surplus society, the

Yeap, companiile de succes se deosebesc de celelalte (aka losers). Diferenta e data de modul de gandire al celor care pun pe picioare business-uri performante, si nu neaparat de ceea ce produc companiile respective. In economia globala talentul este acela care - well - makes capital dance.

Ne amuzam si nu prea cu Funky Business ca sa intelegem psycheul capitalist contemporan si sa ne crestem sansele de succes in business. Rock 'n roll, baby! Have a few quotes:

We are so small and there is much of everything. Look up at the stars and count.

This is the age of more. More choice. More consumption. More fun. More fear. More uncertainty. More competition. More opportunities. We have entered a world of excess: an age of abundance. No wonder that Andy Grove of Intel claims that, "Only the paranoid survive"

In Norway - population 4.5 million - you can choose from 200 different newspapers, 100 weekly magazines, and some 20 TV channels. In Sweeden - population 9 million - the number of beers to choose from has increased from around 50 to over 350 in little more than 10 years. The year of 1996 saw the publication of 1778 business books in the American market. Major label record companies launched 30,000 albums in the US in 1998. In the same country, the number of grocery product launches increased from 2,700 in 1981 to some 20,000 in 1996. To keep up with the all the product launches, Procter & Gamble has more scientists on its payroll than Harvard, Berkley and MIT combined

Viva choice! Seiko turns out more than 5000 separate watch models. In 1996, Sony launched 5000 new products - more than 2 new products per working hour. Maybe this is necessary in a market where the average product lifecycle for consumer electronics products is now three months.

Disney's [n.e. former] CEO Michael Eisner claimed that the company develops a new product - a film, a comic book, a CD or whatever - every five minutes.