The e-lance economy Summary Despite

The e-lance economy

Summary
Despite the wave of big mergers and acquisitions over the past few years, the days of the big corporation - as we know it - are numbered. While the cash flows that they control are growing, the direct power that they exercise over actual business processes is declining. Because modern communications technology makes decentralised organisations possible, control is being passed down the line to workers at many different levels, or outsourced to external companies. In fact, we are moving towards what can be called an "e-lance economy", which will be characterised by shifting coalitions of freelancers and small firms using the Internet for much of their work.

Twenty-five years ago, one in five US workers was employed by one of the top 500 companies. Today, the ratio has dropped to fewer than one in ten. Large companies are far less vertically integrated than they were in the past and rely more and more on outside suppliers to produce components and provide services, with a consequent reduction in the size of their workforce.
At the same time, decisions within large corporations are increasingly being pushed to lower levels. Workers are rewarded not for carrying out orders efficiently, but for working out what needs to be done and doing it. Many large industrial companies - ABB and BP Amoco are among the most prominent - have broken themselves up into numerous independent units that transact business with one another almost as if they were separate companies.
What underlies this trend? The answer lies in the basic economics of organisations. Business organisations are, in essence, mechanisms for co-ordination, and the form they take is strongly affected by the co-ordination technologies available. When it is cheaper to conduct transactions internally, with other parts of the same company, organisations grow larger, but when it is cheaper to conduct them externally, with independent entities in the open market, organisations stay small or shrink.
The co-ordination technologies of the industrial era - the train and the telegraph, the car and the telephone, the mainframe computer and the fax machine - made transactions within the company not only possible but advantageous. Companies were able to manage large organisations centrally, which provided them with economies of scale in manufacturing, marketing, distribution and other activities. Big was good.
But with the introduction of powerful personal computers and electronic networks - the co-ordination technologies of the 21st century - the economic equation changes. Because information can be shared instantly and inexpensively among many people in many locations, the value of centralised decision-making and bureaucracy decreases. Individuals can manage themselves, co-ordinating their efforts through electronic links with other independent parties. Small becomes good.
In the future, as communications technologies advance and networks become more efficient, the shift to e-lanceing promises to accelerate. Should this happen, the dominant business organisation of the future may not be a stable, permanent corporation but rather a flexible network of individuals and small groups that might sometimes exist for no more than a day or two. We will enter the age of the temporary company.

FINANCIAL TIMES

Risultati (Irlandese) 1:

An geilleagar r-Lance Achoimre In ainneoin an tonn ar chumaisc agus éadálacha móra thar na blianta beaga anuas, na laethanta na corparáide mór - mar is eol dúinn é - iad uimhrithe. Cé go sreabhadh an t-airgead agus a rialaíonn siad ag fás, tá an chumhacht a ordú go fheidhmíonn siad thar próisis ghnó iarbhír ag meath. Mar a dhéanann an teicneolaíocht cumarsáide nua-aimseartha eagraíochtaí díláraithe agus is féidir, tá rialú a bheith tugtha síos ar an líne d'oibrithe ag go leor leibhéil éagsúla, nó a fhoinsiú allamuigh chuig cuideachtaí seachtracha. Go deimhin, tá muid ag bogadh i dtreo cad is féidir a dtugtar "geilleagar r-Lance", a bheidh arb iad is sainairíonna comhghuaillíochtaí de freelancers agus gnólachtaí beaga aistriú ag baint úsáide as an Idirlíon ar feadh cuid dá gcuid oibre. Cúig bliana is fiche ó shin, duine as gach cúigear de Stáit Aontaithe Poist oibrithe a bhí fostaithe ag ceann de na 500 barr cuideachtaí. Sa lá atá inniu, tá an cóimheas tite go dtí níos lú ná duine as gach deichniúr. Cuideachtaí móra iad i bhfad comhtháite chomh ceartingearach ná mar a bhí san am atá caite agus ag brath níos mó agus níos mó ar sholáthraithe taobh amuigh a comhpháirteanna a tháirgeadh agus seirbhísí a sholáthar, le laghdú dá réir ar an méid a n-lucht oibre. Ag an am céanna, tá cinntí laistigh de corparáidí móra níos á bhrú chun leibhéil níos ísle. Oibrithe bronntar ní le haghaidh orduithe a chur i gcrích go héifeachtach, ach le haghaidh oibriú amach cad is gá a dhéanamh agus é a dhéanamh. Tá ABB agus BP Amoco i measc na is suntasaí - - go leor cuideachtaí tionsclaíocha móra tar briste iad féin suas ina n-aonaid neamhspleácha iomadúla a transact gnó le chéile beagnach amhail is dá mba chuideachtaí ar leithligh. Cad mar bhunús an treocht? Tá an freagra a fháil sa eacnamaíocht bunúsacha na n-eagraíochtaí. Tá eagraíochtaí gnó, go bunúsach, meicníochtaí le haghaidh comhordaithe, agus tá an fhoirm a ghlacann siad tionchar láidir ag na teicneolaíochtaí comhordaithe ar fáil. Nuair a tá sé níos saoire chun idirbhearta a sheoladh go hinmheánach, le codanna eile de chuid na cuideachta chéanna, ag fás eagraíochtaí móra, ach nuair a bheidh sé níos saoire chun iad a sheoladh go seachtrach, le heintitis neamhspleácha ar an margadh oscailte, bac a eagraíochtaí beaga nó Laghdaigh. Na teicneolaíochtaí comhordaithe an ré tionsclaíoch - an traein agus an teileagraif, an carr agus an teileafón, ar an ríomhaire mainframe agus an meaisín facs - déanta idirbhearta laistigh den chuideachta is féidir ní amháin ach buntáiste. Bhí cuideachtaí in ann eagraíochtaí móra a bhainistiú go lárnach, a chuir iad le barainneachtaí scála i ndéantúsaíocht, margaíocht, dáileadh agus gníomhaíochtaí eile. Bhí Big maith. Ach le tabhairt isteach na ríomhairí pearsanta chumhachtach agus gréasán leictreonach - na teicneolaíochtaí comhordú an 21ú haois - na hathruithe chothromóid eacnamaíoch. Toisc gur féidir eolas a roinnt láithreach agus inexpensively i measc go leor daoine in áiteanna go leor, an luach na cinnteoireachta agus maorlathas laghduithe láraithe. Is féidir le daoine aonair a bhainistiú iad féin, a chomhordú a n-iarrachtaí trí naisc leictreonacha le páirtithe neamhspleácha eile. Thiocfaidh chun bheith beag go maith. Sa todhchaí, mar teicneolaíochtaí cumarsáide roimh ré agus líonraí a bheith níos éifeachtaí, geallúintí an t-athrú chuig r-lanceing chun dlús. Ba chóir é seo tarlú, ní féidir leis an eagraíocht gnó ceannasach an todhchaí a bheith cobhsaí, corparáid buan ach is amhlaidh a líonra solúbtha daoine aonair agus grúpaí beaga a d'fhéadfadh a bheith ann uaireanta ar feadh níos mó ná lá nó dhó. Beidh muid ag dul isteach ar an aois de chuid na cuideachta sealadach. AMANNA AIRGEADAIS