Cooperation Orientation
What are the mechanisms which influence the interest of people, teams and organisations towards cooperation?
The place for this question in system theory is that all and everyone must be able to handle the imponderability of the environment. Each system requires a sufficiently stable environment to create its own stability. As each system has other systems in its environment, it needs mechanisms to reduce the incalculable, which arises from their decision-making and control capability.
Cooperation mechanisms such as agreements, contracts, trust, promises, arrangements etc. can lead to such a (always endangered) stability. Therefore, there is an interest in cooperation, which is not characterised by psychological motives (such as closeness, security or belonging). Otherwise social systems could not cooperate, as they could never ensure that the members of a team, or the employees in organisations, all have the same psychological needs at the same time.
Cooperation is, therefore, the ability to deal with contingency. The probability that it will remain stable can be increased by means of values and norms, rules and contracts, as well as with the associated sanctions. The psychological motives named above also play a role. Both together, however, would be too much of a threat to its stability, when striving for the best for itself from the constantly arising possibilities. Therefore, every system must include the processing of its own interests in its calculations, how much cooperation is required and how strongly it should strain existing cooperation, so as to not be overwhelmed itself. Likewise, it must calculate the risks and costs entailed in cooperation to ensure it does not endanger itself too much. Here also: decisions without reason!