Scalability [alone] doesn't work: Centralization vs. Decentralization

Scalability [alone] doesn't work: Centralization vs. Decentralization

EXCERPTS:
"This focus on systems is, by its nature, reflective of a top-down, command-and-control approach to management. It runs counter to another strain in modern management theory, which holds that the best-run companies push authority and responsibility further down in their organizations. A bottom-up approach aims to empower high-performance work teams in the factory, or on the sales floor or in the design department, tapping their experience, unlocking their creativity and giving the company the benefit of real-time customer feedback. The role of top executives isn't to tell them what to do and how to do it. It's to set ambitious business goals, giving workers the tools and incentives to accomplish them.

"Figuring out how to reconcile these two approaches has become the central challenge of modern business management."



EXCERPTS FROM:
"Top-Down, Bottom-Up, but What About the Middle?" By Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post, Wednesday, October 4, 2006; D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/03/AR2006100301534.html