A Hermeneutic Study of Industrial Distribution: the Nuanced Understanding of Organizational Fitness in the Context of Complex Systems & Memetic Culture

Abstract

Industrial distribution faces significant changes: supply chain challenges, competition from online sources, and difficulty finding new employees. This research project aimed to understand the lived experiences of several industrial distribution leaders and their quest to improve the lives of their employees and serve the mission on which their organizations were founded. Additionally, the research sought to answer questions concerning how fitness-enhancing strategies are formulated and their effect on the culture needed to prepare organizations for future uncertainty. The data for the project were collected through 17 semi-structured interviews of industrial distribution leaders. The data from the interviews were thematically captured and then filtered through the lens of complex systems and memetic culture. The research serves as a paradox that concentrates on nonlinear distribution aspects to supplement the widespread research almost exclusively focused on linear practices in the industry. One aspect of the research that remains a novelty is the hermeneutic fusion of horizons that offers a culmination of the voice of the distributor as a short narrative and explains the foundation of the promise that represents service and utility. Protecting the distributor promise builds relationships among distribution employees, representative agents, and manufacturers that preserve people in this unrelenting and stressful domain. These findings indicate that the industrial distribution leaders will continue to lead their organizations with fidelity and determination, despite the lack of a precise prognostication of the future.