This century is witnessing a profound transformation in the nature of business organizations. Driven by new competitive demands and fuelled by an abundance of capital, companies have massively rearranged their portfolios, adding and discarding businesses to sharpen their strategic focus. The opening of markets, global competition, widespread industry deregulation, and the erosion of trade union power as a result of neoliberalism has created a new context in which organizations operate.
The internet today, with stunning speed, is profoundly changing the way we work, do business and communicate. As a consequence, we have truly entered the post-industrial economy. An economy that places the greatest value on information, services, support and distribution.
In today’s world, timing is everything. Speed is becoming a critical success factor. First movers enjoy significant advantages, and those who wait too long strive for survival. Firms like Kodak, MySpace and Blackberry have all moved too slow as organizations, and now their leaders, owners, and employees are suffering the negative consequences. In contrast, firms like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon that are “built for speed” have grown and prospered because of that ability to move fast. This could also be shown in the world of fast fashion. Retailers like H&M and Zara have a fast response system that encourages disposability. Those firms have been criticized for unsustainable and ethical conduct, however, they are making substantial profits and putting higher-end companies like D&G and Prada to rethink their strategies to keep pace of competition.
The fundamental belief that ‘bigger is better’ has made companies diversify their portfolios in unprecedented ways.
There is nothing new about speeding up work. As we moved from premodern to post modern organizations, speed has always been a critical factor. Speed could be traced back from Taylor’s scientific management