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Introduction to the Co-operative Theory of a Region

Artur Mazurkiewicz

Silesian Technical Univesity of Gliwice The end of industrial organisation and analog modelling in management – structural approach as a tool

creating development. When analysing the process of economic transformations in Poland the crucial role of local authorities and self-government in the life of individuals, whole local community and its territorial region seems to be prevailing. The course of history in Poland caused the necessity of re-creation of local government and re-defining its function and regulatory role in transforming government. In this situation the opportunity of observing real political, administrative and social divisions, processes of constructing local self-government, creating boarders and opinions considering various local problems1, enables to perceive a region not as a certain historically shaped entity but to classify it in the way that will enable further analyses in the categories of civilisational events. When analysed in retrospect it is very difficult to compare different traditions and roles of local authorities in establishing state governments, nevertheless there are certain regularities in creating structures and institutions responsible for the operation of a human community in a territorial dimension. Similarly the European Union uses and develops this model it its regional policy. In the 90s the regional policy of the European Union was shifted from instrumental activities of investing and direct financing of enterprises to enhancing the self-reliance of local communities and individual self-creation as well as shaping their own surrounding (Pietrzyk 2001) s.26-28. Creative approach to a region in European policy requires a new theoretical approach to the processes of development as well as a new interpretation of rationality of operation not only when a business enterprise is considered, but also when applied to a society. Variability of structures and forms of self-organising requires abandoning large organisational structures, even those complex (McElroy 2000) (Nicolis, Prigogine 1989 ) and focusing on thorough description of existing relations and connections that are registered in a real space of social events. Local authorities and community are the main factors of enhancing development and transformation within the scope of competitive inner relations and external dependencies of self-governing community. The increasing number of elements in social space of events decides about the capability to solve problems humans meet as a civilisation at least in the area of economy. It should be mentioned that in this situation territorial affiliation becomes a tool and a consequence of global division. Regional division, as the smallest unit, enables its inhabitants to recognise one another in globalising world thanks to creating distinctive identifying features of identity2 and therefore maintaining order. Combining territorial creative ability and local identity together with the activities of numerous institutions enhancing local development, aiding in retaining competitiveness and promoting entrepreneurial forms of behaviour, introduces a concept of regional social capital and creates the necessity of discussing its influence on the economic results observed in econometric scale. The trend of applying techniques and tools developed for management of a business organisation (Stachowicz, Kordel 2004) has been successfully adopted into the regional authorities operations as well as into the operations of smaller territorial units e.g. communes or euroregions. However these activities are quite satisfactory when put into practice, they cause numerous questions concerning their theoretical clarity. Scientific dispute about objectivity or subjectivity of a region as a category proves that no proper interpretation of the problem has been found yet. J. Adamiak, W. Kosiedowski, A. Potoczek, B. Słowińska (Adamiak i inni 2001) s.17, present an abounding discussion on a category of region, in which it is defined as a certain fragment of the Earth that has been isolated from the surrounding with a certain procedure based on assumed criteria. From the point of view of a researcher and scientist, stress the authors mentioned earlier, [...] „criteria of delimitation (setting the borders) of a region will be always disputable because of an inevitable degree of subjectivism in the process of their definition” [...]. Therefore regional division cannot be treated as objective. However this statement does not solve the problem. In practice adopting some division as a basis for further decision making, even if it is not perfect, is indispensable. Thus each decision concerning a

1 The problem as an economic category – classical definition of a necessity (Senyszyn 1995)s.15 – understood as a difficulty, an objective and subjective sense of lack, violation of balance or some discomfort that can be satisfied with goods or services, but also in wider interpretation: a necessity perceived as an opportunity of a change in social relations of co-operation and conditions of social games as well as conflict of interests resulting from building more profitable social organisation. The idea will be developed in the next part of this consideration. 2 This idea will be discussed in the next part of the consideration.

