Book Review

The Future of Work: How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life.

By Thomas W. Malone

In this book, Thomas Malone highlights the similarities between societal and organizational growth. His theory is that the declining costs of communication have made possible man’s historical change from independent hunter/gatherer to member of a decentralized organization. Combined with the increased value of information communication, organizations are able to consider more decentralized organizational structures such as loose hierarchies, democracies, and free markets. According to Malone, these structures are the building blocks for creating a successful organization in our evolving society.

Many businesses today operate in a traditional centralized operational structure, with all orders and decisions coming from the top. In the first two parts of the book, Malone illustrates several examples of companies moving away from this traditional style to try something new. First he discusses loose hierarchies. One example he cites is Wikipedia. Wikipedia meets all three criteria Malone lists as common to this type of organization. First is the need for constant and heavy communications between members. Next is a lack of centralized control. Last is the ability for an employee to choose whether or not to participate in a project at all. Loose hierarchies offer a way to balance the strengths and weaknesses of the basic hierarchical structure. When they are in place, power is disseminated throughout the organization, preventing apathy and the undermining of a workgroup’s enthusiasm about their current project. Malone lists as the strengths of this type of structure the ability to coordinate large-scale systems with little communication and the ability to resolve individual differences for the good of the group quickly and with minimal discussion. For the weaknesses, he cites the lack of a view of the ‘big picture’, the possibility of information bottlenecks, too narrow of a focus on solution options, and the difficulty in people maintaining a sense of autonomy.

Next Malone discusses democracy. Organizations using a democratic style agree that they will accept decisions voted for by the group. Decisions are made by a majority vote of the group, not just by the company leaders. In a democratic hierarchy, group member have to look past their personal preferences in favor of the greater good. This style is very similar to the federal structure of the United States, which is a republic. The people vote for leaders to represent and make decisions on their behalf, and if they do not serve them well, those leaders can be removed (not always easily!) by a majority vote. For this type of structure to work, there is a need for heavy and constant communication, just like in the loose hierarchy. Malone uses Hewlett Packard (HP) as one of his examples of a democratic company. Knowing the importance of having the support of their employees, HP polled them to see if they were in favor of a buyout of Compaq Computer. Prior to the final vote, the company had been doing periodic surveys to get a feel for where their employees stood on the issue. The results of the surveys and the final vote were favorable, so the buyout went forward. This example illustrates how in a democratic hierarchy the source of the power originates from the bottom instead of the top. Malone lists as the strengths of this style employee participation in all decision making and individuals joining with groups to make decisions they may not have made on their own. The weaknesses include a requirement for heavy and constant communication and people making decisions they may not be qualified to decide.

The third style that Malone introduces is the market structure. This is the most decentralized structure presented in the book. Malone discusses outsourcing or free lancing and the creation of internal markets as examples of market style. Outsourcing is not really a new idea. Many companies streamline their processes and save money by having other companies handle specific jobs in their production process. An example from the book of just such a company is Topsy Tail. All that Topsy Tail does is develop new products and plan marketing strategy. All other tasks from production to shipping are done by other companies. Another example involves the use of outside contractors. This is mostly seen in the service industry. A good example is in construction. A company bids for a contract to build a strip mall. If the company wins the bid, they then hire sub-contractors who specialize in certain facets of the job like plumbing and electrical. These companies all work together until the job is completed, then they separate and regroup with others for another job. The creation of internal markets is a way for companies to ensure that their employees’ talents are allocated efficiently throughout the organization. Instead of having people assigned to a specific department, they can move from team to team and project to project on demand. The strengths of the market style include efficiency, flexibility, and motivation. The weaknesses are incentive problems and communication needs.

Malone wraps up part two of his book with an analysis on decentralization. He discusses what factors to consider before making a move to decentralization. He details the advantages and disadvantages of the different structures. To summarize, if a company requires quick decisions, and wants to keep communications costs very low, it is best to stay with the centralized operational structure. If a company wants highly motivated and autonomous employees, the market option is the obvious choice. Loose hierarchies and democracies are combinations of these two extremes, and if a company is willing to move the power base to the employees while retaining a modicum of control, either of these would be a reasonable choice.

