You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss

Re:You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss by panarky on Sunday June 21, 2015 @10:19AM (#9753531)

Case study: At Sears, Eddie Lampert's Warring Divisions Model Adds to the Troubles

  Eddie Lampert’s big idea is that markets and competition rool, so
  he’s forcing the different parts of Sears to compete for resources
  just as if they were independent firms, with individual division
  profitability the only criterion for success.

  ...

  If the different divisions of Sears have no common interests,
  if the best model is competition red in tooth and claw, why should
  Sears exist at all? Why not just break it up into units that have
  no reason not to compete?

  For that matter, why should any large firm exist? Why not just have
  small firms, or maybe just individuals, who make deals for whatever
  they need?

  ...

  There are some things you don't want to leave up to the market — the
  market itself is telling us that, by creating islands of
  planning and hierarchy.

More here: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/john-galt-and-th...

And here: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-07-11/at-sears-edd...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss by thewarrior on Sunday June 21, 2015 @10:22AM (#9753546)

My own company works this way. It's absolutely ridiculous. Each division hoards good programmers , projects and expertise, and people sometimes get stuck in other divisions without much work , while a few efficiently managed divisions land all the good work , leading to all the good people in the poor divisons leaving because they aren't growing , it's almost like working in a different company if you're in a different division.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss by Retra on Sunday June 21, 2015 @01:06PM (#9754094)

I am a bit mystified as to where people get the idea that competition is fundamentally better than cooperation. The only time competition has ever done any good is when it leads to greater cooperation.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss by thewarrior on Sunday June 21, 2015 @01:31PM (#9754190)

That's not always true. Competition always produces better performance , atleast in individual activities.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss by deciplex on Monday June 22, 2015 @12:10AM (#9756094)

Individual activities are precisely not what we're talking about, and at any rate you're wrong even at the level of an individual.

[ Parent | on HN ]