Buried in this morning’s Reuters story Social networking sites “good for businesses” is a clear general management strategy for winning in an economic downturn.

First, about the social networking sites:

“The value of networking within an economic downturn is perhaps more important than ever and I believe it could mean the difference between a business collapsing or capitalizing on the tricky conditions.”

Isn’t that overstating the case for the power of social networking in business? Anyway…

“In today’s difficult business environment, the instinctive reaction can be to batten down the hatches and return to the traditional ‘command and control’ techniques that enable managers to closely monitor and measure productivity,” he said.

“Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counterintuitive, but it appears to create business more capable of maintaining stability.”

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