What Is Open-Book Management?
Open-book management has been widely publicized and discussed in recent years. It has been the topic of several books and numerous articles in leading business periodicals. Extravagant claims have been made about its potential to transform businesses, and many of these claims have been met with skepticism. But evidence suggests that open-book management, when implemented properly, can yield enormous benefits. Even with all the discussion of open-book management, many misconceptions still exist about it, and some reject it out-of-hand without really understanding it. In actuality, open-book management is a simple yet very powerful approach to managing a business. It means a firm– * shares a broad array of financial and other information with employees; * trains employees to become more business literate; * empowers them to use the information in their work, trusting them as partners; and * rewards them when the company is successful. The relationship between these four essential elemen