Part three outlines how managers of companies moving from centralized to decentralized organizations can continue to manage. Malone believes that a new management model needs to be created. The old model is known as command-and-control. He proposes a new model called coordinate-and-cultivate. In his book he defines coordination as a way to “…organize work so that good things happen” (p. 129). It is a way of focusing on business activities and how they relate to each other. Cultivation is about the people. It is what needs to be done to bring out the best in them, to learn what their strengths are, and to put them with others who have complementary skills. The best way to achieve that is to find the balance between control and motivation.

Malone makes a great case for his theory in this book. However, it is definitely a theory. He uses great examples of companies that have moved to one of these different styles, but they are too few or too recent to be considered definitive. The book would be more useful if there were more of a focus on the practical rather than theory. It is not an instruction manual for how implement and manage these different styles. Managers could become very excited by the glamour of the move to decentralization, and it could be devastating to their businesses. The book definitely has a great deal of excellent information, and could be a valuable tool if used wisely.

This book definitely presents some interesting ideas that should be considered. As evidenced by the examples presented, many businesses are effectively making the changes to these new management styles. One would not necessarily have connected the falling costs of communication to the social and organizational changes that that man has experienced. It definitely gives a different point of view.

Communication costs have decreased in many ways through our history, but more recently because of the creation of the internet. With the advent of email, blogs, and other forms of e-communication, it has become virtually costless to quickly and easily communicate with others. Since our course is all about doing business using all available computer resources, this book shows an example of how companies can use those resources to work smarter.

E-Voting

Electronic voting (e-voting) describes several different types of voting technology for vote casting and counting. According to Wikipedia, these types include punch cards, optical scan voting systems, and direct recording electronic (DRE) systems. One of the reasons for the movement to e-voting was the ability to more quickly count up the votes. DRE's are also more friendly to disabled voters. One example of this is in the provision of headphone and voice technology for blind voters. On the downside, many Americans are concerned that e-voting could invite or facilitate fraud.

These types of voting have almost completely replaced the hand-counted paper ballot. This has certainly led to faster election results, but not necessarily more efficient ones. With hardware and software failures, there is no knowing how many votes are counted incorrectly or not at all. Audits are impossible without some kind of paper ballot to count and verify. Many of the DRE's are not hooked up to printers which would provide this documentation of a voter's selections. Additionally, according to Lessig in Code 2.0, having a printed receipt may not necessarily prove that a vote was even counted. If e-voting is going to be the only voting there is in the future, Lessig hints that he would lean towards open code as his solution to the problem. The e-voting machine companies, such as Diebold, are against that idea as they feel their code is secret and also because they don't want to increase the chances that their code will be hacked.

This election, e-voting was a success. However, the race was not as close as it was the previous two elections. If that had been the case this time, who knows what problems would have surfaced, such as the 'hanging chad' fiasco. What if a recount needed to be done on a precinct that used DRE's? As mentioned before, the DRE's without printers do not provide a written confirmation of voter selections that can be audited after the fact. According to statistics gathered by the California Voter Foundation and the Verified Voting Foundation, use of DRE's has gone down 5% since the 2006 elections. Use of the Optical Scan has increased steadily, with a jump of 7% in the same time period (YubaNet.com). As a result of audit concerns, many states using DRE's have implemented the use of printers, but it is a process that takes time. According to Jeffrey Young of NewsVOA.com, adding this technology could be cost prohibitive for some smaller states and counties. The cost of the new equipment could reach millions of dollars.

