WRITTEN BYTeemu ArinaSam Inkinen

Juhani V. Parda

FOREWORD BYPasi Mäenpää / Elisa Corporation

New paradigms, trends, and changes affecting the world.

Global, Local, Personal

Issue 2

What?

Why You are in the now business. The world lacks a straight-to-the-point publication that describes the current paradigm shifts in an understandable way so that you cantake immediate action.

For The publication is intended for global leaders and business owners who need to make informed decisions under extreme pressure in a short time frame.

How www.megasignals.com publishes an exclusive e-book quarterly and a blog expanding on the topics addressed in the e-book and featuring top minds weekly – free of charge.

Megasignals explore the major paradigms, trends,and changes affecting the world.

This issue has been produced in collaboration with:

Local: Context Is KingBuild successful local services utilizing globally available information

Personal: EmpowermentMake your teams and people more effective with social technologies

Megasignals Covered in This Issue

Global: Connected CompaniesDevelop new approaches to leadership, processes, and the workforce

Index

Foreword by Pasi Mäenpää

These are times of significant transition. The fundamental beliefs regarding great leaders and outstanding managers are in turmoil. The Internet generation is opening new pathways. For members of this generation, social networking via the Internet is a birthright. They have grown up with technology. Due to their hyper-connectedness, they have attained skills and mastered technologies that are unknown to their elders. Some of these skills and technologies are now in great demand in today’s business world.

Many young people have already put into practice new approaches to management in their own startups. After examining some of the success stories from the last 10 years, it is clear that companies, such as YouTube, Twitter, Digg, and Facebook, were all started by young entrepreneurs. For example, Mark Bao is a Chinese-born Bostonian who started and sold more companies by the age of 18 than most people will ever start. Specifically, he has been the founder or chief executive officer (CEO) of 15 startups.

Management in the past was characterized by the need to manage physical assets, including office buildings, warehouses, factory floors, materials, equipment, and people. Today, successful companies do not necessarily need physical headquarters at which all of the people are located to work effectively. Quite the contrary, a more successful architecture might be completely online.

A company that builds its key capabilities on top of information networks is more likely to instantly grow globally than one that is still living in the age of wood and iron. Next generation coworking spaces, mobile working tools, virtual conferencing, and telepresence have recreated the office in a digitally distributed environment. Workers have become mobile assets as well. That is, (net)workers are available on demand through the Internet to compete and complete even the most challenging tasks.

Companies and leaders are under constant pressure to renew their thinking and practices. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated, “[M]ove fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.” Prepare to be unprepared; the act of breaking stuff and making mistakes is something that businesses need to master. It is all about dealing with an uncertain but exciting world in which employees and customers are globally connected and locally empowered through information networks.

Pasi Mäenpää

Executive Vice President, Corporate CustomersElisa Corporation

www.elisa.fi

Sincerely,

Global: Connected CompaniesDevelop new approaches to leadership, processes, and the workforce

Organizations Are Becoming Like Clouds

Past

The Industrial Revolution was about the division of labor, value chains, and organization charts. A company was defined by static and hierarchical structures, such as the location of physical facilities and reporting relationships between people.

Present

Due to advanced communication technologies, open global markets, and the mobility of the workforce, companies need to leverage agile management, distributed resources, and emerging technologies for greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Future

The development of social media, cloud computing, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are changing the game. Organizations are moving their workforces into the cloud, involving consumers in product development processes, and building cost-effective ways to collaborate in distributed environments. These changes are not only technological, but also cultural and psychological, which affects leadership and working patterns.

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Global: Connected Com

panies

• crowdsourcing• net force• mass collaboration• peer production• cloud computing• virtual conferencing• telepresence• agility

Common buzzwords:

This international bestseller discusses globalization and its implications from various perspectives (e.g., different countries and continents, companies, and individuals).

The title The World is Flat is a metaphor for discussing rapidly changing markets, connected companies, and new opportunities.

The author describes 10 “flatteners” that he sees as leveling the global playing field, such as the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, outsourcing, offshoring, and supply chaining (e.g., India and China).

