Session 12

Technology is an enigmatic mistress and she will never be mine.

She possesses incomprehensible depth and complexities that puzzle the most confident of minds. The most amazing discoveries I’ve made about her only lead to more questions.

She is ever evolving, but never inconsistent. She is simple to read, but impossible to understand. She is close and intimate, but always beyond reach.

And I realize and accept that, as do the millions of suitors vying for her attention. She has never pledged her love or support for a single individual, although some might like to think so. Selfish men have used her openness and objectivity against her and their fellow men, but a free spirit can never be contained.

I’ve come to embrace the beauty of her multifaceted personality, that despite its sheer diversity, it is entirely interlinked to form a cohesive whole.

I don’t think I’ll ever lose contact with her (it’ll be kinda awkward too since she’s mutual friends with pretty much everyone I know). And frankly, I don’t want to either.

I’d like to thank Prof and the entire TWC class for creating an environment where I was able to comprehend as much I could about her, and learn so much about myself and others through our interactions.

Session 11

Brief Overview

As the teaching sessions have come to an end, individual teams of students (including mine) have started presenting on their group web reports.

Thoughts

We were fortunate to have decided on the topic fairly early as we had overlapping areas of interest and expertise in the arts. Formulating a framework to organize and link all three art forms (Visual Arts, Music, and Film) was more challenging.

We decided to firstly divide each art form according into the Historical Perspective, Current Situation, and Future Considerations as it would be the simplest method to track technological advances based on time.

Then we brainstormed how to categorize the technological innovations within each time period. When analyzing the creative process of all three art forms from the artist’s perspective, we found the clearest and most comprehensive method was to divide it into three interlinked stages: Conceptualization, Production and Dissemination. Once we decided on this framework, it was easier to research on examples that fall under these broad categories.

On the whole the web report was particularly enlightening, as I have never systematically analyzed the technological changes of these art forms over the years and the related cultural impact.

Translating all the research and analysis into an accessible format in the webpage was another challenge, but visual aids such as pictures and embedded video links really helped.

On the whole, I learnt plenty from working on the project as well as from the rest of the presentations during the session. Having the report available online in an easy to navigate format is a far better option for class learning than simply doing a one-off powerpoint presentation or writing a report.

 

Rating 8/10

Session 10: Future Starts Slow

Brief Overview

In this session, we discussed the direction that technology might take in the future, and the framework for creating and handling the future.

Standout Points

As exciting as concepts such as augmented reality and gesture recognition/control might seem, it does present some social issues.

Thoughts

This struck me exceptionally hard when a classmate explained a child’s perception of future technology. The increasing want for communication between them and technological entities might potentially replace the fragile bond between people. And this is a problem.

By receiving more information than our senses naturally allow through augmented reality, ‘normal’ reality pales in comparison. By surpassing our natural physical limitations by controlling machines or computers vicariously through mere gestures, our physical bodies become burdens and limitations that we try to overcome.

Most importantly, if relations between people become too unpredictable and taxing that we potentially have to turn to computer programs to seek the human need for contact, we are avoiding and actually execrating the key issue. Technology does not replace our humanity. It’s meant to enhance it.

Rating: 8.5/10

Session 9: I (do), Robot?

Brief Overview

This particular session was especially interesting for me, as it discussed emerging and future technology, exploring the boundaries of our imagination and the technology supporting those unrealized fantasies.

Standout Points

The most thought provoking discussion was about the ability for artificial intelligence to develop and mimic emotions, to the extent that they could be considered companions or even lovers with humans.

Thoughts

We might not be as complex as we would like to think. Every thought process can be broken down into a specific linear algorithm. Every emotion is a result of stimuli, moderated and interpreted through internal factors.

Any feeling or emotion experienced, and the subsequent reaction can be broken down into a 5-step process.

(1) Stimuli → (2) Processing of Stimuli → (3) Internal Reaction → (4) Processing of Internal Reaction → (5) External Reaction

The perceived complexity exists because many of these linear processes are intertwined and difficult to unravel.

Stage (1): Although a stimulus is an objective external influence, a single event or action never projects an isolated stimulus. For example, a singular act of being smiled at is not an isolated stimulus. The physical surroundings and social circumstance under which this action is performed sends accompanying stimuli.

Stage (2): The receiver of said stimuli then subconsciously separates and assigns value based on a basket of factors, including past experiences and biological inclinations that essentially make up our personality.

Stage (3): After the stimuli are sorted and subconscious logical links are drawn through/with the above factors, it generates the internal response that is emotion.

