Report of Workshop 'Culture oriented Economies' by Gilbert Lenssen

I. Participants

Louis Baeck, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Leuven
Anastassios Karayiannis, Professor of Economics, Athens
Franz Moser, Professor of Applied Natural Sciences, Graz
Pierre Guillet de Monthoux, Professor in Management, Stockholm
Kris Rogiers, Cabinet of the Flemish Government, Brussels
William Adam, Chairman of the Institute of Directors, European Centre, Brussels
Leonce Bekemans, Professor, College of Europe, Brugges
Chairman: Gilbert Lenssen, Manager, BP Oil Europe, Hamburg / Brussels

II. Objectives of the Workshop

To practice a model for an interdisciplinary dialogue between economists, natural scientists, politicians and managers in search for the new paradigms for culture oriented economies.
Thereby applying a broad definition of culture comprising the arts, aesthetics, values, ethics and historical heritage.
To analyse the causes of the inability of mainstream economics to give adequate answers to the main problems facing our economies and societies and to identify ways to increase the capacity for problem solving in economic thinking and acting.
To discuss possible actions to foster European future oriented economic policy initiatives.

III. Prejudices of the Workshop (presented by the chairman)

The group supports the platform of cultural diversity, incorporated in the statement by the Flemish government on the 'Europe of Cultures'.
The group sees less value in applying conventional techniques of economic policy for the development of culture oriented economies. Instead, a fundamental review of the paradigms of mainstream (mechanistic) economics of the Atlantic tradition seems unavoidable.

Following paradigm shifts need consideration:

From economy of scale to economy of scope
From preoccupation with economic growth to concern for sustainable development
From dependency on high tech to proper consideration of new soft technologies
From a drift towards centralisation and concentration to integration models of regionalised economies based on the principle of subsidiarity
From economics, both as a science and as its application in economic management, as isolated stand alone disciplines dealing with material wealth creation, to responsible economic thought and action geared to regaining legitimacy in a societal and cultural context.

3. The group shares a (European) vision for a renewal of management theory and practice which is

entrepreneurial
culturally aware
innovative in spirit
long term oriented
first class in managing diversity
geared to the creation of value
both in material and immaterial sense

This vision promotes the need for a European approach to management which is clearly distinct from American and East Asian 'models'.

IV. Process of the Workshop

Leading themes for the process awareness of the group in conducting the workshop:

"The vertical gives meaning to the horizontal line",

Le Corbusier, quoted by Leonce Bekemans

"Discussion is about tearing thoughts apart, dialogue is about bringing us and our thoughts together",

David Bohm, Physicist

Short individual presentations were made, followed by question and debate.

Individual commitments and initiatives were stated at the end of the workshop to stress the importance of self responsibility and action to bring about the vision of a culturally oriented economy for Europe.

V. Individual presentations

The full texts of the supporting essays are in the main section of this workshop. What follows are summaries of the main points made during the presentation and by other participants during the debate.

1. Louis Baeck: The revival of the Mediterranean tradition in economic thought

in the Mediterranean tradition, economic thinking is embedded in society and part of practical philosophy;
this tradition is rooted in Aristotle's concept of endogenous development (dunamis /energeia), the flourishing of inner potential being inspired by purpose and meaning (causa finalis, der Sinn des Lebens);
the enlightenment and in its wake rationalism and positivism has turned this paradigm upside down (cfr Adorno: Die gescheiterte Aufklaerung);
the strive for a social correction of capitalism is now followed by a move for ethno-cultural correction;
concern for sustainable development and the need to reconsider the paradigm of economic growth could find inspiration rooted in the Mediterranean tradition;
sustainable development needs to be supported by a reform of our corporate tax systems to sanction environmental criteria. Current systems are taxing labour, which contributes to the ongoing search to save labour costs in companies leading to mass "structural" unemployment;
we need an Erasmus Adult Programme, Academies and private initiatives for elite communications to bring about the new paradigms, the current educational systems in Europe reinforce both national identities and outlived paradigms of the industrial age;
Maastricht will become a nightmare and will be resisted if there will be no regional souplesse.

2. Anastassios Karayiannis: Critique of mechanistic economics

Economics is at the cross-roads. It has lost both cultural and historical awareness and needs to be repositioned in an interdisciplinary sense;
Entrepreneurship is the key driving force of any economic system. It is also geared to provide the scale and environment for human and cultural needs;
Ethical neutrality, materialistic assumptions about economic behaviour and ignorance of social cohesion as an important factor in economic development has contributed to a massive loss of problem solving capacity of mainstream (mechanistic) economics.

