Zero Space

Zero Space

Released May 2002
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781605098425

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Book description

What would happen if you could achieve business success without owning any assets, but could simply enjoy the benefits of them? What if companies were able to react instantly to changing circumstances by operating in negative time? What if you didn't need management to run your business?
Zero Space defines a business model in which an organization achieves success without owning assets or needing management. In a zero space organization, knowledge is the only true currency and people are the business's assets and its investors in future success.
Through eight new organizational principles the authors illustrate how "zero-mindedness" is essential for the new economy. Just as organizations will have to exist in less tangible, less prescribed forms, so will thinking have to become less departmentalized, less closely guarded. This new open-mindedness or "zero mind-set" targets knowledge so that an organization applies it when and where it is really needed.
The authors-two top executives at one of the "big five" accounting and consulting firms-show how to create a zero-space organization: a value-adding, quick-reacting, non-centralized, non-standardized, innovation-generating workplace for dedicated talent.

Table of contents

  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. PREFACE
    1. Why We Wrote This Book
    2. Audience
    3. Acknowledgments
  5. INTRODUCTION: TIME TO BREAK OUT
    1. Taking a Look at the Other Side
    2. Asking the Big Question
    3. Becoming Zero-Minded
    4. Scope of the Book
    5. Zero Space Awaits You
  6. PART I: THE POWER OF ZERO MINDEDNESS
    1. 1 ZERO RULES
      1. Moving the Organization into the Knowledge-Based Economy
      2. Sharing Space
    2. 2 THE CURRENCY OF ZERO SPACE
      1. Four Types of Companies Today
      2. Owning Versus Sharing Knowledge
      3. Go Forth and Multiply
      4. The Manager’s Changing Role
  7. PART II: THE EIGHT KEY FEATURES OF ZERO SPACE
    1. 3 ZERO SPACE— INFINITE POTENTIAL
    2. 4 ZERO MATTER
      1. Valuing Intangible Assets
      2. Benefiting from Knowledge
    3. 5 ZERO TIME
      1. Operating in Net Time
      2. The Cash Flow Lag
      3. Speeded-Up Consumer Demand
      4. Speeded-Up Business Relationships
      5. Strategizing in Zero Time
    4. 6 ZERO VALUE GAP
      1. The Dangerous Value Gap
      2. Understanding the Real Customer
      3. How to Meet Customer Needs: Two Corporate Examples
    5. 7 ZERO LEARNING LAG
      1. Traditional Corporate Training
      2. Learning Innovations
    6. 8 ZERO MANAGEMENT
      1. Managers and a Transient Workforce
      2. Managing Without Managers
      3. So What Happens to Managers?
      4. Changing the Managerial Mindset
    7. 9 ZERO RESISTANCE
      1. Dealing with Resistance
      2. Providing, Organizing, and Directing Knowledge
    8. 10 ZERO EXCLUSION
      1. The Integrated Process Chain
      2. Recognizing the Business Ecosystem
    9. 11 ZERO TECH
      1. Ubiquitous Computing
      2. Ubiquitous Systems and Too Much Control
      3. Shifting the Focus from Technology to People
  8. PART III: LAUNCHING INTO ZERO SPACE
    1. 12 ZEROING IN ON REALITY
      1. Changing the Managerial Mindset
      2. Employing Teams
      3. Dealing with Instability in a Virtual World
      4. Where Are We Now?
      5. Dealing with the Virtual Corporation
      6. Is Your Company Physical or Virtual?
      7. The Four Aspects of Zero Space Organizations
    2. 13 NETWORKING WITH NETWORKS
      1. Types of Networks
      2. Characteristics of Networked Organizations
      3. Dynamic Relationships: Key to the Networked Organization
      4. Technology is Only the Enabler
      5. Unchained Value
      6. Networking in Zero Space
    3. 14 PARTNERSHIPS: RELEASING THE POWER OF UNLIKE MINDS
      1. Partnership IQ
      2. The Advantages of Partnerships
      3. The Partnership Inside
      4. Gauging Your PQ
      5. Characteristics of Good Partnerships
      6. Mergers and Acquisitions
      7. Clearing Away Misunderstandings in Partnership Negotiations
      8. Decreased Clarity of Governance Structure
      9. Gauging the Corporate Need for PQ
      10. A Network of Partners
    4. 15 COMMUNING INTO ZERO SPACE
      1. Distinguishing Between Groups, Teams, Networks, and Communities
      2. On-Line Communities
      3. Business Communities
      4. Intangible Benefits of Communities
      5. Virtual Communities, Zero-Minded Perspective
      6. Making the Transition to Knowledge Sharing
      7. Breaking Down Boundaries
      8. Creating Communities Without Boundaries
      9. Running Communities
      10. The Future of On-Line Communities
    5. 16 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: SPIDER OR FLY?
      1. A Guided Tour of the Digital Jungle
      2. It’s the People, Not the Technology, That Counts
    6. 17 WHAT’S IN STORE?
      1. The Return of Centralization and Standardization
      2. Motivations for Centralization and Standardization
      3. The Battle Between Control and Flexibility
      4. Attempts to Standardize Knowledge
      5. Zero Sum Employment and Its Causes
      6. Other Reasons for Strife Between Worker and Company
      7. The Role of Human Resources
      8. Outsourcing and Insourcing
    7. 18 MAKING PEOPLE THE NONZEROS OF ZERO SPACE
      1. The New Human Resource Management: On-Line Networks
      2. Managing the Extended Workforce
      3. From Human Resource Management to People Relationship Management
      4. The Importance of Talent in Zero Space
    8. 19 BREAKING FREE
      1. Starting the Journey
      2. Countdown to Zero
  9. NOTES
    1. Preface
    2. Introduction
    3. Chapter 1
    4. Chapter 2
    5. Chapter 3
    6. Chapter 4
    7. Chapter 5
    8. Chapter 6
    9. Chapter 7
    10. Chapter 8
    11. Chapter 9
    12. Chapter 10
    13. Chapter 11
    14. Chapter 12
    15. Chapter 13
    16. Chapter 14
    17. Chapter 15
    18. Chapter 16
    19. Chapter 17
    20. Chapter 18
    21. Chapter 19
  10. INDEX
  11. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
    1. Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Product information

  • Title: Zero Space
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: May 2002
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605098425