Pyramids And Pancakes Lewis Analysis

1290 Words3 Pages

Aaron Dudkowski
W131
Professor Brittenham
24 September 2015
Surveillance in Business Structure
Companies tend to have two very different business models. In Michael Lewis’s “Pyramids and Pancakes”, Lewis talks about how Askme.com found distinctions between the two business structures. There is the first, which is a pyramid. Lewis states that, “In pyramid-shaped, hierarchical organizations, the bosses tended to appoint themselves or a few select subordinates as the ‘experts’. Questions rose up from the bottom of the organization, the answers flowed down from the top, and original hierarchy was preserved, even reinforced”(95). The second business model is a pancake. Lewis states that, “In less hierarchical, pancake-shaped companies, the bosses …show more content…

Surveillance plays a major role in control and in community. Therefore, how a business uses surveillance will affect its business structure. This in turn shows that pancake structured businesses and pyramid structured businesses use surveillance for different reasons.
When askme.com introduced their software to various businesses it was surprised to find two different business models. There were two clear business models: pancake and pyramid. In the pyramid model Lewis states, “the bosses tended to appoint themselves or a few select subordinates as the ‘experts’. Questions rose up from the bottom of the organization, the answers flowed down from the top, and the original hierarchy was preserved, even reinforced”(95). This type of business model can be seen at Kinko’s. Natasha Werther is an employee at Kinko’s. Werther shows many examples of the store being a pyramid model. Werther says that there are cameras everywhere, with the exception of the dirty break-room and one small blind-spot in a corner of the store. Employees choose to eat their food in the blind-spot as the break-room is dirty and everywhere else is monitored. According to Werther, often times a manager or someone higher up than …show more content…

In this model, company’s employees can share and spread knowledge from anywhere in the corporate structure. On the other hand, Kinko’s does have some parts that are pancake like. The company seems to allow its employees to use resources available in the store. Whether they use the copier, a printer, or the computers, the company does not seem to mind employees using these resources without paying for them. According to Werther, “this guy was applying to lots of graduate schools and he took crazy advantage of the store. He was doing thousands of dollars of work every single week”(76). The company has surveillance all over the store and thus knew of the employee using the equipment. Kinko’s does not accept money theft or lateness though. The employee that did thousands of dollars of work eventually got into school, missed two shifts, and was fired. Another employee was caught stealing money and was fired, too. Werther also says that she was constantly using the fax machine to communicate with banks and universities. While faxing everything, “they would put them in the back office for me and seal them in envelopes and give them to me by hand”(77). The employees of the store try to maintain a pancake setting and share information amongst each other. As mentioned above, the employees

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