3. Franz Moser: Paradigm shifts in the natural sciences

Physics, mathematics, biology have revolutionized their mechanistic Newtonian world view and have adopted a holistic, some even say an idealistic world view;
The social sciences are largely still prisoners of the mechanistic paradigm, however mainstream psychology, sociology and lastly economics are soul-searching why are they failing to respond adequately to the serious problems facing our societies and economies?
For the first time in history, sustainability is a global issue threatening the survival of the human species;
Almost all top down initiatives like the World Summit of Rio de Janeiro are doomed to fail. Instead bottom up initiatives of self organisation are likely to provide learning platforms for shaping new social and economic paradigms;
The research and modelling of Austrian, German and Dutch natural scientists and economists into "Islands of sustainability" is pointing in a way to a radically decentralised economy, integrating regional cultural and natural resources;
The paradigmatic paradox that global problems need local solutions needs to be properly understood;
Interdisciplinary scientific work needs to be supported by the rediscovery of wisdom as a guidance of science, management, politics in times of dramatic change. Leadership of a high quality level will perceive itself more in a servicing than in a domineering making role.

4. Pierre Guillet de Monthoux: Art and management, or how can art and aesthetics contribute to a necessary revolution in business management?

Abandoning the functionalistic view of organisations for an aesthetical one opens the eyes for the importance of beauty of organisations and of the processes of organisational engagement and participation;
The role of aesthetistics is not to create illusions, spectacles or phantasms, it is to facilitate reality, for reality is shaped in artistic processes;
The relationship between economy and aesthetics is of central importance (Smith, Keynes);
Modern art has a seismographic sensitivity available to the young visionaries (Dewey);
Beauty and Truth are not static but processes of experiences of life. Modern art is to open up people to such experiences (James);
Aesthetics explains the epistemological paradox that we often can correctly conceive and judge without words, concepts or rules (Kant);
Art produces scientific knowledge about life itself (Schelling, Hegel);
Social phenomena are forms of art. Organisations aim at attracting members by means of both beauty and the sublime (Simmel);
Art has an inherent humanistic quality. The term culture has too many naturalistic connotations. "Bildung" instead emphasizes the importance of imagination to the Aesthetic domain (Gadamer);
Aesthetics from Kant to Gadamer is exploring the zone between science and ethics and therefore forms a powerful resource for the transformation of management;
Modern museums can be considered as management schools where young managerial talent is not destroyed in "MBA drills";
Managers interested in motivating their teams or setting up flexible organisations have lots to learn from Christo, Fluxus or Pop artists and become entrepreneurs thriving in the terrain vague of aesthetics;
If you turn to artists and art for the occasional entertainment or specific effects for some isolated advertising campaign, you will never plug in any aesthetic energy;

5. Kris Rogiers: Cultural diversity and capital structures for regional economies

Culture could be a key production factor which makes the difference in competitiveness;
Economic policy has to look beyond the classical instruments of mechanistic economics;
There are no true European companies. All multinationals are based in one of the big cultures: German, French, British. Only Holland (Phillips) and Sweden (Volvo, ABB) have big companies of their own;
We should stop being naive about capital ownership. These companies will protect their home base and prefer to down-scale foreign associates to protect the business (and employment) of their home base in times of crisis;
How do we strengthen the capital base of the economies of the small cultures in Europe without becoming protectionist?
The proposal of the Flemish government about capital anchorage is one way to react against the threat of economic dominance by the big cultures;
Should we complement "anchorage" (capital structure) with "magnetism" (technology, knowledge, Standort, skills, culture)?
Should the smaller cultures, instead of imitating the big ones, find smarter ways to build their economic base (sustainable technologies, integrated regional development by self-organisation etc.) and create capital structures to support this?

6. William A. Adam: Centre of Enterprise and the need for regional venture capital

The big companies are unable to fulfil their role in the economy: sluggish in innovation, powerful in obstructing small entrepreneurs, creating mass unemployment through lean management (and proud of it), most big companies are in serious trouble;
Small could not only be beautiful but also powerful. Regional venture capital should be made available to support new entrepreneurial initiative;
A centre for enterprise, comparable to a Business Academy (like the new academies in the 18th century) should be founded to guide entrepreneurs, create a network of knowledge and synergy, a network of learning and success, a powerbase of the new economic paradigms;
The initiative should take account of the cultural diversity in Europe and start from the regions e.g. Scotland, Flanders, Andalucia, Saxony.

