Saturday, August 30, 2008

Introduction

I have been toying with the concept of Value Cells, talking to my friends at times I have been using the term "value kernels" for value cell is a common term amongst Programmers). Communication was never my forte. Analysis has been a good pastime. It is very difficult to initiate a new concept, until it has been, ironiically, pre validated by a biggie. The recent article in Mckinsey Quarterly, "Organising for value" has provided the much needed trigger for writing in the public domain.

While I use a borrowed term "Value Cell", I feel the term VALUE, which is central to the term Value Cell, needs to be better understood. I shall try to explain it in the near future.

Those interested in the topic are welcome to give their comments.

This blog should interest, among others, the following:

Thought Leaders in Management Strategy
Management Consultants
Thought Leaders in Philosophy of Management,
Economists
Environmentalists
Mathematicians, in particular Game Theorists
Physicists
Chemists
Technologists
Mathematical Biologists
Cyberneticians
Software specialists

Why such a motley crowd?

Value is not confined to economics and management. While all players above would be intereested in developing the concept, the software guy will come, package a solution, and market it. Some economists will say he "created" value. Let it be so, for the time being.

The Concept of Value

Wikipedia defines value in eleven contexts --economic, philosophical, et al. Is it possible to have ONE definition and ONE way of understanding it -- atleast in its generic form? With all other forms being special cases of the general? We try to do so in this blog.

A Starter

To give an idea of what to expect frrom this site, we give below one of the Laws of value.

LAW1

Value of the Universe remains constant. It is not mass or energy but VALUE that remains constant.

Please do not think about it. Meditate on the statement.

Does it not take you closer to developing a holistic vision of the universe? Do we really create value or simply integrate it--- unto ourselves or our system.

Implications of this statement are far reaching, but in our opinion, intransitory. Call it a hypothesis or postulate if you want to. After all, Euclid's Geometry, based upon postulates like "shortest distance betwen two points is a straight line" survived for more than 2000 years, much more than any economic or management theory.

Sources Of Inspiration

Organising For Value - Mckinsey & Co.

Theory of Price -- George J. Stigler

The Turning Point - Fritzof Kapra

The Tao of Physics - Fritzof Kapra

A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

THE PROCESS AND PROGRESS OF ECONOMICS - Nobel Memorial Lecture, 8 December, 1982 George J. Stigler