Kellogg World Alumni Magazine

A paradigm shift

As these examples illustrate, we're entering an economic era where people and organizations are connecting and interconnecting ever more quickly and fluidly: employers and employees, suppliers and customers, and even protest groups and hackers. And they all convene more efficiently in virtual space – where geographical distance and the 24-hour day no longer present their historic limits, resulting in the 24/7 time clock and culture of the modern marketplace.

This virtual world operates in parallel and in partnership with the physical world to create the modern marketplace — remaking the rules for creating and capturing value in markets. New forms of technology, information and human culture are emerging and combining to create what we are describing as the "Collaboration Economy™." In the Collaboration Economy, economic impact is driven less by the ability to leverage physical assets and more by the ability to leverage expertise and interconnection.

In this virtual-physical marketplace the need for and benefits of effective collaboration only intensify. The Collaboration Economy rewards businesses and individuals who excel at interconnecting to produce, market and sell innovative products and services. Collaboration allows linked people to readily share ideas and information and create synergies through that sharing. It allows them to think and move faster through the 24/7 marketplace. The people and companies who connect and collaborate more effectively perform better — it's that simple.

And in the Collaboration Economy, customer insight is ever more critical to effective collaboration, as it allows people, teams and companies to most effectively organize and focus their activities. Gaining customer insight becomes the central principle for sorting through complex data, gaining efficiencies and resolving conflicting opinions. It is rapidly becoming the most sustainable source of competitive advantage. At the end of the day, it is a powerful reminder that businesses and markets don't exist without customers.