Comments on: The fall of the firm http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/ by Jeff Jarvis Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:07:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Leon Benjamin http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-377821 Leon Benjamin Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:04:25 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-377821 Was a joy to find and read this post. I'm a big fan of Benkler, Hagel and others. I've written a lot about the impact of the internet on the future of work quoting an incorporating material from these sources under the headings of; The unit of work is no longer a whole job Fractional work - the next small thing HR stand for Hardly Relevant Although slightly tangential to this theme it's really worth reading 'The Authoritarians' to understand why command & control does not have a happy ending. http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/ Was a joy to find and read this post. I’m a big fan of Benkler, Hagel and others. I’ve written a lot about the impact of the internet on the future of work quoting an incorporating material from these sources under the headings of;

The unit of work is no longer a whole job
Fractional work - the next small thing
HR stand for Hardly Relevant

Although slightly tangential to this theme it’s really worth reading ‘The Authoritarians’ to understand why command & control does not have a happy ending. http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

]]> By: businessmodel innovation _ design » Stumbled upon … innovation http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-377295 businessmodel innovation _ design » Stumbled upon … innovation Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:56:07 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-377295 [...] Jeff Jarvis on how an edge strategy may be reached: Where orthodox strategy advises hiding information and making things less liquid, what does edge strategy advise? Exactly the opposite: release information bottlenecks and make things more liquid. [...] [...] Jeff Jarvis on how an edge strategy may be reached: Where orthodox strategy advises hiding information and making things less liquid, what does edge strategy advise? Exactly the opposite: release information bottlenecks and make things more liquid. [...]

]]> By: BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Molecularization: The open marketplace of influence http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-373432 BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Molecularization: The open marketplace of influence Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:16:17 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-373432 [...] bodies. I regularly follow the crumbling of the power of the fourth estate, the press. See also the fall of the firm. And add to that the long-ago decline of the first estate, the church. You could say that this is [...] [...] bodies. I regularly follow the crumbling of the power of the fourth estate, the press. See also the fall of the firm. And add to that the long-ago decline of the first estate, the church. You could say that this is [...]

]]> By: Backdrifter: Strategic Imagination http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-373022 Backdrifter: Strategic Imagination Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:55:12 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-373022 [...] discussion then emerged in the comments to Wilson’s post. Jeff Jarvis re-blogged his comment, which further expands on the role of technology and its ability to facilitate models that [...] [...] discussion then emerged in the comments to Wilson’s post. Jeff Jarvis re-blogged his comment, which further expands on the role of technology and its ability to facilitate models that [...]

]]> By: Mediavorous » Blog Archive » Bookmarks for April 6th through April 8th http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372980 Mediavorous » Blog Archive » Bookmarks for April 6th through April 8th Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:38:21 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372980 [...] BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » The fall of the firm - [...] [...] BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » The fall of the firm - [...]

]]> By: Bruce MacVarish http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372890 Bruce MacVarish Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:08:21 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372890 Jeff - I like your though of corporations being supplemented by new forms of value creation. In many ways, these supplements have - and will - form at the Edge of the corporation... and accelerate growth in the edge economy. I think this drives a different set of strategic choices for new - and incumbent players - as they look to compete - or survive - in the edge economy. Having been a reader of yours for some time. I know you agree given your earlier posts. I summarized some of these issues in my related post "Strategy in the Edge Economy" ( www.brucemacvarish.com/2008/04/strategy-in-the.html ) Jeff - I like your though of corporations being supplemented by new forms of value creation. In many ways, these supplements have - and will - form at the Edge of the corporation… and accelerate growth in the edge economy.

I think this drives a different set of strategic choices for new - and incumbent players - as they look to compete - or survive - in the edge economy. Having been a reader of yours for some time. I know you agree given your earlier posts.

I summarized some of these issues in my related post “Strategy in the Edge Economy” ( http://www.brucemacvarish.com/2008/04/strategy-in-the.html )

]]> By: Bob Wyman http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372868 Bob Wyman Mon, 07 Apr 2008 03:29:56 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372868 As you quoted: "One catastrophically effective way to [gain competitive advantage] is to hide and obscure information". Referring to an earlier post and comment: This is why it is vitally important for those who support a democracy to constantly work to not only improve the information handling technology available to its citizens but also to ensure that those tools are broadly distributed. bob wyman As you quoted: “One catastrophically effective way to [gain competitive advantage] is to hide and obscure information”.

Referring to an earlier post and comment: This is why it is vitally important for those who support a democracy to constantly work to not only improve the information handling technology available to its citizens but also to ensure that those tools are broadly distributed.

bob wyman

]]> By: Ethan Bauley http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372828 Ethan Bauley Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:06:28 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/06/the-fall-of-the-firm/#comment-372828 I'm a student of Benkler and Haque as well...have you ever checked out John Hagel? Hagel basically built much of Umair's whole "edge strategy" framework in the amazing 2005 book "The Only Sustainable Edge". I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it is easily on the same level as "The Wealth of Networks" in terms of rich, innovative thought. But it's a bit more "applied". Umair has written at length about how big an influence Hagel has been on his thinking. Hagel has also tackled the idea of "big firms" vs. small firms (e.g. your article "Small is the new big"). He wrote a seminal article in HBR called "Unbundling the Firm" in which he posits that all (most?) industrial firms are really in 3 businesses: logistics, CRM, and product innovation. He presents a vision of "the future" that is dominated by three kinds of firms. The first two will be enormous in terms of scale (logistics) and scope (CRM): Logistics=AMZ AWS/FWS, FedEx, etc CRM=AdWords, GetSatisfaction, etc The rest of firms will be smaller "product innovation" firms that plug into the platforms provided by the logistics/CRM businesses. It's a compelling view: http://www.strategyworld.org/unbundling.pdf AND PUBLISHED IN 1999!!! Drop me a line if you'd like more resources. Best, Ethan I’m a student of Benkler and Haque as well…have you ever checked out John Hagel? Hagel basically built much of Umair’s whole “edge strategy” framework in the amazing 2005 book “The Only Sustainable Edge”. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it is easily on the same level as “The Wealth of Networks” in terms of rich, innovative thought. But it’s a bit more “applied”.

Umair has written at length about how big an influence Hagel has been on his thinking.

Hagel has also tackled the idea of “big firms” vs. small firms (e.g. your article “Small is the new big”). He wrote a seminal article in HBR called “Unbundling the Firm” in which he posits that all (most?) industrial firms are really in 3 businesses: logistics, CRM, and product innovation.

He presents a vision of “the future” that is dominated by three kinds of firms. The first two will be enormous in terms of scale (logistics) and scope (CRM):

Logistics=AMZ AWS/FWS, FedEx, etc
CRM=AdWords, GetSatisfaction, etc

The rest of firms will be smaller “product innovation” firms that plug into the platforms provided by the logistics/CRM businesses.

It’s a compelling view:

http://www.strategyworld.org/unbundling.pdf

AND PUBLISHED IN 1999!!!

Drop me a line if you’d like more resources.

Best,

Ethan

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