Stage (4): This emotion is then consciously processed by another set of factors including social conditioning, empathy, and personal intentions.

Stage (5): This finally results in the physical response expressed, which then seamlessly presents a whole new set of stimuli for the receiving party.

Beyond these stages, there are other factors like the rigidity of the stages. For example, if stage (4) is rigid, the responses appear less impulsive and more calculated, concealing the rest of the preceding stages more effectively. Also, the speed and fluidity at which these processes occur presents more difficulties in artificial simulation. However might not be entirely impossible, given sufficient time to analyze the human psyche, and translate that into individual algorithms based on the framework very briefly explained above.

Still it begs the question of the validity of those emotions, and conversely our own emotions, if they can be fully explained and mimicked through science. Perhaps our humanity lies in the irrational center that can never be fully explained through logic.

 

Rating: 8.5/10

Session 8: Bright Tomorrow

Brief Overview

This session discussed the motivations behind the shifting paradigm from conventional fossil fuel based energy sources towards ‘green’ renewable energy.

Standout Points

“The sun provides more energy to the Earth in one hour than humankind currently uses in an entire year!”

Thoughts

What happens if we are able to harness this energy? Maybe not even fully, but merely as a replacement, it would entirely revolutionize life as we know it.

Environmentally: Relying on a non-pollutive and sustainable source of energy would mean lesser damage to this earth.

Economically: As the world would no longer run on a limited and increasingly expensive resource, inflation would be managed and people’s purchasing power might be increased.

Socially: If lower cost technology is developed to harness the energy of the sun, it can be distributed to impoverished areas, raising their standard of living and allowing them to modernize.

The only reason why the world is apprehensive to invest in such technology is the current opportunity cost of faster profits. By diverting funds away from current operations in processing fossil fuels and investing in future alternative energy technology, it might seem unwise from a business standpoint, as it requires significant resources without the guarantee of profitability.

Eventually there has to be a shift towards renewable energy, hopefully it happens sooner than later.

Rating: 8/10

When The Levee Breaks: How Music Sharing Revolutionized the Music Industry

Executive Summary

This paper would be discussing the impact that online music sharing services had on the music industry.

Firstly, this paper introduces what online music sharing is and the various networks that developed over time, most notably Napster and subsequently Bittorrent. Then, it would explain how, as a vehicle for piracy and copyright infringement, it impacted record sales and subsequently the revenue models of industry players. Subsequently, the influence of these services is analyzed, and various contributing factors are identified then explained.

The impact of Napster is then explained from different perspectives, with views opposing and support the prevalence of this service. After these historical perspectives are examined, the current situation and future extrapolations are considered.

 

Background

Music piracy, and the ensuing industry outcry, has been around much longer than the dot-com era. When audiocassettes were popularized in the 1980s, the British Phonographic Industry launched a campaign heralded by the slogan “Home Taping is Killing Music”, appealing to consumers who were recording music from the radio to home cassettes. After the decline of the audiocassette in the 1990s, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and various music-publishing entities pressured Congress to pass the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, forcing consumer electronics manufacturers to implement copy protection technology on the new media formats replacing the cassette.

However, the impact of these forms of copyright infringement cannot be compared to that of online music sharing. By definition, online music sharing services simply refer to technologies developed to facilitate the access and distribution of digital music. These could take the form of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing services, website based file hosting sites, and more.

One of the first, and perhaps the most revolutionary of these is probably Napster, an example of a P2P network. P2P services bypass storing the media files on a central server, allowing users direct access to files in a designated shared folder on another user’s computer, hence the name peer-to-peer. Napster merely provided a client and a centralized indexing server that sorted and allowed users to search for a specific file on other computers. Released in June 1999, Napster quickly grew in popularity, peaking at 25 million users less than two years since inception. The extensive impact that Napster and the subsequent services that followed had on the music industry can be seen from graph below. There is an obvious correlation between the emergence of Napster, and the drastic decline in physical record sales after 1999.

