Hunter Hastings

The corporation was a timely emergent phenomenon of the capitalist system. Under entrepreneurial ownership with customer value creation goals, corporations introduced new products and services, new capital structures and new management processes capable of improving customer experiences in every facet of their lives. After entrepreneurship, the organizational model transitioned to managerial capitalism, and from there into command-and-control and central planning. Then came further transition into the era of financialization, where shareholder value replaced customer value as the purpose of the corporation. Managers diverted resources to their own enrichment as well as that of shareholders, at the expense of investment in future innovation. Capitalism's reputation has become tarnished and its purpose distorted. This Element ends with the promise of another emergent era, via the corporations of the digital age.

The corporation was a timely emergent phenomenon of the capitalist system. Under entrepreneurial ownership with customer value creation goals, corporations introduced new products and services, new capital structures and new management processes capable of improving customer experiences in every facet of their lives. After entrepreneurship, the organizational model transitioned to managerial capitalism, and from there into command-and-control and central planning. Then came further transition into the era of financialization, where shareholder value replaced customer value as the purpose of the corporation. Managers diverted resources to their own enrichment as well as that of shareholders, at the expense of investment in future innovation. Capitalism's reputation has become tarnished and its purpose distorted. This Element ends with the promise of another emergent era, via the corporations of the digital age.

Given the rapid technological, organizational, and structural changes that challenge conventional institutions and economies, what is the future of work? The authors propose a path to seize opportunity for the individual worker and entrepreneur, who can be newly interconnected and augmented by emerging technologies. Values-based individual career and business navigation can thrive and succeed; teams, groups, and networks can be enhanced with a new mode of innovation based on social conversation and connection rather than a commercial, hierarchical, and prescriptive process. The authors provide visual models, case studies, and in-depth interviews with cutting-edge practitioners, who provide insights from real-world experience. The Interconnected Individual is intended to help business and professional executives and freelance workers to adopt an entrepreneurial mind-set, regardless of field, industry, or work role.

Business paradigm shifts are rare. However, the shift to a services-dominant economy and to services-dominant value creation genuinely merits the designation. Almost 80% of GDP in developed economies is attributable to services, and some economists regard products as merely the physical embodiment of service delivery. Yet today's business analysis, business management, business organization, business processes, and business education emerged from manufacturing-dominant logic; the principles of service are often under-served and poorly understood. This results in lost opportunities for growth. Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) has been slowly bubbling up and building learning and knowledge in academia for 30 years, with an acceleration in the last ten years. The disciplines, principles, insights and tools of SSME are now ready to transition to the mainstream business world, with transformative effect. . This book expounds the six principles of Service Science, including the all-important principle of value co-creation (between the producer and the customer, the employee and the hierarchy etc). The book contains compelling examples and clear direction for application. It describes the tools for application of the principles, from modular business architecture (a new form of business organization to achieve absolute advantage) to the global, mobile and social business tools that establish scalable platforms for fast, efficient growth in the service economy for Globally Integrated Enterprises--large and small/medium enterprises (SME). Service Science, as a field of academic study and research, is supported by 30 years of learning. This book brings this knowledge firmly into the business mainstream, addressing both the 'Why' and the 'How', and incorporating the tools for action.