You should read this book to (1) understand the changed nature of globalized business, the marketplace, and the mobile workforce and (2) learn more about cost-efficiency, flexible arrangements for labor, and the role of high technology in connected companies.

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Global: Connected Com

panies

Key Business Book World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (2007)By Thomas L. Friedman

“When the world is flat, whatever can be done will be done. The only question is whether it will be done by you or to you.”

Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003)By Henry Chesbrough

Open innovation assumes that companies can use both external and internal ideas for their benefit. Traditional closed innovation emphasizes control, whereas open innovation underlines openness and networks.

In a deeply (and digitally) connected, rapidly changing world of widely distributed knowledge and agile processes, companies need to cooperate and interact. That is, they must have an active dialogue with other firms and buy or license inventions from other companies.

You should read this book to learn how various companies, such as IBM, Xerox, Intel, and Lucent, have successfully opened up their innovation processes to external influence and profited from technology. Many thorough business cases in this book underline the parameters for success in a more open, flexible, and interactive business environment.

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Key Business Book

“In today’s world, where the only constant is change, the task of managing innovation is vital for companies of every size in every industry.”

Global: Connected Com

panies

Don Tapscott is widely known as one of the leaders of the digital economy, digital ecosystems, and net generation. In this book, he focuses on mass collaboration (i.e., how a large number of people and collective actions can help to achieve business goals in a networked, hyper-connected world).

The Hawaiian word for wiki means “fast.” This word is a lingual root for words, such as Wikipedia, WikiLeaks, and Wikinomics. In the age of Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Second Life, MySpace, and other globally distributed platforms, mass collaboration has changed many industries.

You should read this book because, in today’s networked society and changing markets, the role of the Internet, collaboration tools, wiki workplaces, and social software should be understood as a power shift to new modes of value creation. New seminal keywords for dynamic business practices include prosumers, sharing, and peer production.

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Global: Connected Com

panies

Key Business Book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything (2006)By Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

“Harness the new collaboration or perish.”

Engage or die! Monologue has given way to dialogue, says Brian Solis, one of the leading voices in the social media revolution. Prior to the proliferation of interactive media, traditional influence has followed a systematic top-down process of developing and conveying messages to audiences.

As an alternative, the book presents some key approaches:

• From top-down and broadcast to social, interactive media.

• From marketing to “unmarketing.”

• Arising new business processes and perspectives, such as social media plan, social CRM, and relationship management.

You should read this book, as one part entitled “The New Media University” provides in-depth knowledge and refreshing ideas for engaging customers and stakeholders in social media.

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Key Business Book Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web (2010)By Brian Solis

“Social Media. New Media. Interactive Media. Integrated Marketing. Experiential Marketing. Public Relations. Branding. Whatever we call it, it’s simply a matter of digital Darwinism that affects any and all forms of marketing and service.”

Global: Connected Com

panies

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Global: Connected Com

panies

Case: Kickstarter Connect Ideas, People, and Funding.

The largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.

A site for people to collectively fund creative projects in exchange for rewards, such as access to the first batch of the finished product.

Examples

TikTok and LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch

• Transforms the iPod Nano into a multi-touch watch.

• Funding: 13,512 backers funded $941,718 of the $15,000 goal.

You should be interested in this case because the Internet offers new ways to communicate grand ideas and gather people to help in the process of building great products. In this case, people are willing to provide funding to see an idea materialize into existence. While providing their support, they are promoting the idea to their friends through social media sites.

www.kickstarter.com

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Case: Elance.com Hire Online Workers to Get the Job Done.

Elance offers instant access to qualified professionals who work online and provides the tools to hire them.

The site links employees to potential employers for contractual work over the Internet. It is a fast, cost-efficient, and unbureaucratic way to hire talented individuals. The model is highly disruptive for various sectors due to buyer recommendations. According to the site, in April 2011, it had:

• Over 49 000 job tasks posted.

• Over 350 000 contractors.

