Corporations are crucial to society’s well-being. Yet, not many have chosen to adapt themselves to the expectations of employees and the society at large. Prof. Ram Mohan identifies the three main problems that ail companies and illustrates the ways in which these can be combated.Most companies are still run from the top and make very little attempt to involve employees at the lower levels in decision-making. Executive compensation has spiralled steeply in recent years because the process of determining it is seriously flawed. Boards of directors are ineffective and have abetted the cult of the charismatic CEO who is expected to work wonders. Rethinc contends that the solution lies in the near-total dismantling of hierarchy, or the creation of a ‘bossless’ organization. In such an organization, the structure is flat, employees operate through self-driven teams, there is peer review, power rests on one’s contribution and not one’s title, and the organizational purpose goes beyond the making of profit and several other features. Once all this is done, we will have an achieving organization that is also a humane one, in which the employees are raring to get to work every day.
