In The Invisible Handcuffs, I relate how in one case a paper company opened up
its
information via computer to all workers -- leading to much greater
productivity.
Here are a couple of paragraphs:
In a less dramatic example of the irrationality of absolutism in managerial
control,
Shoshana Zuboff, a professor at the Harvard Business School, reported on her
experience as a consultant for a number of paper factories at a time when
computer
controls were first being introduced throughout the industry. In one factory,
which
she called Tiger Creek Mill, the computer system was initially accessible by
everybody, including the workers on the production line. Workers could see the
same
information on costs and prices as management. At first, the workers used
their new
found information to make very profitable modifications of the production
process
(Zuboff 1988, pp. 255 67).
Economic theory and business logic would have us expect that management
would reward these workers for contributing to the profitability of the
corporation.
Instead, management, horrified by the possibility that workers were going to
make
managerial control at least partially irrelevant, quickly cut off the workers'
access to the system.
The sharing of information should be a high priority in an economy in
which
information is supposed to be a central input. Besides, sharing can stimulate
productivity in other ways. For example:
Sharing information with another party signifies trust. That
trust
is likely to be reciprocated. Conversely, when a company keeps secrets from
its
employees it signals it does not trust its employees to keep secrets or to use
the
withheld information effectively. Those feelings of distrust and disdain are
also
likely to be reciprocated .... Decentralizing decision making also signals
trust
and a belief in employees' competence, again engaging the norm of reciprocity.
[Pfeffer 2007, p. 123]
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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