Aside from the financial crisis, the economy is undergoing a dramatic process of change, writes
Magnus Graf Lambsdorff in a commentary for
akzente, the consumer goods and trade industry magazine published by McKinsey. A change of paradigm is taking place in the economy: "Customers are no longer satisfied with mass-produced standard products. They want simple solutions customized to meet their needs. The rules of economies of scale no longer apply to a large number of products - even the smallest customer segments can now be addressed. New media are giving the world unforeseen transparency, and sub-optimal market behavior is punished immediately. Studies show that over half of all purchasing decisions are already made under the influence of the internet." Leaders consequently face the challenge, "of completely repositioning their organization: open access and co-creation instead of hermetic structures and hierarchy, integration instead of exclusion, and interaction instead of one-way advertising messages."
According to Graf Lambsdorff, Nature serves as a role model for today's challenges, because it, "provides impressive proof that decentralized structures are often superior to hierarchical orders - especially when it comes to complex tasks. Moreover, only a small number of executives to date have been able to, "adapt their way of thinking, acting and leadership style to the new paradigm described above. If nothing else, the traditional set-up of their organizations often stands in their way. Modern networks, however, do not need chiefs. They need people who set trends. That is the main task of today's managers. For it is up to them to build bridges to the new era of the networked economy."
