Article by Charles Handy on how to manage people in the virtual world. Handy concludes that a manager must trust employees that they cannot directly oversee, but that trust depends on the presence and consistency of small, cohesive groups. He begins the article discussing how technology has enabled people to remove themselves from physical depositories for books, pondering whether institutions such as libraries will become obsolete as books and other materials move to CD-ROM discs. Handy proceeds to reflect on his meeting with a group of librarians, in which he considers the future of modern-day libraries and how technology will affect their relevance in the years to come, in addition to the traditional office work space. He defines the problem specifically as one in which managers must determine how to manage what they cannot see, and states that trust is what will hold groups together, with the traditional organization perhaps becoming little more than a box of contracts. Handy proceeds to note that, for society as a whole, the main challenge will be to make sure that the new virtuality brings benefits to all, rather than a select few. He gives the example of Open University’s new virtual summer school to indicate how communication technology is being harnessed to accommodate students outside the traditional campus space, and observes that the only thing halting the trend toward new technology is the hearts and minds of individuals. Inevitably, according to Handy, traditional office spaces will become obsolete and function more like clubhouses, with meetings and other types of get-togethers--both formal and informal--having to be scheduled well in advance, and organizations operating largely without them. This new reality will be in line with Handy’s prediction that management will have to oversee those they do not routinely see, which will rely inherently on trust, a concept Handy expands upon in detail. He goes on to suggest that laborers, operating in new virtual organizations, be turned into members--that they should be given membership contracts in new federalist organizational arrangements. Handy closes the article explaining how the Three I Economy--an economy that adds value through information, ideas, and intelligence--can offer a means to escape the clash between material growth and environmental erosion, as well as human selfishness in capitalist society.
Handy, Charles B Harvard business review book series Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564 University of Dubrovnik Steele, Mark Open University British Broadcasting Company London Stock Exchange Laurentian Library Florence (Italy) University of Virginia Libraries Management Management - Employee participation Trust Organizational behavior Organizational change Organizational effectiveness Organizations Industrial management Industrial productivity Industrial organization Employment (Economic theory) Employees Employee selection Federalism Federalism - theory & application Capitalism Selfishness Harvard Business Review Church of San Lorenzo (Florence, Italy) Virtuality
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Article by Charles Handy on how to manage people in the virtual world. Handy concludes that a manager must trust employees that they cannot directly oversee, but that trust depends on the presence and consistency of small, cohesive groups, 1995; Charles Handy Papers; Box 20, Folder 10; 12 pages
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