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Rethinc: What's Broke at Today's Corporations and How to Fix It
Corporations are crucial to society's well-being. Yet, not many have chosen to adapt themselves to the expectations of employees and the society at large. Prof. Ram Mohan identifies the three main problems that ail companies and illustrates the ways in which these can be combated.
Most companies are still run from the top and make very little attempt to involve employees at the lower levels in decision-making. Executive compensation has spiralled steeply in recent years because the process of determining it is seriously flawed. Boards of directors are ineffective and have abetted the cult of the charismatic CEO who is expected to work wonders. Rethinc contends that the solution lies in the near-total dismantling of hierarchy, or the creation of a 'bossless' organization. In such an organization, the structure is flat, employees operate through self-driven teams, there is peer review, power rests on one's contribution and not one's title, and the organizational purpose goes beyond the making of profit and several other features. Once all this is done, we will have an achieving organization that is also a humane one, in which the employees are raring to get to work every day.
Most companies are still run from the top and make very little attempt to involve employees at the lower levels in decision-making. Executive compensation has spiralled steeply in recent years because the process of determining it is seriously flawed. Boards of directors are ineffective and have abetted the cult of the charismatic CEO who is expected to work wonders. Rethinc contends that the solution lies in the near-total dismantling of hierarchy, or the creation of a 'bossless' organization. In such an organization, the structure is flat, employees operate through self-driven teams, there is peer review, power rests on one's contribution and not one's title, and the organizational purpose goes beyond the making of profit and several other features. Once all this is done, we will have an achieving organization that is also a humane one, in which the employees are raring to get to work every day.
296 pages, Hardcover
Published May 24, 2015
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May 28, 2020
I have always been a fan of Prof. T.T. Ram Mohan's crisp and clear communication, whether it was him teaching economics back in college, his lucid and insightful op-eds in newspapers, his chronicle of institution building in Brick by Red Brick and now, his take on the broken system of corporate governance and the cult of the CEO in RETHINC.
The book broadly covers themes of the undemocratic nature of modern-day institutions, centralization of authority, bloated CEO-pay, conflict of interest in the CEO-Board / dominant investor-Board relationship, and corporate governance. Prof. Ram Mohan, himself having served on the board of several institutions draws richly from his experience. The perspectives from academia peppered with case examples from the practical world make for interesting reading. The book is also replete with extensive quotes from Peter Drucker, Warren Buffet, Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, among others, which are enjoyable and add depth to the arguments.
RETHINC packs a lot and Prof. Ram Mohan, in his characteristic style, does not mince words. The only thing I wish was better is that the book does entail some repetition and occasionally ventures into technicalities that may be slightly difficult for a layman to grasp. Other than that, it makes up for an interesting learning experience and helps bring to light aspects of corporations that we would ordinarily miss.
The book broadly covers themes of the undemocratic nature of modern-day institutions, centralization of authority, bloated CEO-pay, conflict of interest in the CEO-Board / dominant investor-Board relationship, and corporate governance. Prof. Ram Mohan, himself having served on the board of several institutions draws richly from his experience. The perspectives from academia peppered with case examples from the practical world make for interesting reading. The book is also replete with extensive quotes from Peter Drucker, Warren Buffet, Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, among others, which are enjoyable and add depth to the arguments.
RETHINC packs a lot and Prof. Ram Mohan, in his characteristic style, does not mince words. The only thing I wish was better is that the book does entail some repetition and occasionally ventures into technicalities that may be slightly difficult for a layman to grasp. Other than that, it makes up for an interesting learning experience and helps bring to light aspects of corporations that we would ordinarily miss.
Displaying 1 of 1 review