The Death of American Socialism

I was surprised the other day when a good friend said that America is the largest socialist country in the world. He qualified his comment by saying that instead of socialism residing in the government, socialism in America resides in big corporations.

And, the socialism has been manifested by digital technology. Now, with email, blogs, etc. CEO's and CMO's can connect directly to the customer. And, the customer can connect directly to the top. So, the question is, why are all of the corporate layers needed today?

Not only is it a financial imperative to further flatten organizations today, it's a cultural expectation from customers.

Customers want to and now can have a relationship with real people inside of companies who can take the personal responsibility to handle their questions and problems without being shuffled around and blocked.

How can you flatten your company?

Comments

[Tyson]

John -

Interesting post. I hadn't really thought of socialism residing in big corporations but I can see what your friend means by that.

I think this recession is going to be a big wake up call for corporate America. Big inefficient companies will either flatten or fail. Smaller nimble companies will thrive.

I also hope that this recession will result in increased entrepreneurship in our country. It should be painfully obvious now that a job at XYZ Megacorp isn't a sure thing & entrepreneurship isn't much riskier than corporate servitude.

Large companies will certainly continue to thrive in the coming years but their modus operandi will need some major tweaks. Flattening their organizations will be an important one.

[Anastacio Bueno]

The only thing I would add is that the US Government may not be socialist; however, when it comes to the relationship with corporations it has a "corporate welfare mentality”. The amount of money spent directly and indirectly to help corporations is staggering considering what the public thinks in light of the so-called "free enterprise/capitalist” ideology of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School Boys.

I just love your idea of businesses arranging themselves flat and thin. If information is free as Chris Anderson says and the Long Tail is the economic model of today and the future, then networks are the thing and hierarchies are part of the legacy models. I just feel the C-Suites dwellers could take advantage of connecting with the markets, but the ones that actually know or care to connect are few!