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Reading Group Guide

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Discussion Group Questions

1. What are the most important implications for businessmen of the economy's becoming dominantly (80%) a "services" economy? Why has this happened now? How far can it go? What are the major changes called for in your business?

2. What does "managing intellect" mean in your business? What does a manager do differently in managing intellectual resources vs. managing physical and fiscal assets? Why has this concept emerged as so critical in the last 10 years, not before? What are the major changes needed in past management practice?

3. How does a "core competency" strategy differ from earlier concepts that stressed "strengths and weaknesses" relative to competitors? How does one objectively assess what the company's core competencies are? Can be? Must be? What is the difference between a "core" and an "essential" competency? Are there any core competencies that are not intellectually or skills based? How does one build a core competency to best-in-world levels? Why is core competency so essential to the management of intellect? What are the inherent risks in a core competency strategy? What are its major leverages vs. other strategies?

4. How does core competency relate to a company's capacity to outsource safely and effectively? How can one approach outsourcing strategically? What competencies or activities should one maintain internally at all costs? What should be outsourced first? What criteria should one use in determining outsourcing priorities? What new skills and controls does one need to outsource effectively? What management changes must accompany an outsourcing strategy? Why is outsourcing so much more feasible and essential than in the past? How can a firm manage outsourcing? Why does the services economy enable more outsourcing both domestically and globally? What re the major risks of outsourcing? How can they be offset?

5. What are the main forces stimulating more disaggregated organization forms today? Is there any reason to believe these forces will not continue in the future? Be even more pervasive? In an intellect-based enterprise, how does one determine what aspects of that capability should be centralized? Decentralized? What does delegation mean? What is delegated? Retained? Shared in an intellect-based organization? How does professional intellect differ from creative intellect? How does this difference affect the building, nurturing, and organizing of groups in these different circumstances?

6. Why is innovation so important in today's intellect-based companies? Economies? How does innovation differ from discovery or invention? Why are less structured organizations desirable in innovative organizations? How can one encourage small u nit, flexible action groups needed for innovation without giving up the essential controls needed for efficiency and focus? Why is vision so important in intellectually based organizations? What is a "figure of merit"? Why is it so useful in managing innovation? How does it differ from a "benchmark"? When should benchmarking be used? Avoided? What are the keys to motivation in innovative organizations? How do they differ from these in "efficiency" based organizations?

7. When is each of the major new forms of organization most useful? Infinitely flat? Inverted? Starburst? Spider's Web? Cluster? Specialized innovative organizations? What different management techniques, software, measures, incentives does each take? Where might each be useful in your company? What problems would you expect to encounter with each? How could you handle these problems? What re the problems you have encountered with "team" organizations? How have you dealt with these? What are the limits to teams? What are they good for? When are external alliances useful in strategy? What problems have you encountered with alliances external to the company? When have they worked? Failed? Did you follow the analytical structures suggested for core competency, outsourcing, outsourcing management? What could you have done better?

8. How do the concepts of intellect-base economy change national policies? What new policies are needed in this environment? How should corporate output measures be changed to reflect the value of intellectually-based assets? What problems, solutions do your foresee in doing this? How can one measure quality in services? Productivity changes in services? What skills are needed in a service and intellect-based economy? What should be the role of public education? Private education? What practices should be changed in each? How does one stimulate national competitiveness? Economic growth? International trade in services? How do these policies differ from those of a "product-based" economy? What concerns do you have about U.S. competitiveness in the new world economy? What should be done to enhance U.S. competitiveness?