 

Analysis of Napster’s Success

Napster’s success and influence can be attributed to 4 factors that made it a revolutionary force in the music industry at that time. These four factors to success would be referred to throughout this paper.

a. First Mover Advantage

By being the pioneer provider of P2P file sharing services, it quickly gained the attention of users and the media, snowballing and gaining momentum rapidly.

b. Large Selection of Media

A direct result of having a large number of users would be the large selection of songs available for peers to download. With more peers active and in possession of copies of the same file, other users would have faster and more stable downloads which further boosted usage and popularity.

c. Ease of Use

Operating the Napster client was relatively simple: After downloading and running the program file, users simply had to key in artistes’ names or track titles into the search engine and have a list of download options. The simple interface made it easy for new users to utilize the service, once again boosting the total number of users.

d. Lack of Legal Repercussions

With the legal status of Napster pending for months and the idea of safety in numbers, users were skeptical even when the band Metallica announced that they had identified thousands of individuals who downloaded their material and were preparing to take legal action.

When Napster was finally shut down in July 2001, it had shown the world that the concept of distributing free music was a technological and social possibility, and it was wildly popular. At that point, it had opened the floodgates to other similar P2P networks like Kazaa and Limewire, and to more technologically advanced systems like BitTorrent. BitTorrent is an evolution of the P2P concept, allowing files to be divided into smaller segments, distributed among other computers, and reassembled. This meant a much faster and more efficient way to download and upload files, while exerting a relatively lesser strain on the network’s bandwidth. Many BitTorrent sites and clients added an additional factor leading to their success.

e. Self-Sustainability

Many servers keep track of the ratio of the users’ uploaded to downloaded content. Sometimes they implement algorithms that allow a user with a high ratio to download files faster, giving users an incentive to ‘seed’ files, or put files up for others to download. This system ensures a constant supply of new media from uploaders, which would in turn attract more downloaders in a self-sustaining virtuous cycle.

However, the emergence and overwhelming popularity of BitTorrent seemed to conflict with some factors that made Napster such a success. The BitTorrent client is more difficult to configure and more steps are involved to access a download. Moreover, since the landmark Napster case, authorities have not only pursued the service providers, but also the individual users, hence the threat of Legal Repercussions has increased. Hence, the success of this new generation of file sharing networks is simply due to the large selection of media available.

Issues

The parties experiencing the greatest impact of these services can be divided into the music labels, the musicians themselves, and the general public. These impacts can be briefly explained through the following three perspectives, each with an opinion for and against music sharing.

The Economic Perspective

Against: The most obvious result of the emergence and popularity of these services is the reduction in revenue earned by copyright holders. Simply put, listeners no longer have to purchase music when the option to download music for free exists. This directly translates to lesser resources for labels and musicians to produce and distribute music through traditional means.

For: Studies have shown that there is actually a positive correlation between P2P downloads and CD purchases. Furthermore in the case of Radiohead’s album Kid A, the experimental and generally non-commercially viable album was leaked on Napster weeks before the official release. After being downloaded by millions of Napster users, the album reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. In isolated examples like this, file sharing did not compromise revenue gained, but in fact provided viral promotional benefits.

The Cultural Perspective

Against: Without intellectual property rights protection and secured revenue streams from selling recorded media, musicians might be less inclined or even unable to produce music. Furthermore, with lesser resources, labels have been making increasingly intrusive demands to focus on the marketability of their music in the traditional business model, compromising the creative control artistes have over their music. This would ultimately result in a net decrease in recorded music produced, as well as limiting the cutting edge daring that musicians possess, stifling cultural progress.

For: According to seasoned record producer Steve Albini’s article The Problem with Music, after all the costs and loans are deducted, each band member would only make 0.5% of what the label earns even after a 5 week tour and selling a quarter million albums. This example succinctly encapsulates the long-held idea that record labels exploit the artistes under them. Hence, with record labels having lesser bargaining power, pressing and distribution contracts falling out of favour, it actually places musicians in a position where they can negotiate fairer terms of the contract. Also, the purchasing power of consumers now has greater power and significance. As paying is no longer necessary to gain access to music, purchasing an album now signifies loyalty and support to the creative vision of an artiste. This might in turn provide both tangible and intangible motivation for artistes to produce works of higher quality.

The Legal Perspective

Against: Copyright infringement is illegal, and the legal system has a responsibility to protect the intellectual property rights of copyright holders, and provide relief whenever possible. Especially since the passing of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, and the negotiations of the plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, intellectual property right enforcement had become an increasingly pressing issue.

For: Proponents for net neutrality, the concept of preserving a free and open Internet, support the idea of file sharing. The accessing and transferring of data is an evolutionary step that the Internet has to take; the trouble with the law presents itself because some data is transferred without the copyright holders’ express permission. Advocates argue that governmental or institutional restrictions on the content present on the Internet undermine the very purpose of the Internet and the freedom of information.

