The New Pluralism

Each of the new institutions perceives its own purpose as central, as ultimate value, and as the one thing that really matters.

The new pluralist organization of society has no interest in government or governance. Unlike the earlier pluralist institutions, it is not a "whole." As such, its results are entirely on the outside. The product of a business is a satisfied customer. The product of a hospital is a cured patient. The "product" of the school is a student who ten years later puts to work what he or she has learned.

In some ways the new pluralism is thus far more flexible, far less divisive than the old pluralism. The new institutions do not encroach on political power as did the old pluralist institutions, whether the medieval church, feudal baron, or free city. The new institutions, however, unlike the old ones, do not share identical concerns or see the same world. Each of the new institutions perceives its own purpose as central, as ultimate value, and as the one thing that really matters. Every institution speaks its own language, has its own knowledge, its own career ladder, and above all, its own values. No one of them sees itself as responsible for the community as a whole. That is somebody else's business. But whose?

TO DO: Reflect on the political disease of single-interest pluralism of our society.

Characteristics of the Next Society

Every institution in the knowledge society has to be globally competitive.

The next society will be a knowledge society. Its three main characteristics will be:

• Borderlessness, because knowledge travels even more effortlessly than money.

• Upward mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education.

• The potential for failure as well as success. Anyone can acquire the "means of production," that is, the knowledge required for the job, but not everyone can win.

Together, those three characteristics will make the knowledge society a highly competitive one, for organizations and individuals alike.

Information technology, although only one of many new features of the next society, is already having one hugely important effect: it is allowing knowledge to spread near-instantly, and making it accessible to everyone. Given the ease and speed at which information travels, every institution in the knowledge society—not only businesses, but also schools, universities, hospitals, and increasingly, government agencies, too—has to be globally competitive, even though most organizations will continue to be local in their activities and in their markets. This is because the Internet will keep customers everywhere informed on what is available anywhere in the world, and at what price.

TO DO: Find out how many Tampa Property Managementcustomers you are losing because the Internet is making them more savvy about price. Decide whether to cut your prices to compete.

Global Competitiveness

"Think globally, act locally."

Strategy has to accept a new fundamental. Any institution—and not just businesses—has to measure itself against the standards set by each industry's leaders anyplace in the world. Given the ease and speed at which information travels, every institution in the knowledge society has to be globally competitive, even though most organizations will continue to be local in their activities and markets. This is because the Internet will keep customers everywhere informed on what is available anywhere in the world, and at what price. E-commerce will create new global channels for commerce and wealth distribution.

Here is an example. An entrepreneur developed a highly successful engineering design firm in Mexico. He complains that one of his toughest jobs is to convince associates and colleagues that the competition is no longer merely Mexican. Even without the physical presence of competitors, the Internet allows customers to stay abreast of global offerings and demand the same quality of designs in Mexico. This executive must convince his associates that the competition faced by the firm is global and the performance of the firm must be compared against global competitors, not just those in Mexico.

TO DO: Tampa Property Management you can look at your domestic and foreign competitors' Web sites and compare them to your organization's Web site. If you don't like what you see, invest more in e-commerce.

The Great Strength of E-Commerce

Tampa Property Management selling is tied no longer to production but to distribution.

E-commerce is to the information revolution what the railroad was to the industrial revolution. The railroad mastered distance—e-commerce eliminates it. The Internet provides the enterprise with the ability to link one activity to another and to make real-time data widely available, both within the company and to outside suppliers, outside channels of distribution, and customers. It strengthens the move to disintegrate the corporation.

But, the great strength of e-commerce is that it provides the consumer with a whole range of products, no matter who makes them. Examples include Amazon.com and CarsDirect.com. E-commerce separates, for the first time, selling and producing. Selling is tied no longer to production but to distribution. There is absolutely no reason why any e-commerce facility should limit itself to marketing and selling one maker's products or brands.

TO DO: Is your business the equivalent of Amazon.com or the local bookstore? If the latter, determine how you can use e-commerce to fight back.

Managing in the Next Society

Internet Technology and Education

The medium not only controls how things are communicated, but what things are communicated Tampa Property Management.

In health care, information technology has already made a fabulous impact. In education, its impact will be greater. However, attempts to put ordinary college courses on the Internet are a mistake. Marshall McLuhan was correct. The medium controls not only how things are communicated, but what things are communicated. On the Web, you must do it differently.

You must redesign everything. Firstly, you must hold students' attention. Any good teacher has a radar system to get the class's reaction, but you don't have that online. Secondly, you must enable students to do what they can do in a college course, which is to go back and forth. So, online you must combine a book's qualities with a course's continuity and flow. Above all, you must put it in a context. In a college course, the college provides the context. In that online course you turn on at home, the course must provide the background, the context, the references.

TO DO: Think about your organization's online services, from Web-based learning to health benefits to compliance. Ask a few employees who use these services whether they are satisfied with them. Hint: Bring earplugs!

A Scorecard for Managers

The things that the proponents of "management audits" talk about—integrity and creativity, for instance—are better left to the novelist.

The "bottom line" measures business performance rather than management performance. And the performance of a business today is largely a result of the performance of management in years past. Performance in tampa property management, therefore, means in large measure doing a good job of preparing today's business for the future. The future of a business is largely formed by present-management performance in four areas:

• Performance in appropriating capital: We need to measure the return on investment against the return expected.

• Performance in people decisions: Neither what is expected of a person's performance when he or she is put into the job, nor how the appointment works out, is "intangible." Both can be fairly easily judged.

• Performance in innovation: Research results can be appraised, and then projected backward on the promises and expectations at the time the research effort was started.

• Strategies versus performance: Did the things that the strategy expected to happen take place? And were the goals set the right goals in light of actual developments? Have they been attained?

TO DO : Perform a management audit of yourself and the people who report directly to you. The criteria should include whether you/they made good people decisions, whether you/they have had any innovative ideas, and whether your/their strategic expectations came to pass.

Beyond the Information Revolution

Tampa Property Management predicts that there is a service waiting to be born.

The truly revolutionary impact of the information revolution is just beginning to be felt. But it is not "information" that fuels this impact. It is something that practically no one foresaw or even talked about fifteen or twenty years ago: e-commerce—that is, the explosive emergence of the Internet as a major, perhaps eventually the major, worldwide distribution channel for goods, for services, and, surprisingly, for managerial and professional jobs. This is profoundly changing economies, markets, and industry structures; products and services and their flow; consumer segmentation, consumer values, and consumer behavior; jobs and labor markets.

New and unexpected industries will no doubt emerge, and fast. There is a service waiting to be born.

TO DO: Fast-forward to 2015. What are three entirely new businesses that will emerge in your industry from technological developments that you can identify today?