EVOLUTION OF ORGANIZATION AND SOCIETY  

The Dream Society : How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business by Rolf Jensen (Introduction). Description -People buy the story behind products.  In the commercial sphere, the value of products will depend on the story those products tell. It will no longer be only price or convenience that determines which products someone buys, but also the theme behind the product.Review - Two trends signal the transition to the dream society: information tasks are being automated and will be taken for granted, and emotion is becoming commercialized. The result, argues Jensen, is that consumers will no longer buy products but rather lifestyles and the "stories," experiences, and emotions products convey. Jensen sees six separate "emotional markets": adventure, love and friendship, care, self-identity, peace of mind, and beliefs or convictions. He details how the way business creates and sells products will be transformed. Jensen also sees major changes in the workplace, at home, and in relations between the rich and the developing nations; and he enthusiastically portrays the utopia he envisions. David Rouse Reader comment - This is the reason why people buy Marlboro, Nike, BMW, Rolex and other brands at a price many times the price for other more unknown products. There is always a story behind: adventure(Marlboro-man), lifestyle (Nike) or nostalgia (BMW-oldtimers).(press here).

Full of Information, Free of Ideas Should we be worried that only one in four students can write for success? Or is this a reflection of the values of our society?  By RICHARD RODRIGUEZ  - (press here)  "Forty years ago, Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian professor of Renaissance literature, foresaw the decline of all that he loved and knew: the age of literacy. McLuhan predicted, instead, the rise of new oral/aural technologies. In our age of Bill Gates, we like to think that we are inventing a new technology. In truth, the new technology is reinventing us--pushing us, driving our impatience, shaping our distraction. Electronic technology has exchanged reflection for spontaneity. Individual thought has been replaced by communal exchange…  We may be heading for a great, global irony. Never before has the world been so quick in communication with itself. But now that we are "wired," no one may have anything to say"  (source Richard Rodriquez, LA Times, Sunday October 10th, 1999). Design a qualitative study of corporate or public sector organization communication that would prove/disprove the article's assertions.

NEW WORK - (press here) Shopping From the Office, Working at  Home: Lines Between Home, Work Blur October 14, 1999   NEW YORK — The line between home and work isn't just blurring.  It's almost gone.  An era of high-tech innovation has broken down boundaries of time and place, and given people the tools to work, shop and  communicate almost anywhere. Increased workloads have broken  down the work-home boundary further.