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region is subjective and this fact causes the necessity of constant verification of imposed constrains. Practical example of the presented problem is so called „border effect” which can be observed on the state borders and suggested solutions of activating the frontiers thanks to establishing areas of across-border co-operation3. It can be concluded that territorial division is not a theoretical concept but a life necessity. Minimising the problem of regional delimitation leads to too narrow interpretation of the problem especially in the widely popular system approach. Quoted earlier J. Adamiak and others in their w synthesising work presented an economic approach to a region and they suggested there to interpret the concept of a region on the basis of the system theory. However defining a region as a system does not solve the problem. There is still a problem of subjectivity. The spatial division of natural geological or antropogenic forms or human communities cannot be objectivised by reducing them to space itself. Maybe a reverse operation is necessary and a division should be substituted with the process of joining territorial qualities of certain elements. Objectivity will be displayed in partial or total affiliation with a certain spatial-problem structure. Continuing, the concept of a region and its systemic genesis originate from the necessity of “steering” the development interdependence of all the participants of all the life space. A new definition of a region as a problem structure with certain spatial features and participating in the union system of Europe and finally in the global division of the world can be suggested herein. Social development processes together with Nature, interests of different groups and various social relations are the objects in the process of balancing reciprocal dependencies as well as an object of a packet of services in which a region has a role of “ a service unit” and “balance limit” in the process of civilisational development and regulations. Such approach should be adapted to every single problem and therefore it changes the concept of a region perceived as a monumental whole to viewing it as a packet of problems possessing individual (also spatial) features. This packet will remain a systemic whole but it will be defined by the structure of knowledge about certain real objects described by a set of recognisable phenomena and regularities that are being considered in a given model. This set will be characterised by space of delimitation states on the bases of the depth and width of contained within it knowledge. Therefore a region has been defined as not informational but a structural model of knowledge yet it still can be transformed and stimulated in a digital form. Such a multifarious description becomes the basis for creating a new approach. It is useable only for representative number of identified real objects and in the situation when the objects are individually and effectively characterised in the terms of space and content. In new dynamic conditions the structure under consideration undergoes various changes and particularisation and thanks to the fact that it functions in an abstract space when verified in practice it regulates real processes. Creation of such a structure gives an opportunity of defining it by a concept of stability established by the links caused by the willingness of participants for co-operation. Structural dynamics and elusiveness of the structure cause the change from the concept of structure to the concept of stability in the situation when it is influenced by the processes of synergic creation and joining of equal identities in the creative processes indispensable for functioning in an unstable environment. In a structural approach a region is an open entity and it can change and develop its objects. Independent and not politically influenced individual life strategies of permanent and seasonal inhabitants who have the freedom of an almost unlimited choice of settling down, demonstrates synergic character of human behaviours – their usability, satisfaction and life interests. This statement demonstrates the sense of individual affiliation with a regional or local community. Respective life stages and examples of life missions create a vision of an individual fate when based on the regional composition. Such a composition is realised in the mental sphere with the help of knowledge structures. Thanks to independent division of activities into mental and real spheres in mutual creative interaction problems can be isolated from their real life context and then put into logic sets – they become representative for the whole of the problem. It is an alternative for complex of real entities connected with the objects. Presented herein methodology of structural investigation differs from analytic approach to analog models as real units. In the presented consideration of structural cognition4 of reality (including mass, energy and information – representative set of a real object features – logic structure) it becomes an analysis of problem sections that have been isolated form the whole. Complexity of knowledge and description of problems enables, even in a complex structure, dealing with pareto of factors in a given situation. Such an approach implies that territorial division should be treated as a composition of many elements (problems) in their content and spatial context. Such diversity stays in multidimensional structure, but the necessity of observation and reacting to various problems causes that they have to be grouped and rationalised. The quality of regionality is therefore defined by e the scope of impingement (instruments or steering) of a problem and its affiliation with the source of that impingement. In this way a problem–spatial structure of civilisational system (Mazurkiewicz 2002) s. 207 can be created, where one of the possible solutions is division and local administration. Continuing the considerations we come to the conclusion that, a problem and then location of its solution co-ordination centre befittingly to the stakeholders become the essence of description of some isolated social community. Territorial characteristics

3 transgraniczność can be characterised on the example of the Silesian region (Klasik, Milerski 2001)s. 19-31 4 - developed idea of interactive cognition in social enviroment based on cognitive theory discribed by (Spiro, Jehng 1990)

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have their cost and logistic meaning when the solution of a given problem is taken into consideration. Those prosaic reasons are the cause of numerous unsolved global problems. Also many local problems are unsolved or doubled because the attempts to solve them are not rationalised. Another practical conclusion is that there are no researches on complexity of unit problems, neither they are mapped, nor there are any analyses of their influence on region development.

Discussion on the Limits of the Theory of Organisational Change and Development of Management

Science

The problemic approach presented in this consideration to a problem binding regional matter, but which is to be solved by a given community leads to a known in economics and management category of a need understood as a need of knowledge or service but fulfilled through progressive social and business changes in a community. The authors of these changes are not traditionally perceived business organisations, but regional and national governments initiating conditions of a new social “game” with new values and merits. It is created in the process of formation and development of a region that is constituted according to an adapted regional policy. This approach is a new and extended interpretation of the present-day concept of a need. It requires redefining of our understanding of managing in an economic system and knowledge society. When confronted with practice the theory of consumption is considerably stipulated by industrial and market approach disregarding social reality of interdependence of individuals. Economic and organisational prospect of human community investigation cannot leave unnoticed limitation of freedom of market choice and unlimited maximisation of profits and value creation (Łustacz 1981) s. 214. Pro-consumption orientation of Jevons – Mengers – Walras, but also other economic theories concentrating on the market do not take into account a large number of social conditions reducing them to different aspects of the problem of economic growth (Bartkowiak 2003):

• Smith’s relative abundance of natural resources for conducting economic activities, • Solow’s abundant economy, • Situation of impassable limits of economic growth and Neorocardian shortage economy.

