Gary Hamel: First let’s fire all the managers
Executives don’t realize it, but a hierarchy of managers exacts a hefty tax on any organization: Managers are expensive, increase the risk of bad decisions, disenfranchise employees, and slow progress. In fact, management may be the least efficient activity in any company. Yet it’s clear that market mechanisms alone can’t provide the degree of coordination and control that many companies require. Is there any way to get the flexibility of a market system and the discipline of a tightly knit hierarchy—without a management superstructure? Morning Star, the global market leader in tomato processing, proves that there is.
By Gary Hamel