7. Leonce Bekemans participated in the debate, but did not make a separate presentation. He presented a paper in the plenum of the seminar: In search for a new synthesis between the newly emerging societal paradigm and concrete action programmes to safeguard cultural diversity.

8. Gilbert Lenssen acted as a chairman and did not present his paper: Paradigm shift in economic science and in management: methodological, historical, cultural and ontological aspects of the transformation of economic thought.

VI. Personal actions

Following individual commitments were expressed by the participants:

Louis Baeck

he will continue to work for a paradigm shift in economics: to re-embed economic thinking in practical philosophy;
he will support initiatives for an innovative entrepreneurial management culture instead of the business administration (mis) development;
he will work for sustainable developments in a Europe with strong regional roots;
This work group is an ideal composition and needs to contact each other on a permanent base.

Anastassios Karayianinnis

he will support initiatives to rejuvenate economic activity with entrepreneurial spirit;
he will strive to change the established academic and intellectual attitude; re: normative propositions and aesthetic values;
he will put more effort in reconciling scientific knowledge with practical problems and cultural differences;
we need to develop comparative case studies to research the ways new enterprise can be established in different cultures capturing the strengths of those cultures;
this workshop was very influential for our thinking, we should continue this form of dialogue.

Franz Moser

he will seek support for the foundation of an international postgraduate Academy in which young people can acquaint themselves with the new holistic world view, with new values, new approaches to management, medicine, sustainable development, arts;
he will continue to support and enlarge interdisciplinary research on sustainable development (SD) and islands of sustainability (IOS);
he will put a greater effort in stimulating the debate on the shift of paradigms amongst the general public e.g. open symposia on SD and health (1994), SD and employment (1995).

Pierre Guillet de Monthoux

he proposes to organise a 5 day Seminar on Art, Culture and European Enterprise;
Sessions should include: Athens tragedy and Trade, Scottish entrepreneurs and individualism, Flemish enterprise and art, Mediterranean and Atlantic attitudes and values for economic behaviour;
Management schools need to become at the same time more intellectual deepening and enlarging the study of management and become more pragmatic in contributing to solving problems.

Kris Rogiers

he will organise the follow-up of this workshop in preparation for the Munich Seminar;
he will attempt to integrate the new concept of culture based on economy in a summary paper and a drawing / painting by artists;
he will push anchorage as an economic and legal instrument in the European Union with other interested cultures (from anchorage as a privilege of some to a cultural right for all cultures);
he will seek to launch an anchorage fund with the help of the European Investment Bank;
he will seek alliance with the European members of the Cohesion Fund to rethink regional policy;
he will help William Adam to develop his project for a Centre of Enterprise for culture based entrepreneurship;
he will seek to amend the Delors white paper along the lines of the workshop.

William A. Adam

he will set up an informal steering committee to investigate alternatives for submitting a proposal to the EU with the support of a minimum of 4 regions in support of the objective to increase the achievement orientation and capability of entrepreneurs responsible for wealth creation;
he will set up a process to review all existing players in each area: institutes, associations, policy units, training establishments and bring together a representative sample to form a power base and a reflective competence;
he will attempt to get commitment from a test market (e.g. Flanders) to gain first experiences.

Leonce Bekemans

he will enlarge his teaching at the College of Europe with the creation of proactive workshops;
he will work for the establishment of a new department for European business environment at the College supported by an interdisciplinary think-tank;
as a professor and writer he will take risks in pursuing more explicitly future oriented approaches including the fundamental paradigms shifts and the need for sustainable development;
he will be available for networks to serve as a link between fundamental thinking and concrete actions;
he envisages an informal meeting of this workshop in Brugges.

Gilbert Lenssen

he will be available to support the initiatives of William Adam, Kris Rogiers, Franz Moser, Pierre Guillet and Leonce Bekemans;
Le tire doit etre juste! We need to deepen our understanding of what kind of economy we want before jumping to a lot of actions; he proposes the Munich seminar to do just this;
As a manager, he will act to incorporate concerns about culture, sustainability, new paradigms in his company's policy and in his own actions and will be prepared to take risks in this.

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