UNIT 4

O rga n isation

COLLECTIVE I NTELLIGENCE .6-

·:-.- · � ·-
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Before you read

Will large companies still exist 100 years from now? Why? I Why not?

Reading
Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

FT
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY e e e

Looking to Wikipedia for answers

-t b y Thomas Malone
m
� To understand how large-scale Of course. new ways of today is done by five full­
OJ work was organised during the organising work are not desirable time people would be
>
z past 100 years. the best models everywhere. ln many cases, to use one part-time employee
" were traditional hierarchical traditional h ierarchies are still and a host of freelance
5 organ isations such as General J5 needed to capture economies of 65 contractors each working for a
Motors. IBM and Wai-Mm1. scale or to control risks. B u t in an few minutes a day.
But to understand how large­ increasing number of cases. we One important type of
scale work will be organised can have the economic benefits collective intell igence is ' crowd
in the future, we need to look of large organisations without intelligence ' , where anyone
10 at newer examples such as .so giving up the human benefits of 111 who wants to can contribute.
Wikipedia, eBay and Google. small ones - freedom, nexibility. Sometimes, as in the case of
In Wikipedia. for instance. motivation and creat ivity. Wikipedia or video-sharing
thousands of people from across These human benefits can website YouTube, people
the globe have collectively provide decisive competitive contribute their work for
15 created a large and surprisingly �s advantages i n knowledge-based 75 free because they get other
high-quality intellectual product ­ and innovation-driven work. benefits such as enjoyment,
the world's largest encyclopaedia During the coming decades, recognition or opportunities to
- and have done so with almost we can expect to see such ideas socialise with others. In other
no central i sed control. Anyone in operation in more and more cases, such as online retailer
zo who wants to can change so parts of the economy. These new so eBay, people get paid to do so.
almost anything. and decisions practices have various names, but These changes will not
about what changes are kept the phrase I find most useful is happen overnight, but the rate
are made by a loose consensus ·collective intell igence · . of change is accelerating, and
of those who care. Wikipedia What i f we could have any busi nesspeople a hundred years
25 is a remarkable organisational ss number of people and computers 85 from now may find the
invention that illustrates how connected to, for instance, care pervasive corporate hierarchies
new forms of communication. for patients in a hospital? Or of today as quaint as we find
such as the internet, are making designing cars. Or selling retail the feudal farming system of
it possible to organise work products. We mjght find that the an earlier era.
30 in new and innovative ways. ro best way to do a task that

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 TEXT BANK ... ... UNIT 4

1 Look through the whole article and find: 8 What three benefits do people get from
a) three traditional com panies. contributing to crowd intelligence websites,
b) four Internet companies. apart from money? (paragraph 6)

2 Read paragraph 2 and decide if these 9 Use correct forms of expressions from
statements are true or false. paragraph 7 to complete these statements.
Wikipedia ... a) If something exists in a lot of different places,
it is . . . . . . . . . .
a) entries can only be changed by the person who
wrote them. b) A social system with aristocrats and almost
powerless farmers is . . . . . . . . . .
b) has no central control at all.
c) If something doesn't happen immediately,
c) is the largest encyclopaedia in the world.
it doesn't happen . . . . . . . . . .
d) is of high quality.
d) Something that is strange and old-fashioned
e) copies existing ways of working. is . . . . . . . . . .
e) If a process speeds up, it . . . . . . . . . .
3 Look at paragraph 3 and find:
a) two benefits of large organisations. Over to you 1
b) four benefits of small ones. Do you share the writer's optimism about the potential
of collective intelligence? Why? I Why not?
4 Now match the expressions in Exercise 3 to
their definitions. Over to you 2
a) when people have new ideas Could collective intelligence be used in your own
b) the ability to work 'as your own boss' industry, or one that you would like to work in?
c) to limit the effect of unexpected events
d) when people work with enth usiasm and a sense
of purpose
e) the ability to work when and where you want to
f) when high levels of production result in lower
costs per unit produced

5 Read paragraph 4. In which areas will the

benefits of small organisations be most
useful?

6 Find the name the writer prefers for this new

way of working in paragraph 4.

7 Which of these areas is not mentioned in

paragraph 5 in relation to the potential
application of collective intelligence?
a) healthcare b) wholesale c) retail d) design

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