• Over $360 000 000 of work delivered.

You should be interested in this case because, as it becomes easier to hire high-quality talent globally, models like Elance will destroy value in traditional local consulting businesses. Popular categories include marketing, accounting, customer service, legal, finance, human resources, design, writing, and ICT skills.

www.elance.com

Global: Connected Com

panies

Local: Context Is KingBuild successful local services utilizing globally available information

Context Expands Content, Intent, and Location

Past

Before mobility and location-based services (LBS) became available, there were a limited number of informants and advisors available. Without electronic navigators, individuals had to rely on telephone books, printed maps, guidebooks, close friends, and locals.

Now

Globally aggregated information and people-powered online services are now available on the latest generation of mobile devices. Smart interfaces, such as tablets, interactive information screens, and application phones, are now common. Keywords are sharing and social recommendations.

Future

Mobile-based services utilizing social networks are becoming mainstream. Advertisements are becoming context-aware and personalized. Consumers do not feel interrupted by recommendations coming from their friends and trusted brands. On the contrary, they consider it to be a necessity. Winners are those who view their users and customers as participants and tailor their offers according to their contexts and intentions. 15

Local: Context is King

• geolocation• ubiquitous technologies• ambient intelligence• interactive touchscreens• urban informatics• mobility and navigation• augmented reality• smart mobs• hivemind

Common buzzwords:

Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing (2006)By Adam Greenfield

There are many notions and expressions to describe future developments of user interfaces and human-computer interaction, including ubiquitous computing (or ubicomp), pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, and everyware.

The book points toward the emergence of computing without computers, where information processing is almost imperceptible, but omnipresent. This includes smart buildings, smart furniture, and smart clothing. The cities in which individuals live will never be the same.

You should read this book to understand the opportunities that digitally connected cities and media environments can provide in a local context. Instead of technological determinism or unrealistic hype, the book focuses on relevant viewpoints of digital media, consumer behavior, and ubiquitous environments from the philosophical and cultural perspectives.

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Key Business Book

“The many forms of ubiquitous computing are indistinguishable from the user’s perspective and will appear to a user as aspects of a single paradigm: everyware.”

Local: Context is King

The Mobile Revolution (2010)By Andrew Pearson

This author details how the mobile phone is transforming not only the way people communicate with each other, but also the way advertisers and marketers are communicating with them. The author describes methods, such as 2D barcodes, app store applications, mobile social media, mobile analytics, targeted mobile campaigns, and location-aware advertising.

You should read this book because, since the first wireless phone call was placed to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell in 1983, the mobile phone has come a long way. It grew from simply a device to make calls to a much more diverse and sophisticated platform for location-based and personalized services. Read the book to learn about the latest proven approaches to mobile marketing in the era in which customers are no longer consumers, but active participants.

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Key Business Book

“Mobile shouldn’t be viewed as a standalone channel, but rather as an extension of a company (or product) that exploits additional channels.”

Local: Context is King

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Case: Tripadvisor Reviews and advice on hotels, resorts, flights, vacation rentals, vacation packages, travel guides, and more.

Connect yourself to local surroundings more than most locals.

• Provides you with “smart mobs” insights into places to which you travel.

• Includes non-Photoshopped images of hotels, candid reviews of restaurants, flight information, and recommendations.

• Available as a website and as a mobile or tablet application.

You should be interested in this case because it is one of the best examples of how to use connected information and collective intelligence in a local context. People provide advice based on local experience. In addition, future visitors ask questions and compare reviews to gain insight into the top activities. Most of the value is generated by other users. The site would be less valuable as a directory without the unfiltered traveller reviews.

Local: Context is King

www.tripadvisor.com

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Case: Foursquare Foursquare gives you and your friends new ways to explore your city.

Earn points and unlock badges for discovering new things.

• A location-based service for checking into places you visit and letting your friends know about them.

• Includes special badges to unlock and a weekly leader board for friendly competition.

