Archive for 29 May 2008
Wikicheatia
| Peter Klein |
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, reports the NY Times, skipped his college art history class:
When it came time for the end-of-term study period, he was too busy building the prototype of Facebook to bother to do the reading. So in an inspired last-minute save, he built a Web site with all of the important paintings and room for annotation. He then sent an e-mail to the students taking the class offering it up as a community resource.
In a half an hour, the perfect study guide had self-assembled on the Web. Mr. Zuckerberg noted that he passed the course, but he couldn’t remember the grade he received.
The pointer is from Joshua Gans, who calls this “an example of Wikicheatia or of Study Group 2.0.”
Middle Managers in the Theory of the Firm
| Peter Klein |
The current issue of Knowledge@Wharton features a piece on the challenges facing middle managers. The middle-management role is typically high in responsibility and low in authority — middle managers are accountable for the performance of their subordinates but selective intervention from above makes it difficult for them to commit to particular incentive schemes. Moreover:
[T]op reasons for dissatisfaction among middle managers include micromanagement by senior managers and lack of respect, says [author David] Sirota. “And sometimes the senior leader is just really ineffective; middle managers don’t want to be in a company that is run by that type of person.” . . .
Navigating the various relationships upward, downward and horizontally can be an emotional management challenge, adds Wharton management professor Sigal Barsade. “This is particularly noticeable with organizational change. If you are a middle manager, there may be a change that you didn’t have much to do with, but you need to translate it to your people and make them feel protected and valued. However, you are also someone being impacted by the change. Because you didn’t design the change, you might be left feeling like you don’t know what to do yourself, but you still need to comfort, protect and inspire your people.”
A more colorful description is provided by Chef Shuna Fish Lydon who blogs on all things culinary at eggbeater. Here she is on the role of the sous chef: (more…)
Organizations and Markets 
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