Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World

This is the eBook version of the printed book. In the "flat world," everything changes...above all, what it takes to run a winning company. Success is less about what the company can do itself and more about what it can connect to. Find out how it's done, from the company that pioneered "flat world" success, Li & Fung, which produces more than $8 billion in garments and other goods for the world's top brands and retailers -- without owning a single factory. Victor and William Fung and Jerry Wind, author of the best-selling The Power of Impossible Thinking, reveal how they've replaced "old-fashioned" infrastructure and huge employee bases with a fluid, ever-changing network that can design, manufacture, and deliver almost anything, anywhere. The key to success in this world is a set of principles for "network orchestration," described for the first time in this book. They examine how these principles can be applied in manufacturing, services and other industries. They show how to build and orchestrate your own world-class global network. Compete "network vs. network" and win! Create a "big-small" company that combines scale and agility. Forge loose-tight relationships with suppliers. Balance control with empowerment, stability with renewal. Manage the "bumps" in the flat world -- from politics to terrorism.