Discussion

“Litigation is not a business strategy. Ultimately the best response to online piracy is a legitimate alternative.”

– Cary Sherman (Senior Executive VP and General Counsel of RIAA)

According a 2010-2015 forecast reports by Cisco, global P2P file sharing is estimated to consist of 4051 petabytes a month, and is projected to increase to 8117 petabytes a month. Most sources agree on one thing: that filesharing is an unstoppable phenomenon, and will only continue to grow in popularity. As such, traditional business models relying on the sale of physical media are no longer viable and alternative models have to be developed.

Present Solutions

1) Increasing the sales of support services

As labels try to monetize its catalog, they have turned to revenue streams that were once considered secondary to record sales, such as merchandise, concert ticket sales, and broadcast rights. The reason why these are new possible revenue streams, is that unlike recorded media, the utility gained by consumers cannot be easily replicated or distributed for free. Recording costs are now considered sunk costs, and recorded media only serve as promotional material.

2) ‘Pay what you want’

Pioneered by Radiohead when releasing In Rainbows, this pricing scheme allows fans to enter any amount they wished to pay for the album, even allowing them to pay nothing at all. From an economics standpoint, this strategy is brilliant. Under the earlier assumption that consumers are going to download the album from music sharing networks anyway, the band gives the option of a legal high quality download as a show of goodwill to first time or casual listeners, possibly gaining a larger fanbase. Ardent fans can contribute as much as they want to support the band. Any revenue gained from this strategy is seen as a bonus beyond merchandise or concert sales.

Bandcamp, a website that allows users to stream or purchase music, also allows bands the option to implement a ‘pay what you want’ pricing scheme. This service is especially useful for musicians not signed to a label. It can act as an effective distribution platform that allows listeners a streaming preview, then the option to purchase a downloadable digital copy, with a small percentage of the fee being paid to Bandcamp. This essentially bypasses the need for a printing and distribution contract with a label, and still allows the band to retain a larger share of the sales revenue.

3) Cloud-based music services

Legal cloud based music services like Spotify allow subscribers to stream music from a large catalogue of music to various user devices.

When revisiting the factors that made P2P services successful, it seems that the service provided by Spotify is indeed very promising. (a) Spotify was launched in October 2008, making it one of the pioneers in this field. By securing licensing deals with many major labels to stream their artistes’ music, (b) Spotify has amassed a substantial library of music, approximately 15 million songs as of July 2011. (c) Streaming music is even faster and easier than downloading, as there is no need to organize the downloaded files or even wait for the files to finish downloading. Customizable playlists and radio functions allow personalized recommendations of new music according to the listeners’ taste. (d) As this service is completely legal even for free users (with additional advertisements between songs), or US$5 per month for an unlimited subscription, users have no fear of legal repercussions. (e) As this service gains more subscribers, the company would have more resources to purchase additional music licenses, broadening its music library and in turn attracting more subscribers.

Beyond that, there are other unique features that Spotify offers.

f) Cross-platform compatibility

One of the reasons for the digital music revolution is the demand for any music, anytime, anywhere. Spotify is available on mobile devices; as long as there is an Internet connection available, the entire music library is available to the user.

g) Low resource consumption

As Spotify is a streaming service, it does not take up space on the users’ devices. This could create a future market for low-cost barebones mobile devices designed specifically for streaming. Furthermore, as files are hosted elsewhere, backing up data is not necessary in case of hardware malfunction or software failure.

However, an issue with the business model of these cloud based music services is the possibility of the market only being able to support a natural monopoly. The amount of resources needed to purchase licensing rights from labels and to maintain the infrastructure presents a high barrier of entry to new entrants. On the other hand, should a large company introduce a rival service, such as Apple’s iCloud, the market might not be able to support both giants. The purpose of these streaming services is to provide a one-stop solution to a listener’s needs, revolving around the availability of everything he wants to listen to and more. It is very unlikely for a user to sign up for multiple services of this nature, because of the incompatibility of the software clients, and degree of overlapping media found in both libraries. Once subscribers are divided evenly, it would mean lesser resources for either service provider available for expanding that library, undermining the very purpose of the service, leaving dissatisfied subscribers too. If exclusive rights are given to either company, it might worsen the situation, and may prove even more inconvenient than simply downloading and storing a personal collection of music from P2P services.