We perceive the paradigm of future economy in the categories of an optimal use of natural resources, freedom of individual enrichment and technology progress that results in an unknown formula of further growth. In this situation it is not possible to refute the existing paradigm nor is it possible to indicate further future trends of development as they are lost in numerous metaphoric models and approximations. Analysis of A. Wojtyna of keynesism treated as a main stream of economics is concluded with a statement that none of leading schools of economics can expect its final victory. The view of Stiglitz, that economists can agree upon tools of analysis, but there is no agreement on development of model describing economy. ”[...] seems to be currently pertinent estimation. The fact that there is no consensus among prominent economic schools convinced some of the scientists to start searching for more radical solutions. This situation means that a specific “escape forward” takes place, that researchers should move beyond the paradigm of Walrase economy and the arguments of new keynesisian economy and new classical economy [...]”(Wojtyna 2000) s.298. To support his view the author quotes a study edited by Colander (Colander 1996) and the paper by Phelps (Phelps 1994). Post-Walras economy takes into account existence of multipoint constrain equation, complicated dynamics, limited rationality, institutions and exclusive pricing co-ordination. These characteristics do not describe exhaustively post-Walras economy, but are a partial approximation of research. Similar concern can be observed in the field of management and organisation science (Stachowicz 2004) where there are multitude of approaches to an organisation caused by a wide variety of regularities and actual examples of management practice. Concepts of agile metaphor, fractal enterprise, intelligent or neutronic organisation can bother with inconsistency of scientific approach and objectively tested in practical experience knowledge. When in the science with long traditions and well-defined methodology new elements from other fields of science appear they are naturally treated with reserve (Mesjasz 2003). However it is difficult to assume that such a notable group of representatives of theory and practice will underestimate theoretical clarity and consistency of approach. It rather proves that the usability of models currently used in this scientific discipline has been exhausted. Extended diversity can enrich actual diversity the described problem but at the expense of its consistency. This “awkward search” is probably only the beginning stage of creation of a new distinct way of perception of many issues. Still metaphoric beginning of investigation leads to a new insight into reality in the course of research. Science divided into disciplines can in many cases overlooks the context of dependencies and neglects some aspects of reality, concentrating on its particular details. These observations relate to the investigation of unstable and non-linear reality and they are more and more visible in economic and management research, which

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confirms the need of interdisciplinarity. Positive approach to the process of establishing new fields of investigation in the theory of organisational transformation and accepting this theory as a starting point for further investigation of regularities in the contemporary concept of an organisation are an important step forward (Stachowicz 2004). Before we proceed to further analysis of the problem, we should focus on the results of Nonaka’s and Tkeuchi’s researches of organisational knowledge (Nonaka, Takeuchi 2000) s.34 where they stress the influence of historic meaning on new discoveries. Before new knowledge is understood and externalised, a new meaning should be given to the words that describe it. Moving on to a new field we enter a difficult territory of using concepts combining traditional and new understanding of reality. Therefore the precision of reasoning or practical verification is of primary importance as to take into account old, “outdated” approach when searching for new solution and not to lose scientific consistency through axiomatic approach to commonly used categories of current practice of modelling the reality. The theory on an organisational transformation is based on creation of knowledge and further on cognition (Maturana, Varala 1980) of its creation and then on the theory of autopoiesis in a costructivistic approach to social prospect. J. Stachowicz points out eight basic characteristics of an organisation in this theory (Stachowicz 2004):

1. The process of self creation of an organisation, 2. The processes of cognition determine consecutive stages of an organisation,, 3. The priority of social capital and management aiming at excellence in the structure and creative

processes, 4. Highlighting the role of projects in constructing an organisation, 5. Organisation members are the key creative factor building its identity embedded in the key values of

knowledge organisations, 6. Personal interactions and language analyses create new knowledge, 7. Organisational knowledge is capitalised in the form of contemporary communication means, 8. New knowledge is created in the context of existing knowledge.

Combining the theory of an organisation development with the theory of an organisational transformation seems to be very important because of ensuring methodological continuity and maintaining some organisational concepts. The acceptance of evolution and changes of this theory opens new area for the discovery of new regularities and dependencies. In the theory of organisational transformation a change itself as an element of management in unstable market becomes a new experience for managers and teams. The change is in many cases a traumatic experience. Critical analysis of the theory of an organisational transformation needs to begin

from the viewpoint of constructivism and the nature of cognition in which knowledge itself changes most. (1) On these grounds a description of an organisation and processes it undergoes can be questioned. Will an organisation still be an organisation? (2) Formulation and conceptualism in managing a change or more precisely of permanent change has negative, depressive psychological implication and therefore it does not build any aim. (3) The shortcoming of modern theory is that it does not address the problem of sustainable development in a broad sense. (4) Another weakness are also informality of an organisation and problems concerning identification with an organisation. (5) What is the answer of the theory of an organisational transformation to blurring the organisational boundaries and atomisation of its structures? (6) What is the meaning of voluntary service and individual professional contacts in business in the context of competition? (6) How do we treat agent models of an organisation and their activities? I (7) Does knowledge become a form of new religion explaining all problems? (8) What is the role of a human in a changing organisation and what changes will a man undergo especially in the situation of their participation in a large number of contracts and virtual meetings? These eight issues point out that the theory of an organisational transformation is of transitory character till the moment of discovery of a new description of a successive form in new prospect of social cognition. However the theory of an organisational transformation cannot be fully rejected as it can considerably support the processes of transformation and globalisation of industrial organisations as well as those in SME sector. Nevertheless managing serious economic transformations in the territorial scale will require the introduction of considerable modification to this theory. The limitation of the theory of an organisational transformation is the fact that it is based on axiomatic acceptance of existing structures and forms, not on creation and composition of its developing components. The process of gaining knowledge becomes a part of this viewpoint. However confronted with diverse and creative future that can be observed in ongoing changes the concept of an organisation still requires further more thorough research.

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The Problem of Sustainable Development and System Approach in Management

Formulation of co-operative genesis of an organisation The presented proposal is to discover some important problem diversity that describes social development processes including an organisation and other possible forms of association. Basing on developed Fuller’s trend analysis (Fuller 1999) a synthetic arrangement of six ongoing civilisational trends that decide about current transformations can be presented:

1. Human relations in the processes of exchange and co-operation and their evolution. 2. Pictures of globalisation and locality and their effects for co-operation of organised forms. 3. New quality of global scale and the scope of individual communication in the growing number of social

interactions. 4. The development of advanced technologies, and especially information technologies, based on

increasing particularities of matter. 5. The growing problem of sustainable development when social, economic and ecological development is

concerned. 6. The increasing intellectual demands and developing educational needs in specific fields of knowledge

as well as the knowledge about social co-operation. Generalising - the most important factors in economy are predictability and such development conditions that enable investing, create new working places and improve life standard of a large quantity of interested individuals, nations and economic groups. From such a point of view the development itself becomes the subject of analysis and a required economic state. Problems that managers encounter can be reduced to three essential problems:

1. The problem loss i subjectivity of a man as an individual and as a member of an organisation. 2. The problem of an organisational model and the way in which social reality is perceived. 3. The problem of an end of some development continuity.

