BUSINESS MANAGERS & INTERNET ECONOMY
By Paolo Manzelli LRE@UNIFI.IT “EUROPEAN PROJECT “FORCO PRECANET “ http://www.narnia.it/forcoprecanet/
(Producing Innovative Culture for European Knowledge Economy) See also in : : http://www.edscuola.it/lre.html
From : The world bank approach on Knowledge Economy perspectives
Premise:
For the last two hundred years, neo-classical economics has recognised only two factors of production: “labour and capital”. Recently a new parameter is taken in more and more consideration for developing economy all over the world . This new economic parameter is the “Information” and the potential of information as well as an new important economic parameter is increasing with the Internet. . As a matter of facts the marked globalization is favoured by the low costs of information interactivity, that generate an extensive deep change of Net- economy based of a new relationship between “Competition and Net-working -co-operation” .
The following is now changing : information and as a consequence knowledge itself, are progressively modify for replacing capital and energy as the primary wealth -creating additional value of intangible assets ad in a way that is useful to prevail over the value of the production of tangible goods. This contemporary tendency is included as the major indicator of the KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY development; that represent a “new paradigm” of socio economic development. Knowledge Economy in the contemporary epoch has not a linear growth because of the conservative strong resistance of the obsolete industrial society aptitudes in organizing the social division of labour on the productin system organization and also in the maintenance of the traditional separation of knowledge in disciplinary vocational studies that impede the overcoming of the academic separation between University and Industry.
Due to those resistances to the change the recent start up of NET ECONOMY falls into collapse.
But nowadays it is possible to understand the failure of the first approach of net-economy and to make important correction to avoid the previous mistakes that generate a fail in the appreciation of the fundamental changes that advanced societies need to develop for implementing the future Knowledge Driven Economy.
In fact NET-ECONOMY at first time is based mainly on IT&C technology innovation but not in knowledge contents progress.
The most important factors of the net economy preliminary fall down are owing to :
A) Lack in Education
The Educational system is nowadays organized in a way that is functional to the past industrial concept of the efficient division of social labour , i.e. the educational system is till now subdivided the contents into traditional disciplines instead of to rethink and rearrange them for facilitating the problem solving generated by the new demands of overcoming skill shortage in order to realize business and managing multidisciplinary team-competencies more appropriated to the digital economy.
See for instance SKILL SHORTAGE Program : http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/lre/alis/index.htm
B) Lack in world wide “ e.Govern”structures .
The most important change on “e.govern” ethodology is coming from the consideration that interactivity of internet information system gives more power to the consumers in relation to the previous influence on policy makers and opinion leaders expressed by the industry. Therefore the lack in understanding this new direction of democratic power of Digital Societies, aggravate the deficiency of an appropriated world wide legislation; for instance it is possible to underline a lack on electronic security of signatures and on financial exchange electronic assets, that generates fundamental obstacles to “e.commerce” development
See for instance some consideration in : http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/lre/job_insecurity.htm
C) LACK in “MENTAL CHANGE”
Low attention and mass media to help citizen in building up the essential basis for a common understanding in social-economic contemporary dynamics related to the global change .
see for instance the European project : http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/lre/mental/index.html
For those reasons, without a clear understanding of the need of changes in Education , e.Goverv and on the general mentality of people, the possibility of a well regulated growth of world wide knowledge economy on contemporary times is failing in the industrial countries; but in spite of this debacle of industrial counties NET-ECONOMY advancement, the macro-economic assessment in the global world is continuously varying in IT&C technology and knowledge innovation,( for instance Bio-technology, nano – technology etc… ) so that they are now becoming the key factors of competitive production of the new era of Knowledge Economy.
Therefore while the NET ECONOMY falls into recession in the majority of the industrialized countries in other developing countries the Internet Economy permits a new opportunity of development; China, and India for instance, are growing on high average per cent each year in respect of the previous two decades, demonstrating the potential to become a new powerhouse for the world wide economic growth, that can be increased in speed by the utilization of interactive tools, generating a risk to the old industrial society if cannot be able of self- renewing in terms of Education, e.Govern and in changing general citizen mentality about the dynamics of evolution of the global market that now is becoming to implement a new international division of labour.
In addition innovative education contents and tools need to be developed without more delay in Europe for implementing novel skills and competencies of Business Managers in the context Knowledge Economy world wide development.
Certainly if the European countries don’t like to appreciate and favour an innovative perspective of NET –ECONOMY advancement needs, the European Knowledge Economy risks to become a flop like recent end of the many branches of “e-commerce” enterprises.
