11 ms·

I have begun wondering lately if the reasons for the inevitable death of living things has any anologue to the dynamics you describe here for corporations.

ams6110 12y ago
The BCG matrix. Microsoft is in the Cash Cow stage and moving to the Dog stage.
walterbell 12y ago
Yes, organization development literature is sorely lacking in research and discussion of immortality.
- cpeterso 12y ago
  I'm not sure if your joking, but there is research into managing a business' longevity, such as the book "Built to Last": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Last:_Successful_Habits_of_Visionary_Companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Last:_Successful_Habi...
  - walterbell 12y ago
    Not joking :) Built to Last is inspirational, a bit like Warren Bennis "Organizing Genius". I was thinking of research topics like these: 1) Financing, staffing and governance of short-lived organizations which perform complex tasks then disband, e.g. film production, election campaigns, bi-annual sporting events, disaster relief, NGO coalitions. How are institutional identity and knowledge preserved when developed within temporary contexts? 2) What organizational scenarios have been proposed by scifi/fantasy writers for worlds where humans or other lifeforms are immortal? Do those scenarios suggest areas for research or innovation in modern corporations? Olaf Stapledon, A. E. Van Vogt, C.S. Lewis, R.A. Lafferty, Walter Jon Williams, etc. 3) Historically, business has been run by families with inter-generational inheritance. Some public and many private companies still operate this way. There is a body of literature on family-based governance and succession planning. Is that literature relevant to public companies like Facebook and Google where the founders have inheritable shares with unique voting rights on corporate futures? Will other corps seek superpowered share classes? Will consumers seek out B corps, public corps, private corps or hybrids? Garther Morgan's "Images of Organization" provides food for thought: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/07/13/the-eight-metaphors-of-organization/ http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/07/13/the-eight-metaphors-of-...
    - jbn 12y ago
      I believe it's "Gareth Morgan" (Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Images-Organization-Gareth-Morgan/dp/1412939798 http://www.amazon.com/Images-Organization-Gareth-Morgan/dp/1...). Interesting read, but dry.

ams6110 12y ago

The BCG matrix. Microsoft is in the Cash Cow stage and moving to the Dog stage.

walterbell 12y ago

Yes, organization development literature is sorely lacking in research and discussion of immortality.

cpeterso 12y ago
I'm not sure if your joking, but there is research into managing a business' longevity, such as the book "Built to Last": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Last:_Successful_Habits_of_Visionary_Companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Last:_Successful_Habi...
- walterbell 12y ago
  Not joking :) Built to Last is inspirational, a bit like Warren Bennis "Organizing Genius". I was thinking of research topics like these: 1) Financing, staffing and governance of short-lived organizations which perform complex tasks then disband, e.g. film production, election campaigns, bi-annual sporting events, disaster relief, NGO coalitions. How are institutional identity and knowledge preserved when developed within temporary contexts? 2) What organizational scenarios have been proposed by scifi/fantasy writers for worlds where humans or other lifeforms are immortal? Do those scenarios suggest areas for research or innovation in modern corporations? Olaf Stapledon, A. E. Van Vogt, C.S. Lewis, R.A. Lafferty, Walter Jon Williams, etc. 3) Historically, business has been run by families with inter-generational inheritance. Some public and many private companies still operate this way. There is a body of literature on family-based governance and succession planning. Is that literature relevant to public companies like Facebook and Google where the founders have inheritable shares with unique voting rights on corporate futures? Will other corps seek superpowered share classes? Will consumers seek out B corps, public corps, private corps or hybrids? Garther Morgan's "Images of Organization" provides food for thought: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/07/13/the-eight-metaphors-of-organization/ http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/07/13/the-eight-metaphors-of-...
  - jbn 12y ago
    I believe it's "Gareth Morgan" (Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Images-Organization-Gareth-Morgan/dp/1412939798 http://www.amazon.com/Images-Organization-Gareth-Morgan/dp/1...). Interesting read, but dry.