A thesis about interorganisational space can be proposed. (Mazurkiewicz 2005) Focusing on the concepts of system and its elements in a cybernetic vision of economy a role of an environment in these processes has been omitted. And therefore in contemporary economy an environment used as a natural resource but also abused causes more and more problems that result in development constrains. Conditions of the second law of motion present at least a theoretical reason of those problems, that is not observing physical regularities which prove that each system lives on expense of its environment. Presented herein problem however idealised leads to a new perception of development perceived as two neighbouring systems but still developing in their own environments. Therefore a question about the common conditions in which there is no degradation of the systems but their development arises. Figure 1. The Model of Systems and Environments Interaction

The theoretical task of sustainable development5, as the model presented above can be named, imposes on the civilisational process certain regularities and conditions that have not been explicitly presented so far. This model can start a new direction in searches for a new model approach to an organisation. The model shows also that there are two versions of advantageous co-operation: 1. With an external co-operation 2. With an internal co-operation. It also describes all the stages of relations between two subjects also those individually and socially disadvantageous. The presented dependency creates the first factor of a new co-operative approach to a fundamental co-operative relation and the search for a positive solution respecting subjectivity and identity of

5 Market relation described by Fuller -.... is more complex and it has many states so applying an interdisciplinary form has wider cognitive and practical sense.

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parties in such a relation. In such a relation the mutual development of co-operation and increasing profits for all the parties are the most respected values. Thus somehow egoistic idea of enrichment and the choice of Walrasowskiego approach are socially conditioned and co-existential dependency. Presented herein a theoretical task of sustainable development becomes a starting point for creating a co-operating model of not only an organisation but also of a community. Identification of forms of mutual co-operation as well as those of degradation gives the solution of this task. Adopting the term “a co-operating community” to an organisation describes such an organisation in which there are no processes of niezrównoważenia rozwojowego. Concluding, the former view on organisation as a subject of investigation and further implementation should be verified. Creating an organisation that does not respect its environment leads to social stratification and other numerous problems that block further development. The new concept of a co-operating organisation does not solve the problem of niezrównoważenia, but it creates methods and conditions of stable sustainable and creative behaviours. Entropic analysis of a synergic arrangement of co-operating systems leads to the most advantageous creation of a new bond. Entropic approach is the very importend aspect of scientyfic model of social development in the fact of II temodynmic low (Hawking 2003) and philosophy view (Korpikiewicz 1998). Great impact on social co-operation has chaos theory (Hockuba 1995). Interdisciplinary task of management

Searching for a new interpretation for rationality of management activities in an unstable environment we can formulate a task of building a new form of an organisation which is a result of a critical number of interdisciplinary approaches to commonly defined rationality. The hypothesis of connecting traditional management with an interdisciplinary context should result in a practical theory of co-operation and a new art of management. The presented statement is based on Marcin Bieleckiego’s reflection on the problems of organisation and management (Bielecki 1997) s.11-26 and supported by investigations of regularities in the development of organisation and management science conducted by F. E. Kast and J. H .E Rosenzweig. The formulation of an interdisciplinary interpretation of rationality will be possible when a systematic list of sciences, which decide about contemporary form of management and organising, is created. Koizumi (Koizumi 1998) has presented general principles of an interdisciplinary task. Thanks to a multidisciplinary arrangement and interdisciplinary connections it is possible to discover a transdisciplinary vector of knowledge adequate to an arrow of evolution and time. The proposition of an interdisciplinary task is a method of application of a potential context of other disciplines of science to discover real nature of organisational phenomena. Further model verification will conclude in creating a new model and its practical application. In the considerations presented below the author wanted to indicate the potential areas in management and other sciences that could influence the final shape of modern approach to an organisation. Scientific purism and consistency of management as a field of science as presented by Leszek Krzyżanowski (Krzyżanowski 1992) proves that a proposed interdisciplinary task is a plural form of scientific reflection. Before any further consideration it seems necessary to analyse the genesis of this reflection and further to determine objective conditions together with real complexity of activities and their dynamics to finally conclude in constructing a new aparat pojęciowy. Then the construction of an interdisciplinary task can start. Let’s start the consideration from the very framework of organisation and management science and the genesis of its creation (Krzyżanowski 1992) s.11. In fact focusing on the foundation of social existence – the ability to organise individual and group activities implementing which a manager should not only from the very beginning have a clear vision of an aim to achieve, but also he should be able to explain this vision to others. In the beginning of an organised society those aims were of material or spiritual value. This way managing activities lead to protection or realisation of certain social values. Thus nowadays creating social relations can be described either from a synergic or evolutionary point of view of creating and integration social co-operation to ensure evolutionary fitness as well as individual use of a synergic renty. It can be assumed that the base - the genesis of a contemporary approach to management will be defined in evolutionary and synergic categories. When analysing objective conditions of building a science of organisation and management it can be mentioned that „[...] human needs resulting from objective functioning in a given environment are the main factor of all the forms of development and progress [...]”(Krzyżanowski 1992) s.13. Emerging of needs and their meeting are a social phenomenon that is a starting point for creating different forms of “co-operation” - various ways of meeting the needs according to certain values. Limiting the need fulfilment to materialistic consumption as in the quoted Walras theory of economy (Łustacz 1981) considerably narrows the understanding of the concept of social bonds and co-operation creation.

