''The 21st Century Corporation'' is a special issue of ''Business Week'' magazine, August 28, 2000. (Currently at http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_35/b3696001.htm.) The series terms the new economy "The Creative Economy". Managing it requires "Management by Web". "The New Leadership" asserts "The growing complexity of business will force dramatic changes in the corporate hierarchy." Hierarchical organizations are out, webbed ones are in. "Management by Web" is the most interesting article. (By "web," they don't just mean the World Wide Web, but any organizational structure where everybody talks to everybody: information spreads like a virus, competitors also cooperate (i.e., "coopetition"), the digitization of the economy.) * Bits, not atoms (digitization) -- Physical assets are less important; knowledge, information, and the ability to move fast is more important. * Intellectual capital -- Business must attract and retain the best thinkers. They must keep the best minds engaged. -- BobbyWoolf, 2000-08-26 [ "Management by Web" is available at http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_35/b3696011.htm -- ArieVanDeursen 2001-02-05 ] ---- "The best-of-breed companies will go even further. They'll invite customers in as collaborators, binding them ever tighter to the corporation." (p. 92) Sounds like OnsiteCustomer to me. -- ErikMeade ''I hadn't seen the connection until you mentioned it, but I think you're right. One thing interesting is the way the article talks about fairly common computer practices and applies them to all industries, and emphasizes that all businesses will have to take advantage of the Internet, not just .Com companies. Another interesting theme is that companies need to shift their thinking "from delivering a product to serving the customer" (p. 90) and mass customization that "[turns] customers into partners." (p. 87) Now that you mention it, this is very much in line with XP's OnsiteCustomer ideas.'' -- BobbyWoolf, 2000-08-27 ---- See also CluetrainManifesto -- TomStambaugh ''Tom, please elaborate on how this article and that book relate.'' -- BobbyWoolf, 2000-08-27