Rob Tolleson at CPO Commerce credits open-book management with saving his company from collapse

What will be an ideal response?

Due to a major IT malfunction, the online vendor of power tools struggled to figure out how to fulfill customers' orders. Employees, who had full access to company information, were able to work together for weeks to develop creative solutions until the company could stabilize itself.98 And Hilcorp, an oil and gas exploration company that uses open book management, is one of the Fortune 100 best companies to work for.

However, the practice remains uncommon; only an estimated 4,000 U.S. firms are true believers.99 Most firms apparently consider it too risky and/or too difficult. But perhaps managers in every company should consider carefully whether they provide their people with too much information, or too little.