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Figure 2. The Model of interdisciplinary task of management

This situation should be changed to obtain a thorough connection of an economic concept of social functioning with the evolutionary and synergic nature of such disciplines of science as theory of evolution (Stewart 2000) and synergetics (Haken 2004). There is a need of such a definition of a need that it could tone in with evolutionary and social picture of social reality. Therefore a following thesis should be proposed – when in the organisational theory of knowledge a product is the sum of an abstract and technical knowledge and it also satisfies a certain need it means that the need is connected with the knowledge that fulfils it. This interpretation can be widened. Knowledge society is interconnected with their needs – knowledge in the constant process of developing cognition depending on their cognitive skills fulfils these needs via the process of knowledge discovery and building -creation civilization order. This statement can be a definition of knowledge society in economy and management. In the evolutionary categories a society is its own environment of development and knowledge widening. Synergic development restrictions imposed on evolutionary processes ensure ład zrównoważenia. Such a version complies with at least two forecasts - one by Francis Fukuyama (Fukuyama 1993) in which he professes the arrival of a mental evolution and the other one by James F. Moore (Moore 1996) that foresees the end of competition substituted with the process of constant evolutionary development. Such visions are possible thanks to presented herein formula of co-operating communities that develop diversity of their needs through collecting knowledge and at he same time they have an increasing scale of satisfied needs thanks to synergy and sustainable development. The fact of introducing the concept of co-operation into the

Synergetic - evolutionary

philosophy background of development

Synergetic - evolutionary model of innovation and development action

constructivism views of knowledge

Cognition process as evolutionary rationalization

The concept of evolving synergetic society

Co-operative Community new

form of social arrangement

Management

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language of management requires the change in the way the concept of competition is understood – it should not be treated as a from of destruction, but as a form of selection in the process of self- improvement. Synergy and sustainable development cause that the processes of selection and competition select the best one, but at the same time they free reserves and stimulate progress. „Social energy” cumulated in this way can be used in some other area of lack and need, where “ a loser” can continue competing and developing their skills without losing their social bonds. However a spiral shape of an evolving social formation (a co-operating community) is an indispensable factor condition of such form of development. The spiral shape of the development model is not new but a forgotten one. The spiral was observed by (Nonaka, Takeuchi 2000) in their research on organisational knowledge, and observed also in psychology i memetics by Beck and Cowana (Beck, Cowan 1996). Novelty is here its presence in a real organisation that ensures the conditions of its realisation. This form develops constantly modifying its internal structures in the process of developing knowledge and it remains in the form of a stable, historically shaped by an entropy arrow, form of a spiral. Thus there is a question where and how this spiral is present in the physical and economic dependencies of an organisation and how it influences life and functioning of many structures. The concept of a spiral is the solution of an interdisciplinary task and the condition of management rationality. Organisational picture of a co-operative community – memetic model of an organisation

Interpreting an organisation in the categories of knowledge creation described by numerous authors is possible thanks to constructivist conviction that reality is found in discovering still new interdependencies (Sherman 1995). Knowledge changes towards „constant” reality that gradually reveals its new nature in experience. In this situation objects, behaviours and various forms of social activity become structures with certain qualities. The abstract character of logical structures stays in evolutionary relation to reality. Therefore the emergence of abstracts allows verifying their meaning (certain qualities) and creating a representative interpretation of the real state to the sphere of modelling and simulations. In this situation it is possible to select or educate individuals or organisations to build new structures. Structures with new, planned qualities enable an individual or a community to obtain new benefits. In this way an organisation turns from an analog model of a complex real object to an abstract, a knowledge package – a structure that can be build of parts and in which separate elements can be developed and adapted to a model being created. Finally this model is verified in practice to estimate benefits it offers. An organisation – a co-operating community, operates as long as it brings profits. Deficiency causes a necessity of changing a model or place of its application. Defining a model of a co-operating community based on knowledge requires a new economic approach to the concept of usability as a social link and also to a process of an exchange. In this situation two of Gossen’s laws (Gossen 1854) should be excluded – the one concerning need satisfaction and compensation of marginal usability and the synergic concept of co-operation and creation should be introduced instead of them. “Synergic rente” (synergic effecct of innovation), which has been created in the creative process of evolutionary co-operation of organisations, groups and individuals, decides about the usability, its volume and scope and further about an application of certain knowledge and fulfilment of a certain need. Synergic rente is a value of collected social energy in an abstract logical structure – a mem (Biedrzycki 1998) and it increases order in the solution of a given problem. The created order exists as long as there is enough social energy to maintain it. In this interpretation an organisation becomes a co-operating community that possesses a form of an abstract which joins real and recognisable constructive elements possessing certain qualities that stay in structural dependencies. Each co-operating community has an adequate mem „responsible” for its life. The differentiation between a co-operating community and organisation is caused by the sustainable character of the community that is neither recognised nor or characteristic of an organisation. Created mem possesses its identity built on the logic culture of its creation and the amount of social energy that decides about its durability. Mems that build various forms of social co-operation around certain needs live in the culture space and in an interaction with transformed and experienced real space. This is also the place where the main experience that verifies mind created abstracts against reality takes place. This process enables model-oriented investigation of evolutionary processes. So called “emergence” is is described in he terms of a computational theory of mind (Pinker 2002) that enables the creation of abstracts in relation to real attractors. The influence of the second law of motion takes place by gradual differentiation of growing number of diminutive states that can be arranged into increasingly ordered sets. In the categories of the philosophy of science growing order is achieved as diminishing elements of structures are taken into consideration and therefore mapping of this order in an abstract sphere is possible with a model characterised by certain complexity and diversity. In this situation entropy becomes a measure of rationality of social co-operation. Cognition process takes place within a multidimensional social structure (Fuller 2002) as well as on different levels of individual human activity (Kauffman 1993), including their mental operations and their creativity, talents and skills. Indicated levels are adaptive complexes and on all the described levels structures enabling adaptation are being created and disintegrated. The growth of consciousness decreases the role of biological evolution especially in the area of social behaviours and conscious evolution

