ABSTRACT
The primary cause for a meaning depreciation is the loss of legitimacy in the proposed solutions. Legitimacy is an entity's attribute or action that members of a social group deem appropriate. The members of that social group support the entity in its rationale, thereby granting it higher authority to act in a certain way. Meaning depreciation due to competition affects organizations and businesses, not superficially, but deep within their foundation. The meaning attached to problem-solving, which is the very foundation of organizations from sports clubs to General Electric, from humanitarian organizations to the fair-trading Max Havelaar, is being constructed as much as it decomposes in conjunction with the local context of legitimacy and with the alternatives provided by competition. The meaning depreciation, whether from a legitimacy loss, an increase in competition or both, has made the disorganization of one's known-world a disquieting phenomenon of this century.
