Those were the days when management was all about having control under a few hands and were commands were passed on down below and the people at the bottom of the ladder had no other option but to follow the command structure. If he or she tried to resist it, it would be the end of the person’s tenure in the organization. This worked very well in the past when business practices were slow and decision were even slower. The communication methods were not as developed as it is today and the markets and consumer were not even half as educated and enlightened as today. Competition was there but it wasn’t as stiff as it is today. Under such situation the grand old top-down management style worked very well.
However, things started crumbling when technology improved, newer companies and competitions started coming in and the world became a more open and transparent place. The old management style of having the entire command structure in the hands of a few people meant more time and effort for taking decision and passing it down the ladder. This resulted in precious loss of time and led to serious damages in terms of customer focus and customer service.
This led to a change in management styles which is today much more open and bottom up rather than top down. This works well because the persons at the lowest rung of the ladder of any organization are the ones who can have better idea about the pulse of the market and its happenings. This gave them the opportunity to adapt faster to fast changing dynamics in the market place and hence such companies were better equipped to meet the changing customer requirements and needs. It is not that this bottom-up approach is fool proof and there are no drawbacks in it. This can really help.