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What it means when people who grew up with technology in their hands become the heart of a workforce--and what it means if managers don't understand them.

Today's workforce is increasingly made up of volunteers -- at least in spirit if not in fact. How will the traditional management tasks of motivating and directing employees change in the face of that new reality? The authors answer this question by examining an example of an economic enterprise that acts in many ways like a voluntary organization: the open-source software movement. The authors became interested in the movement during the course of their work with a knowledge-based organization that was seeking a new model of organizational governance. After hearing open-source proponent Eric Raymond speak at a public forum, they began to think that the movement might offer just the model the organization needed. They then embarked on a case study that focused on the motivation of open-source participants and the coordination of their software development work. The authors posed the following essential questions: What motivates people to participate in open-source projects? And how is participation governed in the absence of employment or fee-for-service contracts? The answers revealed some important lessons for traditional organizations about the challenges of keeping and motivating knowledge workers and the process of managing in the new arena of networked or virtual organizations. The first lesson is that traditional organizations should plan for a broader array of employee motivations than they often do today. Money is only one, and not always the most important, motivation of open-source volunteers. Professional contributors are also motivated by the personal benefit of using an improved software product and by a number of social values such as altruism, reputation and ideology. In many cases, several motivations operate together and reinforce one another. Second, traditional organizations should consider ways to shift from the management of knowledge workers to the self-governance of knowledge work. Despite their clear potential for chaos, open-source projects are often surprisingly disciplined and successful by means of multiple, interacting governance mechanisms. Membership management, rules and institutions, monitoring and sanctions, and reputation build on the precondition of shared culture to self-regulate open-source projects.

A company's sales workforce must be able to present their products and services using state-of-the-art personal computer technology. To communicate effectively with the company's main office, a salesforce working in the field must also be able to collect and transmit order data from remote locations. The authors studied how a company combined salesforce automation with a telecommuting program to create two new business strategies designed to improve organizational performance. The authors not only describe a successful "telework" program, but they also provide a framework for conducting a cost/benefit analysis. They conclude that the start-up cost of the telework program was high because the IT infrastructure was not current; however, the direct costs and savings offset each other within 3 to 4 years. In addition, they report that ongoing costs declined rapidly, depending on the number of new teleworkers joining the organization. The telework program enhanced accountability because the new software applications allowed managers greater oversight of employee activities. Productivity also increased. After learning how to increase the speed and accuracy of internal operations, the salesforce spent more time with customers and generated more sales. By integrating0 technology into business processes, the telecommuting program also spurred organizational adjustments and cultural change. Gradually, business managers adjusted policies and procedures to conform to the program's technical and business needs. They shifted from managing by attendance to managing by results, which depended on a reliable IT infrastructure and technical tools for communicating with their employees. The telework program quickened the pace of IT adoption at this company by linking IT improvements to the organization's mission and survival. This mobilized the salesforce, the information systems staff, and middle managers to adapt to and accept the new business environment.

Are Japanese companies ending their practices of lifetime employment and seniority-based pay, as the popular press has reported? Data from published Japanese surveys offer insights into three key issues: Are Japanese employment practices changing? While changes are taking place, they are limited to seniority-based pay and promotion; lifetime employment remains intact in most large companies. The seniority system is gradually being replaced by a new job performance-based pay system that companies are using to raise white-collar productivity. Most companies plan to retain the lifetime employment system, the benefits of which outweigh the costs. Why are employment practices changing? In the 1980s and 1990s, internal and external factors placed pressure on large firms to change the seniority system. Internal factors include falling profit margins, decreases in white-collar productivity, an aging workforce, and changes in employee attitudes toward work and the seniority system. External factors include the maturing of the Japanese economy, a decline in large Japanese companies' international competitive position, and increasing internationalization of Japanese companies' operations. What are the implications of changes? Given the trends in Japanese employment practices, Western competitors should expect the following: a continuation of Japanese companies' market growth strategy with minor adjustments; innovative products and services as well as marketing and partnering strategies coming from Japanese companies; a resurgence in Japanese firms' competitiveness and productivity levels; increasing opportunities to enter into Japanese keiretsu networks as suppliers; and continued fierce competition in local Asian markets and lower prices from Japanese competitors in more mature product sectors as they move them increasingly to overseas production. The examples of Honda, Fujitsu, and Sony, three firms that revitalized themselves through use of performance-based pay systems, product innovation, and new partnering strategies rather than through layoffs of core employees, suggest that while change will be gradual, most large companies will eventually follow in the same direction.

To remain competitive, manufacturers increasingly need a support system of transportation, telecommunications, services, and knowledge centers. In the United States, some cities and government agencies are building individual components of a supporting infrastructure. But a strategic approach in which public and private sectors cooperate to create a business environment that enhances manufacturing agility is needed. An example of such a system is the Global TransPark in North Carolina, which has fully integrated air, rail, highway, and sea transportation systems, as well as telecommunication and state-of-the-art electronic data interchange technologies to support manufacturers' logistical requirements. It contains the four elements that the authors say are necessary to agile manufacturers: 1. A seamless transportation network, with traffic management, vehicle control and safety systems, electronic toll payment, and emergency management systems. The network integrates air, sea, and land transportation through materials handling systems that accommodate various industries. 2. Telecommunications networks that provide information on markets and orders, track and manage material flows, and pool R&;D information. 3. Access to financial institutions, marketing and sales agents and consultants, legal services, exposition centers, and foreign trade zones. Agile manufacturers need commercial and service support, along with community amenities like good schools and cultural facilities. 4. A source of scientists, engineers, and managers. Such knowledge centers provide access to R&;D labs, colleges and universities, and a trained workforce. What is needed, according to Kasarda and Rondinelli, is a cooperative approach to create an environment that fills all these requirements. Such an approach needs government and industry to work together to integrate infrastructure components.

The flat structures, service-oriented workforce, and participative decision processes of professional service firms are a model for larger organizations.

Japanese success with some management practices may depend on cultural factors that are not present in the West. But that is not true as far as continuous improvement programs are concerned; CIPs were developed in the United States long before they were introduced into Japan by U.S. trainers working for the post-WWII occupation authorities. Schroeder and Robinson synthesize the fascinating history of improvement programs, from the early "awards scheme" of a Scottish shipbuilder to the present day. They propose four fundamental principles that can help managers build the competitive advantage no one can steal -- a constantly improving, highly productive, committed workforce.

Externally focused x-teams can drive innovation, performance, and distributed leadership but require a shift in mindset.

Connecting companies to clusters of startups, researchers, and investors can accelerate corporate innovation.

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