Book excerpt: Every change takes its toll. Stefan KUhl critically examines the blind enthusiasm that continues to celebrate the leveling of hierarchies and the decentralization of organizations. Relying on studies performed in European and U.S. companies, KUhl describes why these management concepts can carry organizations to the edge of extinction. Organizations are facing the challenge of coming to grips with the threat of losing their identity, ever-escalating complexity, and the power struggles that result from both.