You should be interested in this case because location-based services have existed a long time, although Foursquare implements game-based mechanics with location. The service became highly popular very quickly. Checking in has never been as much fun. Moreover, brands are leveraging this opportunity to reward their most loyal customers.

When designing services, consider game-based elements, virtual goods, and virtual gifts as drivers for your business.

www.foursquare.com

Local: Context is King

Personal: EmpowermentMake your teams and people more effective with social technologies

21

Personal: Empow

erment

• personal learningenvironment (PLE)

• produsage• prosumerism• application phones

and tablets• social networking• real-time web• enterprise 2.0

Common buzzwords:

The Age of Empowered Customers

Past

The Industrial Revolution was about mass media, mass markets, and the standardization of products and services. One-way broadcast channels controlled passive consumers. Employees were bound by hierarchical organization, mechanical processes, IT policies, and fixed geography.

Present

Today’s consumers are participants. They actively search for personalized information and services. Prosumers post opinions, reviews, fan content, and product development ideas online. Consumers make decisions based on recommendations from their friends and opinion leaders, such as bloggers. The same is happening within organizations. Specifically, employees use mobile technologies and social networking to connect with each other and complete tasks.

Future

Mass customization enables the personalization of products and services. Media environments are tuned into individual needs. Customers are partaking in product ideation and development. Employees manage their own working and learning environments. Application phones and tablets offer an empowering platform for creativity and collaboration.

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age (2010)By Clay Shirky

As a continuation of his previous book entitled Here Comes Everybody (2008) in which he described how the Internet gives way to new forms of group formation, the author provides insight into how new technology is changing individuals from consumers to collaborators.

The main question involves where people find the time in the context of activities, such as editing Wikipedia or discussing world events on Twitter. The author argues that the modern lifestyle and abundance of resources have created additional free time that people are consuming in passive activities, such as watching television.

He defines cognitive surplus as the time that people can use for creative and collaborative activities, rather than engaging in passive activities. Now, for the first time, people are embracing new media, allowing them to pool their efforts at a low cost to build resources, such as Wikipedia.

You should read this book to find out how to motivate seemingly busy people to collaborate more frequently by changing their patterns of free time and media consumption.

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Key Business Book

Personal: Empow

erment

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2008)By Seth Godin

The author argues that lasting and substantive change can be best implemented by a tribe (i.e., a group of people connected to each other, to a leader, and to an idea). Change is no longer driven by mass markets alone, but by a tribal movement of similarly minded individuals who become excited by a new product, service, or message, often via the Internet.

Tribes are different from mass markets and need to be approached in an unconventional way. He describes how to transform a shared interest into a passionate goal, provide tools to allow members to tighten their communications and embrace change, and allow the tribe to grow and gain new members.

You should read this book to find out how to assemble, motivate, and lead tribes.

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Key Business Book

Personal: Empow

erment

A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change (2011)By Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown

The authors examine the challenges that education and learning environments face today due to constant change. They argue that two factors have changed everything: (1) a massive information network that provides almost unlimited access and resources to allow students to learn about everything and (2) a bounded and structured environment that allows for unlimited agency in which students can build and experiment with things within those boundaries.

They discuss how the new culture of learning gives individuals the freedom to make the general personal and then share their personal experience in a way that, in turn, adds to the general flow of knowledge. The connection between the personal and the collective is seen as a key ingredient in lifelong learning.

You should read this book to understand how to build a new culture of learning for people to keep up with the constant changes.

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Key Business Book

“In the new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and participation with one another in fluid relationships that are the result of shared interests and opportunity.”

Personal: Empow

erment

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Case: Twitter A real-time information network.

A way to share and discover what is happening right now.

Simple and straightforward 140-character messages that people can update from their mobile gadgets and desktop computers in the middle of short breaks during the day

Twitter is suddenly becoming the news desk of the planet. Individuals can often obtain personalized and relevant information faster than they can from traditional news and media companies, as seen in the cases of Japan, Haiti, and Iceland.

