Reoriented Activity Cycle

Understanding Reoriented Activity Cycle

Activity 2.2.2 is fixed as the production of whatever the system’s own product is, and every other activity in the cycle is defined relative to that reference point; the label ’reoriented’ refers to this variable reference point, which shifts depending on the Economic System described. For example, in an architecture firm the central activity 2.2.2 is designing real estate, its selling activity 3.1.2 is negotiating architectural service terms, and its 2.1.2 is planning the design process. This reorientation principle is also what allows the model to move between levels: when analysis shifts from a higher-level system to the lower-level production system behind one of its activities, that lower-level cycle’s 2.2.2 is redefined as the activity that contributes to the higher-level cycle, and the remaining activities are redefined relative to that new central function. The Ford case study shows this directly — Ford’s 1.3 department’s own Work Group Cycle mirrors the structure of the Central Department Cycle but with every activity reoriented around storing and maintaining resources rather than around producing cars.

Source: part of the Locus LP patent family; see Patents