Access granted

Underutilized assets could be taken into better use through providing access

A large part of any organisation’s value lies in its people and access to silent, accumulated market knowledge. Due to internet and technological advancements in IT, all knowledge has become increasingly accessible for the public and transparency is increasing from an individual perspective if only one knows what to look for. This shifts the power from massive organizations towards individuals which can be seen ie. as an increase of smaller firms and their network-like structures.

The described shift has opened market opportunities for new service providers which provide access to pools of underutilized resources. Eckhardt and Bardhi underline in their recent HBR article that access economy is more precise a term to describe the phenomenon than the inflated buzzword sharing economy that has been on the table for quite a while. They argue that sharing includes a perception of empathy and engagement without monetary advancement, whereas access better describes the nature of the phenomenon where transaction but no actual sharing is necessarily included at all. Which ever the definite term, both individuals and organizations have access to an increasing amount of resources.

Larger organizations are challenged by this shift that provides individuals with more options and decision making power. This was a topic largely pinpointed in Worktech conference 2015 in Melbourne by basically all the speakers. The demands become more heterogeneous and the overall picture more chaotic – individuals need to be attracted to the workplace, or other alternative processes have to be applied to take the silent knowledge of organisations in use. Controlling the environment becomes harder from the organisation’s perspective and proactive, serendipity-searching individuals who actively network are able to generate more value in the access economy.

So could access economy be considered a killer of massive organizations, corporate headquarters and hierarchical structures? We don’t think so. Rather, we think that large organizations are overflowing with talented individuals, potential assets and silent knowledge that could be taken in more efficient use. This can best happen through supporting the proactive individuals inside the organization who use the available resources flexibly. Seemingly, traditional management principles such as command, control and standards are not as valid in the access economy but should rather be replaced with softer principles such as support, facilitation and applications in order to succeed. The access economy provides heaps of agile collaboration opportunities and flexible use of resources for organizations that accept the new economy and are willing to evolve along with the changes of the surrounding world.

-Eelis

Campus dude, researcher, PhD student, an inspired adventurer surfing the waves of randomness