow.

Marx, C. and Engels, F. (1974) Selected Works. 3 t. Progreso Editorial. Moscow. Lenin, V. I (1961). Selected works. 3 t. Progreso Editorial. Moscow.

Marx, C. and Engels, F. (1963) Selected Works. 2 t. Political Editor, Havana.

Summary of «To old problems new solutions. Business improvement at MINFAR »Julio Casas Regueiro, Armando Pérez Betancourt, Berto Gozález Sánchez, José Cazañas Reyes, Raúl Lazo. Political Editor. Havana. 1990.

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