First, lets fire all the managers (how a company can operate without managers)
Article Type: Abstracts From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 20, Issue 4
Hamel G.Harvard Business Review (USA), December 2011, Vol. 89 No. 12, Start page: 48, No. of pages: 12
Describes how Morning Star, the US company and global market leader in food processing, demonstrates how to create an organization that combines managerial discipline and market-centric flexibility without the need for bosses, titles, or promotions. Explains that, although executives do not realize it, a hierarchy of managers exacts a heavy tax on any organization since managers are expensive, they increase the risk of bad decisions, disenfranchise employees, and lead to slow progress. Argues that management may be the least efficient activity in any company, yet market mechanisms alone cannot provide the degree of coordination and control that many companies require. Solves the problem by eliminating senior management and applying a scheme whereby employees essentially manage themselves, workers negotiate responsibilities with their peers, anyone can issue a purchase order, and each individual is responsible for acquiring the tools needed to do their work. Stresses that Morning Star’s self-management model has two cornerstones: the personal mission statement; and the Colleague Letter of Understanding (CLOU). Records that, in a personal mission statement, each employee outlines how they will help the company achieve its goals, and the CLOU, which must be hammered out every year with colleagues, is an operating plan for fulfilling it.ISSN: 0017-8012Reference: 41AA420
Keywords: Management techniques, Managers, Food industry,Organizations, United States of America, Case studies
