I have many solid arguments as to why the current system, which really is rather feudal, is broken and could not possibly represent the apex of management systems. I also have a few good ideas about alternate systems. However, that would make for quite too long of a discussion here, so I'll save it for some other time/place.

Nevertheless, I will point out that if there is a solid trend as it relates to the impact of the progression of networking technology and software in general it is that both have a tendency toward disintermediation. And if there is one intermediary who is oh so very ripe for being kicked into the gutter it is certainly the middle manager. How do we get along without him/her? To my ears such a question has the ring of "how will we get along without cholera?"

So, here's some bullet points: greater individual autonomy/responsibility/return (e.g. profit sharing & equity); more peer relationships and fewer superior/insubordinate relationships (though not the absence of such), note carefully that this is not identical to a flatter hierarchy; more freelance-style and partnership relationships (whether across or within corporate boundaries); more reliance on leads instead of managers; more mentor/apprentice style relationships. In general the "employer/employee" relationship being closer to a partnership that both have entered into freely and with respect for the other party with the expectation of mutual benefit resulting rather than a coercive, unequal, and authoritarian bond that employment often imitates today.