In case you missed it (which I did, apparently), there's been some recent press speculating about turnover at Zappos. Greg Ferenstein got an interview with CEO Tony Hseih and "non-titled executive" Fred Mossler.
The entire post is worth a read, along with this article which goes into the details of their corporate structure changes. But this quote from Hseih especially jumped out to me:
I think the real question should be about what happens if there is no innovation on how companies are structured? This isn’t just about Zappos, this is about all companies. The default future for companies under the traditional structure is death. Something like 88% of the companies that were on the Fortune 500 list in 1955 are no longer on that list.
Obviously, I'm not aware of any evidence pointing to the corporate heirarchy being the reason for so many Fortune 500 companies no longer being on that list since the 50's, but I do agree that lack of innovation plays a large part.
Maybe it's time for me to read Jim Collins' How the Mighty Fall...