A MATTER OF CHOICEThat reliable wor

A MATTER OF CHOICE
That reliable workhorse of capitalism – the joint-stock company looks surprisingly durable. But pressure on it is increasing

In 1967, John Kenneth Galbraith’s The New Industrial State argued that the USA was run by a handful of big companies who planned the economy in the name of
been transformed by global competition. Most have shifted their productions systems from high-volume to high-value, from standardised to customised. And they have flattened their management hierarchies. Few people these days expect to spend their lives moving up the ladder of a single organization. Dramatic changes are taking place. But where exactly are they taking us? Where is the modern company heading?

There are three standard answers to this question. The first is that a handful of giant companies are engaged in a “silent takeover” of the world. The past couple of decades have seen a record number of mergers. The survivors, it is maintained, are far more powerful than nation states.

The second school of thought argues almost the opposite: it says that big companies are a thing of the past. For a glimpse of the future, look at the Monorail Corporation, which sells computers. Monorail owns no factories, warehouses or any other tangible assets. It operates from a single floor that it leases in a office building in Atlanta. Freelance workers are designing the computers while demand is still low.

The third school of thought says that companies are being replaced by “net-works”. Groups of entrepreneurs form such a network to market an idea. They then sell it to the highest bidder and move on to produce another idea and to create another firm, with the money being supplied all the time by venture capitalists.

Another way to look at the future of the company is to focus on the environment that will determine it. That environment is dominated by one thing: choice. Technology and globalisation open up ever more opportunities for individuals and firms to collect information and conduct economic activity outside traditional structures. While the age of mass productions lowered the costs of products at the expense of limiting choices, modern “flexible” production systems both lower costs and increase choice. Consumers have more choice over where they spend their money. Producers have more choice over which suppliers to use. Shareholders have more choice over where to put their money. With all that choice around, future companies will have to be very flexible in order to quickly adapt to the changing environments if they are to survive.

Hasil (Klingon) 1:

QELDI' WIVreliable workhorse capitalism – pemvaD-stock wey legh surprisingly durable. 'ach ghur joH rop 'oHqaStaHvIS 1967, 'e' qet usa pong tIn wey 'Iv economy qaStaHvIS pong nab handful ghoH john Kenneth galbraith chu' Industrial Sep transformed pong global competition. productions pat vo' jenwI'-muq jenwI'-lo'laHghach, shifted HochHom vo' standardised customised. 'ej hierarchies management flattened chaH. yIn Ha' Vas DIvI' ladder vIH rep jaj pIHbe' nuv puS. gheSpu' choH dramatic. nuqDaq exactly maHvaD ghaH chaH 'ach? nuqDaq nach wey modern?wej Hol jang tlheghvam tu'lu'. 'e' chu' handful giant wey qaStaHvIS "tam takeover" qo' wa'DIch. ta mI' mergers vIbejpu', jIvumlI' couple decades. survivors, HoSghaj Hop vI'Iprup puS nation 'amerI'qa' leH, 'oH.tlhoS opposite legh cha'DIch DuSaQ Qub: 'e' tIn wey Doch qa' jIH jatlhlu'. wej jegh nuq 'oH, legh Monorail ghom, De'wI' ngev 'oH. laSvargh pagh, warehouses pagh vay' latlh tangible assets lach'eghDI' SuvwI' monorail. Qap 'oH vo' Vas rav 'e' leases 'oH ghaH'a' qach qaStaHvIS atlanta. De'wI' chut lulajpu'bogh freelance workers poStaHvIS poQ 'eS.jatlh wejDIch DuSaQ Qub 'e' ngaSwI' yuvtlhe' wIngaQmoHta'DI' wey pong "net-Qap". vIq network qech malja''e' Dumerbe' entrepreneurs ghom. vaj 'oH ngev bidder nIv je latlh qech lIng je latlh pe'vIl 'uch, chenmoH Huch supplied poH Hoch pong venture capitalists vIH.[latlh mIw legh nuq 'oH wey focus environment 'e' 'oH qIlmeH pIj. ghaHDaq BERNARDO. ghatlh environment pong wa': wIv. poS cham globalisation 'ej reH latlh 'eb nuv DanoHmeH nuv 'ej pe'vIl 'uch De' boS 'ej economic activity potlhmeyDaq tlham Hur qach Ha'. poStaHvIS costs products at the expense of wIv vuS ghuS MaQa' productions qantaHvIS, cha' tlhIH costs ghuS 'ej wIv ghur "flexible" modern production pat. boqta' nuqDaq Huch rep chaH neH wIv puS ghaj consumers. latlh wIv boqta' baS suppliers lo' ghaj producers. boqta' nuqDaq lan Huch neH wIv puS ghaj shareholders. Hoch wIv around, ghaH vaD in order to nom adapt choH environments tlhoy chaH taH ghaj pIq wey.