Before this assignment, I never really thought about e-voting one way or the other. I went to the polls, filled out my ballot, and was on my way. However, things have changed. In our society of instant gratification, fast results are what people want. They don't want to wait a week or two while all the ballots are gathered and counted. I have to agree that it is nice to know who won within the same day, but what is the cost? Are we better off with the quick answer? Also, with the problems that occurred in the last two elections, have people become more mistrustful of the results? Something needs to be done to rebuild Americans' confidence in the election system. I believe it is up to election officials to ensure the accuracy and credibility of technological advances in voting options. They need to find a way to show us that every vote is being counted. With that being said, e-voting in should be used in future elections as long as efforts continue to correct identified problems.

References:

Alexander, K. & Smith, P. (2008). Verifying the Vote in 2008 Presidential Election Battleground States. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from http://yubanet.com/usa/Verifying-the-Vote-in-2008-Presidential-Election-Battleground-States.php

Lessig, L. (2006). Code 2.0. New York: Basic Books

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting

Young, J. (2008). Observers Voice Concerns Over Electronic Voting for 2008 Presidential Race. Retrieved November 9, 2008 from http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-10/2007-10-29-voa37.cfm?CFID=63247370&CFTOKEN=77330201

Purchasing and Reputation Systems

What is the problem?

One of the problems that Public Administration faces is how better to select vendors or service providers. Governments are responsible for the careful spending of taxpayer's dollars. That responsibility is even more critical now with the current state of the economy. What is the best way to get the job done for the least cost? Perhaps the establishment of reputation systems based on vendors' past performance could be an additional tool for purchasers.

What is the current approach?

The existing process for inviting companies to bid is good. A request for proposals (RFP) is sent out to companies that provide the commodity or service required. The responses that are returned within the time frame are reviewed. However, this is the place where the system breaks down. It is the policy for most municipalities to select the low bidder almost exclusively, with very few exceptions. That is not always the best thing. Some vendors will underbid to make sure they get the job. This can lead to cost overruns on service projects, because the vendor will submit change orders later in the project for unexpected or unplanned costs. The job has to be completed, so it may be the case that the change orders will be approved and the project cost could increase beyond what another bidder's cost might have been.

What should the new approach be?

Sites already exist that can help consumers verify if the company that they intend to do business with is reputable. Two of them are the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and the Registrar of Contractors (ROC). However, these sites do not have information on every company in business. To rectify that, if customers are required to give a rating after they have completed their transaction with a business, information could be compiled and posted on a site accessible to any who are interested. Questions asked could include whether the job was completed on time, on budget, and with good customer service. Individual statistics as well as an overall rating could help consumers decide if they wish to do business with a specific vendor. In addition to the current process, having this information could assist municipalities in deciding what the likeliness is that a vendor will be able to complete the job as bid. This new approach is a combination of two of the four constraints Lessig introduced in his book, Code 2.0, Market and Norms.

Reputation systems do work. Ebay, Amazon, and other sites like them use them very successfully. Whether or not reputation systems are a viable option for this suggested application is unknown. Maybe an ambitious entrepreneur will think this is a great idea and start a new project.

References:

Lessig, Lawrence. Code 2.0. Chapter 7, "What Things Regulate", p. 122.

Court Recognizes Privacy Expectation in Text Message Contents

"Court Recognizes Privacy Expectation in Text Message Contents"
by Steven Ellis
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
June 19, 2008

http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/quon061908.htm

This article discusses a court decision on whether or not it was a violation of privacy to access an employee's actual text messages.

Employees of the Ontario, California Police Department were issued pagers by the City. They were asked to sign off on the City's general policy related to internet and computer use. Among other things, the policy advised employees that they had no expectation of privacy with regards to computer usage. The policy did not specifically address pagers, so an informal policy was created which said that if the monthly 25,000 character limit was exceeded, the City must be reimbursed for the overage charges or the messages would be audited to see if they were personal or business related.

One officer, Jeff Quon, exceeded the limits on several occasions, leading to complaints from his lieutenant about having to collect the overage charges. The chief's response was to request the contents of the Quon's texts to verify if they were business related and to increase the character limit on his account if warranted. In fact many of the texts were personal, some even sexually explicit. When Quon found out that his texts had been audited, he filed a lawsuit alleging violation of his 4th amendment rights.

