Quote:
Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot  Relatively small businesses may thrive, without employees.
Bigger & more complex businesses cannot thrive without employees. Try manufacturing an aeroplane; or operating a hospital; or even just running a restaurant on your own. And you'll see.
Greater things happen, when there is teamwork. Teamwork means that there is a team. "Team" means that there are many people. They come together, as employees of a notional concept called a "company".
When they come together, and work together, pooling together their different skills and backgrounds, they achieve much more than one person can do. |
Why are you equating "on your own" and "without employees?"
Steve wrote a published a book. He didn't do it on his own, but he wasn't employed by the publisher. Neither was the publisher employed by him. They simply had similar interests (namely, the publication of Steve's book) and pursued them in a symbiotic relationship. What's to say this can't happen in other businesses?
Consider Linux (an operating system, like Windows or Mac OS X). A typical Linux distribution (version) has millions of lines of code constributed by thousands of programmers, and the kicker is... almost all of the code was contributed freely by the programmers simply so Linux could be the best it could be. The cost of having developed a typical Linux distribution by normal software development methods is usually estimated at over a BILLION dollars. People working from their passions can do a great deal without the employer/employee relationship.
Also, think about this. Instead of trying to explain why business we have today couldn't work with the employer/employee relationship, try to brainstorm what kind of businesses we might have if everyone worked according to their passions and strove to create value above all else.