Re: Anarchy and spontaneous order in business and education
Andrea Gallagher (drea@alumni.stanford.org)
Wed, 16 Jul 1997 22:00:01 -0700
At 04:21 PM 7/16/97 -0700, James Rogers wrote:
...
>This model assumes that everyone operates as an independent contractor. My
>favorite aspects of this model is that it would make the work environment
>very market driven. It would allow rapid and accurate adjustments in wages
>as the market changed and as job requirements changed. However, the
>current structure of business is too rigid to adapt to such a fluid and
>equilibrium sensitive job model. I do know of (and have worked for) a
>couple small companies that actually operate this way. You don't have to
>do anything you don't want to (no work, no pay of course), and the pay for
>work is adjusted according to type and market values. In my experience
>this actually seems to produce a more efficient work environment, with few
>administrative hassles and a lot more satisfied employees. It is a lot
>more relaxing when you are not "required" to do anything.
Very Cool! What companies were they? I worked with someone who was
suggesting that our company pick up a similar model, but we didn't in the
end. I suspect one of the biggest problems is trying to interface such a
system with a traditional hierarchy. I kinda wish we had tried it out; it
sure couldn't have made anything worse!
And how was the type of work and market value determined?
Andrea