The Self-Managing Organization : How Leading Companies Are Transforming the Work of Teams for Real Impact

Business consultants Ronald Purser and Steven Cabana argue that it's time for democracy to replace bureaucracy at work. In The Self-Managing Organization, they warn that high-tech, knowledge-based businesses perform best with the flexibility, creativity, and information sharing that come with more freedom on the job. "We need the real medicine now: democracy at work," write the authors, consultants to such companies as Motorola and Procter & Gamble.

Building on research by social scientists at the Tavistock Institute in London in the 1950s, Purser and Cabana explain the theory and provide examples of two self-managing techniques for improving work: Participative Design and the Search Conference. The Participative Design method asks workers themselves to determine what's wrong at the company and suggest solutions. And the Search Conference method has workers develop new business strategies to help the company succeed. The Self-Managing Organization thus offers provocative ideas to business managers and students. --Dan Ring