There may be other options apart from flat-management versus hierarchical management.
Management is basically there to provide accountability. But peer systems can also provide some accountability.
Semco has an interesting model because they do insane things like allow employees to set their own salary. But your salary will be public, and if you can't prove to your peers on a regular basis that you are still needed, you will be asked to pack up your things.
This is just one of the way that they've delegated management functions downwards, which by all accounts works very well. There is still an official hierarchy but it's more about mediating disputes or very high level strategy.
Management is basically there to provide accountability. But peer systems can also provide some accountability.
Semco has an interesting model because they do insane things like allow employees to set their own salary. But your salary will be public, and if you can't prove to your peers on a regular basis that you are still needed, you will be asked to pack up your things.
This is just one of the way that they've delegated management functions downwards, which by all accounts works very well. There is still an official hierarchy but it's more about mediating disputes or very high level strategy.
http://www.freibergs.com/resources/articles/leadership/semco...