CIOs and business leaders must understand how a new breed of social capitalists will exploit technology to disrupt their industry segments, according to Gartner, Inc. As the gap between the rich and the poor in developed economies grows, money, wealth and power are becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of individuals — the "one percent" — while the other "99 percent" is increasingly using social media to collaborate, campaign and agitate against perceived inequities, leaving many management teams feeling under threat.
These
research findings are produced as part of Gartner's Maverick research.
Maverick research is designed to spark new, unconventional insights.
Maverick research is unconstrained by Gartner's typical broad
consensus-formation process to deliver breakthrough, innovative and
disruptive ideas from the company's research incubator.
"While
capitalism won't collapse, there are fundamental changes under way as
it morphs to a new form that is more in tune with the technology and
attitudes of the 21st century," said Nigel Rayner, research vice
president at Gartner. "The coming capitalist era is that of the Facebook
generation, in which the values and behaviors that pervade the Internet
and social media will also be adopted by innovative and disruptive
businesses. With half the world's population under the age of 25, this
may happen sooner than many think."
Gartner has identified a number of major shifts that will occur as capitalism goes social:
- Businesses will move away from the hierarchical command-and-control model to a more democratic and meritocratic model. Employees will be judged (and granted decision rights) on the basis of their impact on and value to the community, rather than on job title, age or social background.
- Businesses will adopt a more open approach to decision making, allowing anyone in the organization, and also people outside the organization, to have input into the decision-making process. Goals and objectives will be set by socializing strategic aims with employees, shareholders and communities of interest.
- Social and mobile technologies will be used to build and manage two-way relationships between businesses and all their communities of interest. This use of technology will go way beyond the one-way, outward-looking, limited use of social media today. It really will bring the 99 percent inside the walls of the enterprise to become part of the organization.
"These
changes won't impact all industries and businesses in the same way.
Some will use them to create incremental business opportunities, but
others may find their business model directly threatened, because they
are seen by the 99 percent as the worst cases of exploitative business
practices," said Mr. Rayner. "However, some innovative organizations
will use capitalism going social to create new business models and
disrupt their industries."
Gartner calls these businesses
"social capitalists." Not every enterprise can follow a social
capitalist model, but those that can will be the most admired companies
in the next 10 years. Business and IT leaders must understand the impact
of these changes on their industries and organizations, and ensure that
their business and IT plans have the appropriate focus on social media
technologies. They should also identify whether management practices
need to change to make the best use of these investments.
A
key aspect of capitalism going social will be the use of social and
mobile technologies by business to change the way it interacts with the
99 percent, bringing them inside the four walls of the enterprise to
become part of the organization's processes, rather than keeping it at
arm's length.
Social
technologies are also central to improving employee engagement and
rebuilding employee trust, but only if they are deployed with the
intention of enhancing open communication and employee participation in
decision making. This approach is based on the
premise that engaged, motivated and empowered employees will deliver
better customer service and value.
"Capitalism
going social is a reflection of the wider societal changes that are
happening in the 21st century. These changes cannot be ignored, although
their impact will vary by industry and organization. IT and business
leaders must identify how soon their industries and companies will be
affected by these changes," said Mr. Rayner. "Ideally they should seek
out a senior executive in the organization that faces the greatest
threat from capitalism going social who will be a strong ally. Once this
person is on board, they should use the IT department to trial social
technologies, and use the results of these experiments to advocate wider
adoption across the organization."
Additional
information is available in the special report "Maverick* Research:
Capitalism Goes Social, or How Technology Will Enable the 99% to Change
Your Business Forever." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=2173518. The
report is part of the Gartner Special Report "Drive Disruptive
Innovation with Maverick* Research." This Special Report explores
high-impact future scenarios that help companies think differently to
uncover opportunity and enable innovation. This collection of research is
intentionally disruptive and edgy to help IT leaders get ahead of the
mainstream and take advantage of trends and insights that could impact
their IT strategy and their organization. The Special Report is
available at http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/maverick/.>>
Mi voglio soffermare solo su un concetto generale e veloce: il capitalismo diventa sociale.
"Il contratto sociale tra il business e la società è in pericolo di spezzarsi, dal momento che la maggioranza (99%) protesta sempre di più contro la crescente ineguaglianza a favore della minoranza (1%). La fiducia nel sistema capitalista si sta erodendo. I team di management sono sotto pressione e alcuni vogliono adottare modalità di lavoro più aperte, più trasparenti, più collaborative, e che non mirino a enfatizzare metodi top-down di comando e controllo, che trattino soggetti umani come fossero robot semiprogrammabili.Il capitalismo che diventa sociale richiede subito organizzazioni che costruiscano relazioni biunivoche con il 99%. L'uso monodirezionale dei social media non sarà sufficiente.""
[tratto dall'editoriale di apertura INSIDE di Carlo Antonelli su Wired Gennaio 2013]
Credo sia un piccolo sogno, quello dove l'uomo, l'essere umano ritorni al centro degli interessi comuni. Non più produzione e PIL, ma servizi e qualità. Welfare. Benessere per tutti. Sembra un po' utopico, detto così, ma è quello che mi auguro succeda nei prossimi anni.
Una nuova rivoluzione copernicana, che riporti di nuovo al centro l'uomo e tutto il resto graviti attorno a lui, quale fulcro e scintilla di tutto il meccanismo.
Produrre servizi, qualità di vita e non oggetti. Lo scopo deve essere l'uomo. L'uomo che lavoro per l'uomo.
Perchè credo che l'alternativa a tutto ciò sia qualcosa di veramente umiliante per tutti noi.
Buon 2013 rivoluzionario!
