Organization and Process Approaches to Local Economic Development

Economies do not float in some sort of abstract existence separate from community. Rather, economies are simply the arrangements that people have established in order to look after the orderly provision of goods and services; that is, their material needs as they move along together through time. There is a myth floating around in some circles that there are systems of economics, which somehow operate, separate from the people who institute them and move them forward. This simply is not the case.

One particular set of arrangements may be quite superior to another in a given circumstance, place, or time, and such arrangements may be very difficult to change (or change quickly), but that does not mean they are somehow unchangeable. The whole enterprise of "Economic Development" rests on the assumption that economic arrangements can be adjusted and modified over time in such a way as to (hopefully) improve the outcomes for some or all concerned.

In South West Manitoba we live and work in an economic system which has been in place for about two hundred years. It is not a system, which was been laid on us by some outside group, but rather one which we, as part of a larger collective group, decided to develop ourselves. It might be viewed as a huge "group project" extending thus far over several centuries, stretching around the world, and consuming great amounts of our collective time, energy and resources.

The collective group who have undertaken this project, is a body of people originally locused in Europe and Britain, and now spread over North America, much of South America, and large sections of the other continents. It has had a great many dissidents over the years who have preferred to set up other arrangements with which to meet their material needs, some of which have been modifications to the basic set of arrangements, others have been complete departures from it.

In each locality, at least up until the latest round of pressure to "homogenize everyone into one global approach" emerged, there has been a certain degree of freedom for local inhabitants to make modifications to the overall set of arrangements so as to adapt the larger system to specific local conditions or circumstances.

This section looks at three different approaches to "system adjustment" or modification of the economic system or some sub-part of it in order to improve the local economic picture.

The first approach deals with the general problem of involving citizens at one level or another to join together and decide on such things as changes to the economic system. As it is people who have collectively set up this economic system of ours, then it often requires the mobilization of people to bring about constructive changes to it. This is not always an easy task, particularly if there is no obvious pressing need for change.

The second approach deals with the issues surrounding the transfer of technology within society so as to develop local economies. This may seem like a strange sort of approach to be grouped under the heading of organizational modification, but it is included here because of its central role in today's global economy and its central place in the restructuring of arrangements on a large scale. In the last few years, we as collective national groups, have embarked on a massive sub-project of technological transfer through our governments. This section explores that reality, and its implications for the development of local economies.

The third approach deals with issues surrounding the support of entrepreneurial activity in the developing of local economic performance as a whole. As with the matter of technological transfer, entrepreneurial activity has been a major aspect of our overall economic arrangements for a long tme. But like technology transfer, entrepreneurial activity is taking on a new role today in the context of globalization, being hailed by some as a god-send to marginalized seniors, women, minorities, and unemployed; while being condemned by others as a cynical invitation to inappropriate people to do the impossible.

Links to the sections dealing with each of the three approaches are listed below.

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