Michael Malone's newest book is The Future Arrived Yesterday: The Rise of the Protean Corporation and What it Means for You. It describes Malone's vision of the future of the corporation.
And according to Malone, the future corporation is "protean," which is an adjective meaning: 1. able to change form; variable or continuing changing in nature, appearance or behavior. 2. versatile; showing great variety and diversity.
The protean corporation Malone describes consists of a series of rings. At the center is a small group of long term employees that understand and guide the firm's culture, goals and strategy. These core employees provide strategic direction and build and maintain the firm's business infrastructure.
The next ring is comprised of salaried workers with benefits. They manage the day to day operation of the firm and have some job security, but are not as secure as core employees.
The outer ring consists of freelancers, contractors, suppliers and others that provide the firm with great flexibility and ability to quickly shift and change direction. Malone describes this ring as the cloud, but in this case the cloud contains people and suppliers, not just computing resources.
From a small business perspective, the most interesting part of Malone's vision is the increasing role freelancers, contractors and small businesses will play. Protean corporations will greatly increase their supplier and freelance employee base so they can more quickly shift and respond to changing market conditions.
This view is very similar to our view that large and small companies will increasingly work together (see The New Artisan Economy research report for more details). The major difference is Malone's is looking at these trends from the point of view of the large corporation and we look at them from the point of view small businesses and freelancers.
But regardless of which direction you view it from, the result is more opportunity for small and personal businesses as large corporations expand their network of business partners.
An excellent book that is fun and easy to read - and useful for small and personal business owners thinking about or wanting to work with larger corporations.
Whether or not this is the future, this business model is smart. Having the flexibility to quickly adapt - whether the catalyst is financial challenges, market downturn, or new opportunity - gives businesses a degree of latitude. This freedom can be used to scale the business up or down, experiment with new ventures, cease activities that aren't profitable, respond to new markets, etc. I would be interested in reading the book simply for the model Malone presents.
Posted by: Derek Lewis | June 08, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Steve,
I have to add this book to my reading list. I am interested in learning more about The New Artisan Economy. I think that I could fit the outer ring & the cloud! :)
Posted by: Martin Lindeskog | June 09, 2009 at 02:03 PM
Various read your article, I think it is great! Simple language, concise blog! Another types of style! I prefer! This looks so cute! Had made this want to see this. I miss Alexis Bldel, Device test that was an obvious GG fan and loved her inside of Sisterhood movies too. Hopefully she'll continue to act in more movies start one.Post by Ajf 4
Posted by: Ajf 4 | July 28, 2010 at 07:58 PM
Flexibility is survivability in any industry, however there are certain industry's that this would be very limited for. Industry's such as the legal profession for example
Posted by: Carl Hughes | November 15, 2010 at 11:07 PM