 

Taking Things Forward

Though still currently in its infant stages, cloud based music services are probably the future of the music industry. It presents all the benefits of P2P music sharing and more, coinciding with consumers’ changing demands. The tipping point to the next revolution lies in the extensiveness of the streaming music library. As seen earlier for the transition from Napster to BitTorrent, despite an increase in various dissuading factors, the popularity in BitTorrent accelerated simply due to the ability to access the widest range of content. Once cloud based services are able to match the amount of content available on P2P services, users would be far more inclined to pay that nominal subscription fee.

Currently the music featured on these services are mainly from higher profile artistes. A possible avenue of expansion could be allowing independent or amateur artists to upload their material for a small fee. These artistes would benefit from the increased exposure; the service providers would be able to increase their revenue while expanding their music catalog.

For a completely different twist on music sharing, there is a service called Gobbler being developed for musicians to share their recorded ideas with collaborators online. Ironically, the platform that was once touted to be the bane of music is now available for the creation and production of music.

Conclusion

When Napster revolutionized the music industry in 1999, music businesses scrambled to change their suddenly impracticable revenue model. However now as the industry is settling into equilibrium, it might seem that there may be tangible benefits for consumers and musicians alike. With the music industry pushing the boundaries of technology and adapting to changing social paradigms, one can only wonder what the next revolution would be.

Session 7: High Noise Low Output

Brief Overview

In this second lecture about BioBusiness, the focus was on food and fuel production, and the social impacts of various initiatives.

Standout Points

I’ve never researched into the specifics of the policies or the impact of the Green Revolution so this was a particularly interesting point for me.

Thoughts

When researching after class, I read about how projects were successfully implemented in Mexico and India, but far less successful in Africa.

Some reasons cited included:

1) Environmental Factors such as the lack of water available for irrigation, and diverse slope and soil types in one given area.

2) Political Factors such as widespread corruption, unstable and uncooperative governments.

3) Logistical Factors such as the lack of infrastructure, which affects the distribution of seeds to farmers. Also, the lack of support infrastructure like irrigation facilities makes it difficult for farmers to maximize their yield.

Here we can see that although the technology for high yielding varieties exists, other factors impede the translation of these ‘wonder seeds’ into increased levels of crop production.

What is required then, is the mitigation of these barriers in tandem with the development of genetically modified crops. The simplest problem to tackle would be the logistical and environmental concerns, as these could potentially be solved through funding and technology sharing from international organizations. The most difficult issues to handle would be the political factors that could potentially railroad the best of intentions. From getting the local government’s authorization of projects, to the execution of projects and the subsequent sale of products, a corrupt and unsupportive government could deprive the farmers themselves of benefit. The more potential profit that the people stand to gain, the more corrupt officials would want from them, effectively negating the benefit, or even worse, imposing an additional burden on the farmers by controlling the supply of their seeds.

With these considerations in mind, coupled with the successful introduction of agricultural projects in other developing countries, the income gap between the rest of the world and countries like Africa might worsen drastically.

While not impossible to overcome, indirect factors like the political climate would have to change before poverty and hunger can be alleviated.

Rating: 8/10

Session 6: The Ambition for Excess Wrecks Us

Brief Overview

In this session, we explored the historical background, trends and advances in the BioBusiness arena (which covered way more industrial sectors than I previously thought).

Standout Points

While discussing the Biomedical BioBusiness we talked about the trend of life-threatening illnesses in developed countries shifting from diseases of deprivation to diseases of excess.

Thoughts

From heart disease to major depression, these illnesses emerged as affluence and technology spread. It seems as if we’ve gotten too good at curing our past ailments that we’ve created new problems for ourselves just for kicks.

This is in tandem with the shift from Reactive to Proactive Healthcare, with affluent people spending top dollar for wellness management, either to counteract the effects of a decadent lifestyle, or to extend their lifespan just that little bit more.

From a business standpoint, developing treatment methods for this relatively small group of individuals are tending to be far more lucrative, because they have the spending power to afford the high premiums for relatively simple treatments.

Health supplements and fad diets have seen polarizing opinions from medical professionals and users, and you have to wonder if it could be doing more harm than good subscribing to the newest ‘revolutionary’ drug on the market promising visible health benefits. Without rigorous long-term testing, we may never know the effects of the chemicals we ingest on the daily basis, and even less about the combined effects that these innocuous substances have when consumed together.

Therefore, it seems like this will be the trend that will continue as human society progresses, and there will be little alternatives to choose from. Radiation exposure from electrical appliances is virtual unavoidable, artificial preservatives and genetic modifications are widely used in preparing our food and drink, industrial smog blankets parts of our city. Hopefully all our precautions and preventive measures pay off in the coming years.