So that the EUROPEAN PROJECT LEONARDO FORCO PRECANET , need to help the development of an pioneering education on line system based on mutual learning international activities , for helping Business Managers to understand internet economy new contents and to favour a new business and cultural approach in order to:
In conclusion to assist business managers to achieve ITC managing and economic changes, nowadays any companies need to enrich their ability to forecast a long term vision of future Knowledge Economy, that now they seems to have lost following a conservative understanding that remain closed on the knowledge paradigm the old industrial society. As a consequence the industry especially the SMEs are living and thinking in an survival mode, and they just can't see beyond the future as the FORCOPRECANET interviews and reports of LRE/EGO-CreaNET largely demonstrates.
Without any doubt there's a much greater awareness today for favouring the IT&C/business in a NET-WORKING alignment than there was four years ago, before the LISBON EUROPEAN EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL. But till now the Small and Medium Enterprises don't see the fundamental and widespread needs to act in the global market as well as networking Digital Districts passed on extended European Partnership.
IT&C NETWORKING methodology need to develops agreements for advancing complex multidimensional enterprises based on a great number of business partners integrating public and private enterprises for a sustainable post-industrial ecological and economical growth, in a way that will became useful to power and to leverage business into extended initiatives as well as can be necessary to add value beyond the European development of Knowledge Society foundation based on building the innovative capacities to grow up a better world wide creative future.
GENERAL CONSIDERATION AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
This bibliographic lists the electronic resources related to the field of networking economy and knowledge based society. future perspectives. Keyword-based bibliographical search: ( Report in English language )
PRINCIPAL ARGUMENTS ( BUSINESS MANAGERS ) Key Words : ( Internet Economy ; Knowledge Economy ) (ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS) SEARCH ENGINE : www.google.it.
(1) David J. Skyrme Title The Global Knowledge Economy: and its implication for markets (Article)
Electronic Document (English) : http://www.skyrme.com/insights/21gke.htm
ABSTRACT: Various observers describe today’s global economy as one in transition to a ‘knowledge economy’, or an ‘information society’. But the rules and practices that determined success in the industrial economy of the 20th century need rewriting in an interconnected world where resources such as know-how are more critical than other economic resources. This briefing highlights recent thinking and developments and offers guidance on developing appropriate organizational strategies to succeed into the new millennium. It summarizes key conclusions from our trends database and research analysis.
Responsible : D.SKYRME Associates : david@skyrme.com
Page consulted on Date – 10/MARCH/2004
(2) “Knowledge economy” : The Enterprise Development Website ( Report Collection)
Electronic Document (English) : http://www.enterweb.org/know.htm
ABSTACT : ENTERWeb is an annotated meta-index and information clearinghouse on enterprise development, business, finance, international trade and the economy in this new age of cyberspace and globalization. The main focus is on micro, small and medium scale enterprises, cooperatives, community economic development, both in developed and developing countries.
Responsible : ENTERWeb The Enterprise Development Website ; <enterweb@enterweb.org>
Page consulted on Date – 10/MARCH/2004
3) Building Knowledge Economy Capacities ( Project and Program in USA)
Electronic Document (English) : http://ke.communitiesofthefuture.org/articles/ke-build-caps.html
ABSTRACT : Look at how business has been transformed in the last decade:
- Globalization has increased the scope of trade and the need for capital
- Computerization, robotization, and telecommunications has increased productivity through systemic automation at the same time that the labor force has been redefined.
- The requirements for "knowledge labor" demands a higher skill level. There is a shortage of skills. This would have been a prescription for inflation in a traditional economy. In a Knowledge Economy "knowledge labor" can be accessed anywhere in the world… thus redefining the assumptions which cause inflation in any national economy.
- As hierarchies reduce in size through downsizing, interconnected webs of entrepreneurs and small companies energy to link work and income opportunities in totally new ways.
- As we move to a "web world" of organizing work, play, and learning throughout the whole society, the role of traditional players of an economy is forced to rethink what gives value to society and to retool their individual and organizational concepts of how value is provided.
"A growing need to work closely, cooperatively and collaboratively with customers suppliers, partners, and other allies will become the defining factor of enterprise innovation. Meeting this challenge will raise new challenges of trust, security, and openness, particularly when it comes to sharing intellectual capital and other forms of corporate know-how."
Responsible : The Knowledge Economy Project .A Communities of the Future Initiative : <ricksmyre@communitiesofthefuture.org>
Page consulted on Date – 10/MARCH/2004
(4) Dan Bricklin’s : Title :Thoughts on Peer to Peer (Article)
Electronic Document : http://www.bricklin.com/p2p.htm
ABSTRACT : basically “Peer-to-peer” is a style of networking in which a group of networking persons communicate in internet directly with each other, rather than through a central server. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) organization is a term used a lot these days. It refers to the topology and architecture of the computers in an business system that can have a variety of networking interpretations.
Responsible : Dan Bricklin : http://www.bricklin.com/default.htm
Page consulted on Date – 10/MARCH/2004