Blade Case

1. What opportunities are there for advancing the ideas of self-management in BladeTech?

a. Who reports to whom:

Replace the top-heavy management hierarchical model with a flat organization without human bosses. This would mean employees would not have titles and instead of reporting to a boss, they would report to each other by means of open communication regarding the commitments that each of them makes regarding their work. The position of Vice President and Manager would be eliminated. Instead of being accountable to and reporting to just one boss, all employees would be accountable to each other. Every employee will write a personal mission statement that outlines how they will contribute to BladeTech's goal of providing valuable tech services to customers. It is this mission statement that becomes that becomes the boss and drives them to fulfill their mission.

b. Directing activities and performing strategies:

Instead of being told what to do by a manager, each employee would negotiate a Colleague Letter of Understanding with other employees that would be affected by his or her work. This would be an outline of an operating plan for fulfilling the mission created by each employee negotiating job responsibilities with their peers. Employees would be free to talk to other employees throughout the business in various departments and form working relationships with them to coordinate a productive work flow. Consultants, technicians, and sales people will now have the freedom to work together and direct their own activities to accomplish their missions. They will also have the responsibility to keep current on education and training to stay effective.

c. Who has authority to fire people:

There will be no vice-presidents and managers and there will be no one who can fire another employee. Gillian would remain the owner and the keeper of the mission statement of the company. If there was an employee that was not keeping their commitments then that employee might be requested to leave by another employee. If the employee refused then this dispute would be brought before a panel of several employees to determine if the employee should resign. The next step would be a meeting with Gillian to determine whether she would continue signing that employee's paycheck or not.

d.