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begins (Stewart 2000),(Buss 2001). Conscious evolution takes place in communities of knowledge whose character depends on the needs and stakeholders of the knowledge created there. Stockholders establish a community of knowledge when they recognise their needs as knowledge packages. The stockholders’ environment is primarily a development eco-system. Solution worked out in such an environment serve to satisfy needs or more thoroughly to solve existing there social problems. Knowledge creation should be divided into creation of an abstract knowledge and technical knowledge. The former is spread mainly in the cultural knowledge space. (The cultural knowledge space is created by minds of individuals and all the technicalities of storing and spreading knowledge.) The main task of this type of knowledge is creating models for further practical verification. The latter type of knowledge - technical knowledge - can be defined as set of practical skills that enable to use the possessed knowledge. It is created are laboratories and practice. Knowledge can be created only in the knowledge environment. There are four conditions of the process of knowledge creation: intentions, autonomy, excess and creative chaos. Intentions are created by stakeholders as an intentional element of creation and prosumpcji6. Realisation responds to responsibility and to challenges of fulfilling the task by performers (Mazurkiewicz 2004). The excess is the considerable amount of knowledge about a problem to solve so that a solution should be found in the space among loose elements of composed – created structure. The most important elements are team’s autonomy and connected with it possibility of co-relation of the created structure. Another important condition is haemostat protecting status quo and then accumulator powering the process of ordering an entity created. The conditions presented herein create the possibilities for investigation and stimulation of the process of multiagent knowledge creation i building co-operating communities via synergic links. This area is an area of creation and disintegration of identities that leads to the development of social and economic processes. The problem in question can be discussed and solved on the basis of theory of chaos and crossing he point of bifurcation. The author of the presented consideration suggests to name this process structure thermodynamics as it illustrates strategies of social game in the categories of entropy and synergic rente perceived as a criterion of management rationality. The problem presented herein requires further development. Self-creation of a Co-operating Community (Co-C)

The concept of a co-operating community focuses on the sustainability and synergism of evolving abstract-real structures. The problem of a need interpreted in the knowledge categories together with the multidimensional social structure, theory of agile enterprise and stakeholders environment as seen in the categories of knowledge allows for the introduction of postwalrasowskiej economy and an enterprise as well as evolving conditions of social development balancing co-operating communities and investigating their social energy and further their development abilities. As it can be observed sustainable development and functioning of a co-operating community are a certain form of desirable order. Co-operation within a community is maintained on the basis of the stored knowledge and information-informative solutions. A community is a complex that maintains its existence thanks to “informative system” monitoring the level of knowledge existing in a community and the level of its inner order as well as the development abilities of its elements. The idea of “an informative system” mentioned herein is not fully precise. As understood in this consideration a co-operating community requires certain condition for its development – that is an adequate knowledge environment. In this situation only an intellectual infrastructure that enables a given community to perform its life functions (that is collecting experience and creation) becomes the required system – absence of such a system explains the absence of such a community however it is possible to find fragmentary examples. The objectives of such an intellectual infrastructure could be – monitoring of the development level of the community and monitoring of the spiral regularity of development. Then such a structure would ensure constant communication via various informative solution as well as collecting and storing knowledge structures that then can be compared to determine achieved progress. The infrastructure could be also responsible for special channels of discussing and agreeing intentions and values in a group of stakeholders. The role of stakeholders in a community is very specific – they enable development and hey are a knowledge environment for implementators (Mazurkiewicz 2004) (Salomon 2002). Development projects realised in a community are a form of participation in it. Direct development takes place when an individual or a group project is accepted as a part of development projects realised in a given community. Each community creates a balancing development project that includes all the projects in conscious culture space to maintain the existence and cohesion of the community. These projects are a form of model knowledge and operational knowledge. This knowledge collected and compared to the results and then to subjective opinion of individual participants is being re-created and converted at different stages. The extend to which knowledge in question brings profits to the community decides about its value and applicability. Thus created knowledge and its tangible and intangible products and services undergo a constant process of competition. Also communities and their creative abilities of satisfying the needs of stakeholders participate in

