Holacracy -- the latest trend in business management

Perhaps, it is impossible to think of organisations without a managerial hierarchy. But experiments show businesses may function better if the rigidity of a centralised managerial system is removed. Recently, tech-savvy entities like the US-based online shoe/clothing shop Zappos and Swedish consultancy firm Crisp DNA have advocated Holacracy - a concept stressing on principles of a decentralised open-source system of management with no authoritative figures at workplaces. IT pundits opine that holacracy can make jobs smoother and business clients contented.
According to a BBC article, Crisp DNA consists of 40 people. Tasks performed by the company's former chief executives were studied and found that such tasks could be performed by others in the organisation regardless of any hierarchical order. For an organisation of newly empowered professionals with huge experience in their respective fields, such egalitarian approaches to both ownership and management often create doubts the feasibility of such endeavours.
Nevertheless, holacracy might change the managerial tendency towards "worker exploitation". Employees should be paid enough and allocated work in such a way as to make the job pleasurable. If benefits, salaries and tasking are decreased and no reasonable breaks provided, there is either little opportunity or reason to dedicate the self in doing a good job. Subsequently, managers innately choose the role of 'exploiter' in order to produce necessary 'output' for the organisation regardless of such unfair means.
At the end of the day, holacracy might work well in every geographic location despite cultural, social or economic differences - in the companies that have efficient senior staff. All that matters is the size of a company.
Crisp DNA's small number of people enables more organic, communal and collaborative decision-making systems. However, if the Swedish company continues to grow, a need to adjust the organisation and formalise its decision-making might be required in the long run.
nabil.dewan@gmail.com