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Like Alice before the looking glass, the world now stands at
the portal of a fantastic new reality. Information technology is fast usurping
the conventions of the Industrial Age, and the organizational structures that
have governed our lives and livelihoods for nearly two hundred years are giving
way to a future order. The question is, What form will that order take?
In The Infinite Resource, nineteen of the best minds
in the business and government explore that question in fascinating detail. They
explain how knowledge (the coin of the Information Age and mankind's first inexhaustible,
self-perpetuating source of wealth and competitive advantage) will replace capital
as the cornerstone upon which modern economies are built. Each examines the critical
implications that reality holds for individuals, businesses, institutions, and
nations. In this a collection, new and powerful voices
(including Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith and Chiat/Day CEO Robert Kuperman,
to name but two) present promising new concepts, lessons, and suggestions for
grappling with the myriad challenges the knowledge revolution now poses. An up-to-the-minute
examination of initiatives under way at Bell Atlantic, MCL Lufthansa, and other
progressive companies constitutes a state-of-the-art survey of corporate knowledge
change efforts. Looking ahead, readers will also learn how the principles of this
"new management" will result in three corresponding revolutions from
control to freedom, conflict to community, and materialism to spirit. And they
will see how these principles will redefine organizations in terms of internal
enterprise systems, cooperative communities, intelligent infrastructures, and
other new paradigms. Finally, The Infinite Resource
is a visionary source of insight and information of consequence to leaders, managers,
and others who must wrestle with the challenges these changes present -- changes
that could come full term by the year 2005. William
E. Halal is professor of management at George Washington University. A respected
management scholar, consultant, and author of three previous books, including
The New Management (1996), he lives in Washington, D.C.
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