 

Rating: 7.5/10

Session 5: You Say You Want A Revolution

Brief Overview

This lecture discussed the recent advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and the potential applications and implications of these developments.

Standout Points

Hunter/Gatherer Societies

↓

Agriculture and Domestication of Animals (Productivity gain: about 25x)

↓

Industrial Revolution (Productivity gain: about 25x)

↓

ICT/Knowledge Revolution (Productivity gain: about 5x so far)

That particular slide showed the different key stages of human development, and the corresponding productivity gains, ending with the question: “What will it take to capture the full potential of the ICT/Knowledge Revolution?”

Thoughts

In attempting to answer that question, we would first have to analyze why and how the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions made such an impact on society. This really boils down to the consolidation of resources and manpower, creating a system that is more efficient and productive than the sum of its parts. By formulating a framework that met the appropriate need of the entire society, the rest of the society would then be able to diversify their efforts into other areas of research and development.

This featured in the Agricultural Revolution, where individuals combined resources and time otherwise spent hunting and gathering food to grow crops and breed livestock, exponentially increasing productivity. Similarly, in the Industrial Revolution, mass-production factory workers were far more productive than individual blacksmiths or craftsmen. As these specialized groups of people focused on meeting the basic needs of society, food for survival during the Agricultural Revolution, equipment and infrastructure during the Industrial Revolution, other groups of people could then concentrate on furthering other technological developments.

However in the ICT/Knowledge Revolution, a common system of efficiently providing necessary resources has not been established yet. For this era, the critical resource is no longer food nor it is industrial equipment, but it is about the software and related resources that support most businesses. Currently, most businesses have to invest in their own IT software, hardware, and support staff even though it is not related to their core business. This presents an additional cost to the firm, and forces them to continually upgrade their systems and hardware as the business grows, channeling funds away from potential R&D avenues.

A possible answer to this?

Cloud Computing.

Just like how the Industrial Revolution consolidated resources to maximize efficiency, cloud based services alleviate the financial burden of maintaining IT systems and provides a common working platform should companies decide to collaborate on various projects. This, I feel, is the key for the ICT Revolution to realize its maximum potential.

 

Rating: 7.5/10

Session 4: The Unreasonable Man

Brief Overview

In this session we discussed drivers (ie. motivators and catalysts) of world change in different contexts then focusing on the specific mechanics of initiating and managing these changes through change management and leadership.

Standout Points

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

– George Bernard Shaw –

Thoughts

This particular quote stuck with me from the class and I feel it deserves further analysis and elaboration. The issue to consider is whether one has the luxury to be unreasonable and influence others to conform to these unreasonable demands.

Instead of positing that being an ‘unreasonable’ leader of change is better as compared to being purely adaptive, we have to consider which is appropriate to the stage of growth in relation to the rest of the industrial players, and perhaps having a clever mix of both attributes is the key to a firms’ survival and competitiveness in the long run.

Beginning as a minor player in any industry, one would have limited resources and influence, and most decisions made would be a prudent response to actions of larger firms. Hence, at the infant stage, most companies would be forced to be reasonable and adaptable. For example, should local governments establish higher safety standards in the construction industry, smaller firms would not have the political clout to argue otherwise. In most cases, for companies who are not dominant players in the industry, the inability to adapt to seemingly unreasonable standards spell certain death.

Of course this quote does not seek to downplay the importance of adaptability, but give a goal to strive towards: to be able to be unreasonable. This is desirable for a number of reasons.

Firstly, if the organization were profit driven, this power would allow one to artificially enhance their competitive advantage. If the entire industry could be compared to people waiting in line, a drastic unreasonable move would be akin to starting a new queue alongside, closing off the existing one, and leaving the rest of the people to scramble to be next in line. By establishing a new baseline that only they can reach, they are effectively widening the competitive gap with other industrial players.

Secondly, if the organization were of a regulatory nature to improve an aspect of social good, the same would also hold true, except to different ends. For example, when the United Nations required countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol to adhere to specific carbon emission levels, it forced corporations to factor in intangible costs the previously were not considered, arguably an unreasonable request from the business perspective. However they were still forced to conform to these standards or face international legislative and political fallout.

While most companies are not at the top of their industries, this concept can still apply. A form of adaptability would be developing a radical, game-changing product that propels the company ahead of their competitors, and giving them the ability then to call the shots.

Rating: 6.5/10