You should be interested in this case because people are using new ways to communicate in situations where SMS, phone calls, and email are less effective and developing entirely new capabilities for sharing information in real time. Status updates as seen on Twitter and Facebook can also serve as models for sharing information inside the firewall.

Conan O’Brien rebranded himself on social media after disputes with the NBC channel. His Twitter messages became his first public statements since his departure. After 24 hours, he had more than 300,000 followers.

www.twitter.com

Personal: Empow

erment

206 100 apps

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Personal: Empow

erment

Case: Application Stores

GoogleAndroid Market

NokiaOvi Store

54 000 apps

2 300 apps

GoogleChrome Webstore

MacApp Store

2 700 apps

Windows Phone 7Marketplace

11 700 apps

333 200 apps

AppleApp Store for iPhone

Apple started the trend, which is now a common way for individuals to customize the experience of various devices to their own needs through applications. The model is spreading from phone to tablet, desktop, and web platforms.

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A real-time information network.

Democratizing information, increasing transparency, and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories.

Ushahidi (Swahili for “testimony” or “witness”) is a non-profit website for collecting eyewitness reports. It was created in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election. The site has also played a role in the recent crisis, including the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in the spring of 2011. People provide reports through SMS, Twitter, email, and website forms.

You should be interested in this case because it shows the importance of real-time information sharing and how to empower and mobilize masses to help each other through mobile technologies. Government agencies and cities in particular can benefit from creating similar participative architectures.

Case: Ushahidi

www.sinsai.info/ushahidi

Personal: Empow

erment

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Summ

ary

Global, Local, Personal – Management EverywhereManagers and employees are now empowered through locally available, globally aggregated, and connected information and people. Traditional models for management and collaboration are now in question: Do we need centralized offices? Are meetings really that efficient when people meet face-to-face? Should we hire or buy services?

Centralized organizations are now becoming more like decentralized clouds with digitally distributed people, resources, and practices.

Do the following:

Leverage globally available resources in terms of technology, information, and the workforce. Move your operations into the cloud, consider involving your customers in the product development processes, and invest in social collaboration environments for the enterprise.

Consider what context means to you in your business. Use mobile technologies and location-based services to increase the relevance of advertising and services. Utilize globally available information on the spot.

The best possible working environment is always tailored to personal and localized needs. Allow employees to build their own working environments on next-generation application phones, tablets, and desktops.

Local: Context is King

• Offer your employees the ability to customize their own working environments through smart devices and application stores.

• Act like your customers are working for you by giving them the power to influence decision making and product development.

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Recomm

endationsGlobal: Connected Companies

• Move your existing operations to the cloud and utilize SaaS to drive costs down by 30-60% and increase efficiency.

• Build distributed collaboration environments to reduce travel costs.

• Involve customers in product development processes (crowdsourcing).

• Recruit ad-hoc globally available talent through global networks.

• Improve the targeting of your advertising through location-based recommendations, intention-based marketing, and personalization.

• Actively encourage customers to share their reviews, opinions, and tips regarding your products and services online.

• Be aware of opportunities to use interactive touchscreens or mobile services (i.e., at restaurants, info kiosks, and attractions).

• Offer local services through the Internet to expand your business.

Personal: Empowerment

Copyright Share This Material FreelyThe copyright of this work belongs to the authors.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit www.creativecommons.org.

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You are given the unlimited right to copy thisbook and distribute it (via email, your website, and through any other means). You can hand out copies to everyone you meet.

You can use parts of it in your presentations or articles but you have to display the “megasignals” logo or provide a reference to megasignals.com.

However, you may not alter this book in any way and you may not charge for it.

About the AuthorsMegasignals is a joint book and media project initiated by three internationally known writers, consultants, and researchers:Mr. Teemu Arina , Dr. Sam Inkinen, and Mr. Juhani V. Parda.

The authors live a nomadic lifestyle exploring markets, cultures and societies, writing articles and books, giving presentations at major conferences, and providing advice to leading organizations on all continents. They have a background in the high-tech, media and telecom industries, and the academic context.

For more information, please visit: www.megasignals.com

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