6 Toffler uses this expression in „The Third Wave.”

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the process of competition. Knowledge understood as an abstract structure or a skill has its own identity. The change of identity can take place when some identities join together or disintegrate and then join again on the lower level of identity – this process is causality of bifurcation sphere. To obtain an expected solution it is necessary to fulfil the conditions of causality and to cause desired order. Such a situation is possible only when previous experiences were directed in such a way as to possibly precisely foresee the course of possible events. Causality is connected with risk, but order should be pre-arranged. The process is being monitored with maximisation of entropy in the situation of precise description of real processes and consciousness in the cultural space. Thanks to the growth of synergy that causes increasing particularity of states of mutual co-operation the process of development imposes the increase of diversity and then to subsequent stages of ordering. The process of development is realised through environmental fluctuations and flows of entropy. Responding community is stimulated to expand or to deepen its structure by recognition of new elements and then discovering its own new description. This is how a development spiral is performed. Presented herein systematic description should be further developed and filled in with other scattered achievements. The problem of a need from the point of view of knowledge should be completed with Maslow’s classification. Social relations and contacts together with synergic co-operation will unite co-operating parties which will result in the development of human’s higher feelings and needs. Considerable intellectual involvement will result in creation of new needs of security, affiliation, respect and self-organisation. Involvement in the process of creation of specific needs should not necessarily respond their importance and the sequence in which they are classified in Maslow’s pyramid. Development preferences and real needs will decide about the development of certain groups of needs and their realisation will depend on current physical capabilities of the community. The complex approach to the concept of a need and all the other problems connected with a community results in an evolutionary approach to a man that actively shapes their individual features and their participation in a social game. This issue is discussed in evolutionary psychology (Buss 2001) and integrated human psychology (Wilber 2002). In this way a co-operating community faces the problem of spirituality which at the current state of matter stays beyond scientific cognition. Combining human’s integrity, their identity, a variety of contacts and creative and practical activity creates a picture of a member of a co-operating community and their role. Co-operative character of a community imposes substantial changes in the approach to the processes of management. Management functions and strategic approach are re-defined. Even the concept of competition is perceived as the need for improvement, and responsibility development. The process of knowledge creation in an organisation speeds up and becomes concurrent. Region As a Co-operating Community (Co-C)

A region can be defined as an organised physical and cultural space. This territorial unit is created by abstract picture of a logical structure that epitomises problems of mutual permanent or seasonal coexistence of a group of inhabitants. The concept of an identity is a counterpart of a region and a form of synergic co-operation. The packet of regional knowledge is comprised in specific problems of all the packets common for a given community. The most important ones are: a problem of incomes and composing of an economic portfolio, a problem of administrative decisions, a problem of strategic choices concerning the scale and pace of development, costs, etc., a problem of citizenship role model, and competing as well as synergic behaviours including a problem of self-improvement and obtaining new competitive skills. The functioning and stability of a community depends on an adequate system of knowledge creation and its storing. This system is another form in evolution of systems supporting organisation, but it also accepts the task of maintaining an organisation by the process of realising the procedure of synergic cohesion. If this procedure is able to estimate the impact of individuals into the development of the community and to control the division of collected synergy it will retain its interested members. The diminishing of the bond strength, that is the volume of obtained synergy, becomes a signal to analyse the philosophy of the community and its strengths and weaknesses. In a region a statutory community based on taxation system possesses a considerable motivational element of co-operation. However this does not mean that it can deteriorate or disintegrate because of weak co-operation and competing with other communities in the process of creating life conditions. Each community creates itself in the process of constant learning and adaptation. This process cannot be called a transformation, as the condition of adaptation is progress measured with freeing of an adequate amount of individual and common synergy. In this situation the aim of a system maintaining a co-operating community is to create the conditions of distributed learning via a public dispute and problem - models presentation as well as presentation of results of activities that shape socio-cultural mental space (Vygotsky 1978) that is the basis of a mental evolution recognised in the process of cognition. The suggested solution results in creating individual and collective correlated development environments with the help of information technologies. These environments are an example of a constructive approach to the cognition processes as in the course of their development they discover new knowledge and give it a synergic character of rationalising community in a physical abiotic environment.

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A community of practice can be created when a group of stakeholders is faced with certain problems – the need of rationalisation, regional co-operation or the need for computer supported collaborative learning. In such a situation a model and module solution that improves a service or a certain regional product can be achieved. The process of “learning” creates the conditions for building an individual life strategy on the basis of requirements and compromises worked out in establishing the rationality for the community existence. The main component of a co-operating community creation is the taxonomy of problem of regional services that ensure its development. The classification can be build on the basis of the following criteria:

1. The creation of a knowledge environment is an indispensable condition community’s existence. • Intention: the ability of regional stakeholders to define development intentions and build

challenges. • Autonomy: (1) understood as developing individuality in the cultural problem structure to enable

the participation in the Union and global linking, (2) homeostasis: the ability to maintain their own existence and development rate when competing with other communities. This ability depends on the scale of creativity and obtained synergy. (3) Created sources of social energy dependent on knowledge acquiring and its application into the process of development.

• Excess treated as openness and social and organisational transparency supported with data collecting and storing to the extend of preparing stimulations and forecasts in order to enhance mental evolution. When possessing these qualities it becomes a real creativity base.

• Creative chaos is the lack of stable social and economic bonds that enable the creation of new links and synergy. It also creates willingness to develop as well as individual and collective progress.

2. Region is an organised system that enables the fulfilment of individual and community needs. Therefore it is obliged to maintain the structure of human needs, including existential ones, to the extend enabling performing individual economic activity in the community. Then the need for security should be organised in such a way as to provide the way of avoiding life traps, aggression on the part of others and supplies help in case of problems. The need for acceptance cause social participation in co-operation and creation of new areas. The need respect for individual development and achievements and finally the need for self-realisation and improvement as the sphere of creating challenges and overcoming difficulties.