The court found for Quon, stating that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy according to the details of the department's informal policy. As long as he paid the overages, his messages would not be reviewed. The court felt that he could have been warned that if he did not stop going over his limit his messages would be reviewed.

As a Mesa employee, I am required to sign the computer usage policy every year with my review. The policy is very detailed, and it clearly outlines the violations and their related consequences. The City wants to make sure that no employee can say they were not aware of the policy if they are caught violating it. This article highlights the need for policies to be reviewed and updated as needed to keep up with changing technology use in the workplace.

As for the review of Quon's text messages, it seems that the chief did not have any qualms about accessing an employee's private information. He did not even consider that the informal department policy made his actions a violation of Quon's 4th amendment rights. As public administrators, we need to be aware of these laws so we don't make the same mistake.

Additional information:

An article posted by Sherman & Howard LLC gives more detail on this decision.

"Employer's Review of Employee's Text Messages is an Illegal Search"
by Sherman & Howard LLC
September 8, 2008

http://www.shermanhoward.com/NewsAndEvents/View/252D6045-5056-965B-E8A6094648148C6F/

BJ's Presentation on ICT Implementation

BJ did an excellent job of presenting the challenges faced by tribal governments involving the encouragement of citizen participation and the movement towards information and communication technologies (ICT) to face them. The creation of a website, www.mygilariver.com, was a great solution, and mirrors the steps the city, state, and federal governments have taken to increase citizen communication and participation. The goal to move towards facilitating services is the next logical step. E-government seems to be the wave of the future, and everyone is trying to catch it. Not only is it a better way to keep in touch with the community, it is more cost effective as well. Great presentation BJ!

See this comment also posted on BJ's Blog.

Slashdot

I had the most difficulty with this assignment. I started looking at articles on the site Thursday, and found the comments and replies disjointed and confusing. Many of the references are clearly technical or inside info/jokes. In many cases, they didn't even seem to have anything to do with the original post. I finally found one that seemed interesting, and below is my post. Because the original post on this was from 10/23, I don't know if I will receive a response or get rated up. I doubt I will ever go to this site again, as it really doesn't seem to have a lot of relevance for me.

Ask Slashdot: Alternatives to Daylight Saving Time?

Posted by timothy on Thursday October 23, @02:21PM
from the even-ben-franklin-made-some-whoppers dept

Re:Move to Arizona (Score:1)

by jackpinegirl (1394593) on Monday October 27, @12:33AM (#25523923)

I also grew up in Arizona. My family moved to Northern California (Napa) for 10 years, and when we came back, I didn't miss DST at all! (No offense Californians, but I don't miss CA either - earthquakes, twisty narrow roads, and the constant rain!) We don't need DST in Arizona. I can't imagine what it would be like to 'Spring Forward', and have sundown moved to even later. In the summer, the overnight low sometimes doesn't get below 90 degrees. I would not want to go to bed at 10:00 with the sun just going down and the temp at over 100. Don't get me wrong, I love hot weather and HATE the cold. This is my home, and not having DST is another great reason to stay here.

Facebook

I joined Facebook this week, though it is not something I would have done had it not been a class assignment. From my point of view, in the long run, it is another obligation against my very limited free time. I did find that it was very easy to get started. I was able to find more than 5 people to add as friends right away. Most of them are local family, but I also found one of my cousins from California.

I found the site to be very east to navigate, and was able to edit my privacy options right away. I have not had a chance to post a picture or to visit all my friends' sites, but I did post to my CA cousin's wall. I see how this site could be a great place to maintain long distance communications without having to write letters or to make phone calls, but I prefer to call or see my local friends. It definitely makes it easier for people to keep in touch with scattered relatives and friends. I also feel comfortable with this site, more so than Myspace. I like the fact that you have to approve anyone to be a friend, and that the privacy options allow you to limit who can see your personal information.