Enterprise
Quotes
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One of the struggles many companies face is overcoming the desire to invent everything themselves. Even today, you see a lot of companies falling back on the idea that �my baby's the most beautiful in the world and I'm not going to accept anybody else's.� This can get in the way of logical business thinking.
Speech to the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Technology Conference, Dallas. 'Maximum Speed: Lessons Learned from Managing Hypergrowth' (1998)
If you limit a company by its structure or by the people in the company, you will, by definition, limit the full potential of that business. It sounds basic, but a lot of companies don't follow the idea that the structure should be last and not first.
Speech to the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Technology Conference, Dallas. 'Maximum Speed: Lessons Learned from Managing Hypergrowth' (1998)
Instead of vertical integration, we have a kind of virtual integration that is taking hold. It shows up in the efficiency of companies. Our company, for example, has a return on invested capital of roughly 290 per cent which... is significantly above our cost of capital... This says there is a fair bit of competitive power in a model like this.
Speech to the Canadian Club of Tbronto, Canada. 'Leadership in the Internet Economy' (2000)
Working cooperatively is crucial because you can't count on the power of your position anymore; you have to count on the power of your ideas.
Interview, Strategy + Business (1999)
Corporate values are a genuine competitive advantage... an enduring factor amid so many changes in products and services.
Speech (1991)
People who are making decisions about the future often don't have access to some of the best ideas in the company, which may be at the periphery or at lower levels.
Interview, Strategy + Business (1999)
Companies gain the advantage of a network at a price; they become dependent on outsiders whose behavior can affect them but who they do not control.
'How E-Smart Are You?,' World Link (2000)
Hoarding information or getting it first was one way managers in traditional companies expressed their power. But information blockages make the whole system less effective.
'How E-Smart Are You?,' World Link (2000)
Throughout human history, people have developed strong loyalties to traditions, rituals, and symbols. In the most effective organizations, they are not only respected but celebrated. It is no coincidence that the most highly admired corporations are also among the most profitable.
The kind of brain-dead, gum chewing assistant you find in so many shops drives me wild. I want everyone who works for me to feel the same excitement that I feel.
Body and Soul (1991)
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays