A pioneering guide to understanding and leading workforce ecosystems, which include not only traditional employees, contractors, and gig workers, but also partner and complementor organizations that work with companies to accomplish enterprise and individual goals.

Who is your workforce? This was a simple question when most organizations focused on hiring full- and part-time employees, but now organizations engage with both internal and external collaborators including subcontractors, freelancers, app developers, marketplace sellers, and others. As technology enables new, more efficient forms of working, and roles become more project- and outcomes-based, workforces are evolving into workforce ecosystems requiring updated strategies, leadership, and management practices.
 
Workforce Ecosystems by Elizabeth Altman, David Kiron, Jeff Schwartz, and Robin Jones is an essential research-driven framework for leading these complex, interconnected workforces. Drawing on case studies, worldwide surveys, and extensive interviews with C-suite executives and senior leaders from Amazon, IBM, Mayo Clinic, NASA, Nike, Roche, Unilever, the U.S. Army, Walmart, and others, the authors explore what workforce ecosystems are and how to navigate their unique challenges and opportunities.
 
Practical and field-tested, Workforce Ecosystems will prepare leaders to

identify distinguishing characteristics of workforce ecosystems,

take advantage of the increasing relevance of workforce ecosystems as the world becomes more interconnected and technology-enabled,

refine business strategies to incorporate workforce ecosystems,

focus leadership, management practices, and technologies to leverage workforce ecosystems,

and traverse the ethical, societal, and public policy considerations of workforce ecosystems.

Elizabeth Altman is Assistant Professor of Management, Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell. David Kiron is Editorial Director, MIT Sloan Management Review. Jeff Schwartz is VP, Insights and Impact, Gloat, and Adjunct Professor, Columbia Business School. He is the author of Work Disrupted. Robin Jones is Principal, Workforce Transformation Leader, Deloitte US.

Series Foreword vii
Introduction 1
Part I: Introducing Workforce Ecosystems
1 Addressing an Extended Workforce 19
2 What Is a Workforce Ecosystem? 33
3 Strategy and Workforce Ecosystems 43
Part II: Orchestrating Workforce Ecosystems
4 A Framework for Workforce Ecosystem Orchestration 59
5 Leadership Approaches in Workforce Ecosystems 67
6 Integration Architectures for Workforce Ecosystems 87
7 Technology Enablers 103
8 Accessing Workforce Ecosystem Members 121
9 Aligning Interests with Workforce Ecosystems 135
Part III: Developing Socially Responsible Workforce Ecosystems 
10 Ethics in Workforce Ecosystems 155
11 Implications for Social Responsibility 171
12 Perspectives on the Future of Workforce Ecosystems 185
Appendix A: List of Interviewees with Affiliations 197
Appendix B: Survey and Interview Data Collection Research Methodology 201
Acknowledgments 203
Notes 207
Index 221