3. Regional community in the economy of knowledge is not separated from other communities that means that it can be either an element of a larger community or it contains a certain number of smaller communities developing appropriately to the scale and amount of satisfied locally needs. These are the needs of maintaining bonds and synergy in the whole structural arrangement of all the adaptive complexes.

4. The participation of a region only partially depends on individual strategy of a person or community. Global communication and cultural space result in existence of numerous communities not linked regionally. Only individuals linked with common taxation system, location, registering or everyday activities in their nearest surrounding.

The system approach to an integrated description of development and problems of a human community results in rationalisation of development that shows general nature of conditions and dependencies and therefore enabling to compromise between extremes.

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Figure 3. The Model of one level problem Regional Co-operative Community

Only the real dimension and scale of problems can activate adaptive activities in a group of stakeholders that is all those who are interested in finding solution to the problem, treated as an environment of knowledge creation and reacting as an adaptive complex. This is a description of social co-operation that rationalises its activities an arrangement (hard knowledge) of adaptive complexes and (soft) knowledge gained in specific areas of activity. In this dynamic structure created bonds realise a new order stimulated by an external or internal impulse of dissipation. In the whole interdependent composition of adaptive complexes a protective reaction of maintaining the stability and status quo takes place. Evolutionary character of the structure depends on the fact that it itself searches for new benefits and in the process of their emergence it leads to greater order. There are two groups of agents necessary for existence and stability of a community. The first are facilitators who are responsible for support of creative processes, supporting innovations, learning and undertaking responsibilities. The other group are leaders who are advocates of certain solutions and opinions that are some kind of the reference points for the community verifying good practices through mental evolution. Changes in a community are discreet because of periodical character of knowledge packet applications and the change of the latter for the new ones operating in new configuration of links and skills. The development processes have their thermodynamic conditions that are responsible for the dynamics of those phenomena. Described limitations of economics (Czaja 1997) are the result of the lack of adequate economic interpretation of physical processes. The formulation of the concept of social energy should be further developed to determine the conditions of their econometric measurement. Synergy is a derivative of energy, but it also concerns the problems of entropy and ordering. The methodology of an entropic approach to economy creates new problems and therefore requires further investigation of the concept of co-operating community. The introduction of the concept of entropy to economic practice is still another task in the situation when currently knowledge does not bring any fully satisfying solution. The practical realisation of the concept of a community requires long process of implementation and development especially in the spheres of mentality and culture. However this should not be any obstacle in its practical development and its application as a comparative development criterion. The fundamental task of a community are cultural impingement and creation of synergic culture of co-operation in order to adapt the community to increasing competition and changes in production processes caused by globalisation and ecology. A co-operating community and its knowledge packet fully respond to the concept of synergic ability to co-operate. A co-operating community defines intentions and thus it treats its members in a sustainable way. In this situation realisation of intentions becomes the fundamental measure for effectiveness and satisfying needs. Any deficiency in satisfying the stakeholders causes the rejection of the offered knowledge and in consequence of the rising trend in unemployment. Co-operating community creates a synergic bond on the basis of constantly created patterns of co-operation.

Regional Complex Model

(Co-C) (Co-P)

Regional Stakeholder - member of (Co-C) and (Co-P) with Computer Supported Collaborative Knowledge Creation System

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Conclusions

The achievements of the theory Agile Enterprise correspond to the solution of an interdisciplinary task. However the presented consideration including the concept of sustainable development develops the problem of rationality in the whole social structure as well as it does nor limit the discussion of the problem of cognition and mental evolution to an organisation only. From this point of view and from shifting the focus of consideration from concept of an organisation to that of a community the concept of social rationality in sustainable society widens considerably, but it may also be stated that in this situation an organisation becomes only an educational unit that is responsible for a certain area of individual and collective experience. An economic activity becomes a development process and it supplies a service of enhancing human and social development. The presented wider approach to the theory of organisational transformation through introduction of interdisciplinary verified theory of co-operating community is a proposal of a vision of sustainable management and new values that will prevail in the era of Moor’s post-competitiveness. The presented theory helps to develop practical solutions that can impede extremely brutal forms of global economic competition. The presented solution transforms competition into learning by practice and creative improvement. The indispensable condition in this new approach is monitoring of social order and more effective use of social synergy. The reserves obtained in this process will increase development capabilities of the whole community. New opportunities of development will be used to create new working places and new entrepreneurship, which is in compliance with the spiral approach to development regularities. In this way management becomes more humane towards those who lose – they still can have their chance in some other discipline. The application of an interdisciplinary task enhanced emerging of a new form of an organisation and an postwalras enterprise. Moreover thanks to a balance and adequate information conditions it is possible to search physical and economic dependencies in the form of social energy as well as to develop the neo-ricardian paradigm of economy. There is still a problem concerning further investigation and creation of tools in form of intellectual infrastructure. Thermodynamics of the structures that describe functioning of adaptive complexes as well as thermodynamic meaning and synergic sense of an identity and the way they influence creativeness and ordering are the main elements of sustainable development of the whole community and a method to overcome the state of bifurcation. The concept of ability in the theory of chaos is described as functioning on the edge. Instability of the economic environment and management perceived as functioning in changing environment impose the introduction of the concept of ability from the theory of chaos. However such a solution seems to be inadequate and therefore analysing the context of all the issues concerning new forms of management and all the required conditions it seems more advisable to base on the theory of a co-operating community (Co-C) as another stage of the theory of sustainable form of a social organisation in the 21 century.

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