Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World

Th>John Hagel, Chairman of Deloitte Center of Innovation

 

“Competing in a Flat World provides an extraordinary glimpse into a new kind of organizational architecture, one built around the notion of orchestrating resources you don’t control and doing so in a way that builds both trust and agility. This architecture may well turn out to be the dominant model of the firm for the 21st century. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to compete in a flat world. Every chapter details new and powerful ideas.”

—John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation and coauthor of The Only Sustainable Edge

 

“We are led by unstoppable economic forces to connect our resources to form smart networks, either wired or unwired. The authors bring forward the notion of ‘network orchestration,’ an almost one-size-fits-all strategy for organizations to survive and excel in an ever-flattening world.”

—John Chen, Sybase Chairman, CEO and President

 

In the “flat world,” everything changes…above all, what it takes to run a winning company. Success is less about what the company can do itself and more about what it can connect to. Find out how it’s done, from the company that pioneered “flat world” success, Li & Fung, which produces more than $8 billion in garments and other goods for the world’s top brands and retailers—without owning a single factory.

 

Victor and William Fung and Jerry Wind, author of the best-selling The Power of Impossible Thinking, reveal how they’ve replaced “old-fashioned” infrastructure and huge employee bases with a fluid, ever-changing network that can design, manufacture, and deliver almost anything, anywhere. The key to success in this world is a set of principles for “network orchestration,” described for the first time in this book. They examine how these principles can be applied in manufacturing, services and other industries. They show how to build and orchestrate your own world-class global network.

 

    *   Compete “network vs. network”—and win!

    *   Create a “big-small” company that combines scale and agility

    *   Forge loose-tight relationships with suppliers

    *   Balance control with empowerment, stability with renewal

    *   Manage the “bumps” in the flat world—from politics to terrorism

 

Visit the authors' website: www.competinginaflatworld.net  

Dr. Victor K. Fung is Group Chairman of Li & Fung. He is Vice Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard.

 

Dr. William K. Fung is Group Managing Director of Li & Fung. He has chaired the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Exporters’ Association. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

 

Yoram (Jerry) Wind, the Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, is an expert, consultant, and lecturer on business buying behavior, market segmentation, and marketing strategy. His books include The Power of Impossible Thinking. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University.