21st Century Management

In this fascinating new book, Mats Lindgren explores the changing business landscape of the 21st century and what it means for organizations. The key message is that we're facing a global paradigm shift driven by globalization, big data, the super-smart computer, transparency and environmental constraints. From a general business and management point, the most important aspect of that shift is the transition from an industry and service economy towards a thought-driven economy, where efficient production plants are replaced by thought cells, and thought productivity as generators of wealth. Ideas, concepts and contacts are the equivalents to natural resources, capital and manpower. The winners in the thought economy are companies producing the most breath-taking concepts or the highest amount of 'Aha!s' per hour. Based on extensive management research, this book explains the key corporate performance drivers in the thought economy in detail and provides concrete guidelines and checklists on how to build a futureproof and high-performing organization. The conclusions are summarized in a new model for how to think about and handle the new business landscape and how companies can transform themselves into thought cells and thought-nets. In doing so, a set of managerial and leadership skills need to be applied. And it all ends up with making the organization and its customers dance.