To understand how our organisation has to change in order to be effective in the current competitive environment, we have to understand the major transformations the global economy is facing due to the transition from the industrial economy to an information and knowledge based economy.

Organisations change

The way we did things yesterday (the past) has nothing to do with the way we should do them today and tomorrow (the future), and we should be prepared for that.

Yesterday we were talking about huge company conglomerates, but today we talk about networks of companies. Yesterday we talked about company hierarchy, while today we have to talk about people networks. Yesterday we called them suppliers and distributors, but today we'd better call and consider them our value network. Yesterday we talked about stability and slow bureaucracy, today we are talking about everyday change and alliances. Yesterday was the time for centralized control, but today is time for decentralization and delegation.

Yesterday we talked about self-centered and product-centered organisations, while today we talk about absolutely client-centered organisations. Yesterday, humans did jobs that machines can do perfectly well, but today we must talk about avoiding any single process that does not contribute with a real value for the client. Yesterday we talked about "real" organisations, meaning by that sharing the same physical space, but today we should talk about virtual organisations.

Organisational change

It is pretty obvious that companies and organisations of the future (for the leading ones is already the present) will have nothing to do with the organisations in the industrial economy and the way of managing and organising people has to be radically different. People with capacity to lead competitive companies in a global information economy require other type of organisations. Are you driving that organisational change in your company or organisation?.