Karaoke capitalism : management for mankind

311 Pages·2004·27.09 MB·English

by  Ridderstråle

Karaoke Capitalism is a book about people -
management for mankind - the individuals prepared
to grasp the microphone and express themselves.
You have the rights. Now, you must learn to live
them.
The karaoke reality is a cosmopolitan club with
endless individual choice but also a paltry place for
institutionalized imitation. The dirty little secret of
management theory and practice is that business
schools, benchmarking and best practice have
transformed the entire world of commerce into a
super-group of karaoke copying companies. And
imitating someone else will never get you to the top
Dr. Jonas Ridderstrale and Dr. Kjell A Nordstrom are at
- merely to the middle.
the forefront of the new generation of European-based
Our societies are shaped by the glorious trio of
business gurus. They cut through the madness and
technologies, institutions and values. Changes have
hyperbole surrounding the economy and their appeal is
now made abnormal the new normal. The bubble
truly global. Jonas and Kjell have been featured on
economy has given way to the double
CNN and CNBC. They have appeared in Fortune, Fast
economy. Forget about appealing to the average.
Company, Time Magazine, Financial Times, Paris
Success is a question of exploring the extremes.
Match, and many other publications worldwide. The
Corporations are no longer in control. Modern 2003 Thinkers 50, the bi-annual ranking of
companies are facing the prospects of a two-front management thinkers, ranked Nordstrom and
war: held hostage by talent and under siege by Ridderstrale at number 21.
consumers. Kjell’s and Jonas’ uncompromising and decidedly
The winners know that wealth is created with fresh take on contemporary business life makes them
wisdom, but to remain competitive they are forced to two of the world’s most sought after speakers. They
create knowledge networks that pose new and also practice what they so persuasively preach. From
fundamentally different demands on the organization. their Stockholm base, Jonas and Kjell act as advisors
In a world of economic Darwinism, survival is a and consultants to a number of multinational
question of being fit or sexy - competing on models corporations and are on the board of several
and moods. Fitness boils down to using market companies.
imperfections to your advantage. Masters of mood They both hold PhDs in international business from
exploit the imperfections of man by seducing or the Stockholm School of Economics and have been
sedating consumers. Excellent companies re-invent recognized as Sweden’s outstanding young
innovation and re-energize the corporation. academics of the year.
To develop the character of capitalism we have to Their previous book, Funky
accept individual responsibility. Look inside. Do you Business: Talent makes capital
want to be a first-rate version of yourself or a dance quickly became an
international bestseller, selling
second-rate version of someone else?
more than 250,000 copies. The
book was recently ranked at
You choose!
number 16 in a survey of the
greatest business books of all
time.
KARAOKE
CAPITALISM
Prentice Hall
FINANCIAL TIMES
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KARAOKE
CAPITALISM
MANAGEMENT FOR MANKIND
JONAS RIDDERSTRALE
KJELL A NORDSTROM
Prentice Hall
FINANCIAL TIMES
An imprint of Pearson Education
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First published in Great Britain in 2004
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The rights of Jonas Ridderstr&le and Kjell A. Nordstrom to be identified as authors
of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
ISBN 0 273 68747 6
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The Publisher's policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.
Contents
Preface ix
1 Endless solos 1
The music of choice 3
Welcome to the age of the individual 6
You choose 8
Skills, thrills and greenbacks 10
Capitalism karaoke style 13
2 Freed by robots 19
The individual and the machine 21
U=ATCG 22
New Net U 25
Transparency triggers talent 28
3 Changing the rules 33
Who to turn to? 35
Emptying the temple 36
Tearing down the tower 38
Turning to the town square 40
Bowling alone 41
A gay bohemian rhapsody 44
Outlaws in a world without laws 45
4 Material boys and girls 49
The meaning of life 51
Tribes ‘r us 55
Tracking the tribe 58
5 The age of abnormality 61
The double economy 63
Split vision 65
Crime and punishment 68
Division of labor 69
Graft and grief 71
Burn! 74
Hangovers, jet-lag and insomnia 76
6 Talent takes over 79
Street smarts rule 81
Held hostage by talent 82
To those who have shall be given 86
The revolting elite 89
Self-selection and self-deception 93
(R)evolution takes time 96
7 Customer in charge 99
The iron-laws of information 101
Imperfect world; perfect markets 104
My way 108
Under siege by customers 110
8 Capitalists are crying 113
Bubbles burst 115
Profit enemy No. 1 118
The two-front war 119
9 Webs of wisdom 123
The autopsy and the matrix 125
The new knowledge landscape 128
Rocking all over the world 131
Putting two and two together 134
The brain bomb explodes 135
Beating the best before date 136
The Lego principles 138
Dead or alive 141
10 Innovation Inc 145
Talent is strange 147
Tall stories 148
Transfusing talent 151
Teaming up by splitting up 154
Kissing frogs 156
It’s a boy-girl thing 157
Thrills at the fringe 161
Pass the map 162
The big idea 164
Hire attitude 166
Give me one good reason 169
Dedicated to dialogue 171
Talk talk 174
Push me, pull you 176
The rules of creation 178
Experiment or extinct 180
Masters of mistakes 182
Inside the temple of trust 185
11 The holy grail of business 187
Moonwalking monopolies 189
Sure Thing Inc. 191
• Monopolies of the future 196
Fit and sexy 198
12 Models with minds 203
Models Inc. 205
The make-up of models 207
The making of models 208
Mastering the model 210
Fuzzy logic 216
The glorious anatomy of super-models 219
Fit for the future 221
13 Moods that matter 225
Moods Inc. 227
E(motional)-business 229
Sinovation 231
The 7S-moods 234
Heaven & hell 240
Create a brand or be banned 241
Design an experience or expire 245
14 Managing moody models 251
Roulette time 253
Reinventing innovation 254
Re-energizing the corporation 257
The 10 commandments of karaoke leadership 260
15 Breaking free from karaoke 271
The real world 273
Free to choose or lose 274
The egos have landed 278
On towers, temples & town squares 279
A fist full of dollars 283
Efficiency & empathy unite 287
Getting real 290
Notes 297
Photo credits 311