This book is now rather dated for the subject matter but it was surprisingly prescient in int thinking. Basically suggesting that the industrial paradigm of exporting the environment had reached its use-by date with the world suffering from pollution, environmental degradation, deforestation etc. (And this was in 1998...and it's gotten worse). Schumpeter characterized the industrial market system as one of creative destruction? The search for industrial paradigns for the new millennium needs to concentrate on finding ways in which the creativity of industry and technology can be harnessed without the reckless and despoiling destruction that was formerly taken as an inevitable.
The assumptions that underpinned the business structures of the past are as antiquated as the structures themselves. But this does not mean that one worn-out set of business goals and solutions should be exchanged for another universally applicable business paradigm.
The imperative of environmental responsibility is unlikely to be observed unless business also respects the increasing demand for social responsibility. Its traditional response to the call for environmental and social responsibility is often a reluctant acceptance that while this may be necessary, there will be additional costs which businesses must bear and, ultimately, a potential brake upon the drive for efficiency and profitability. However, recent evidence shows that companies are adopting more creative business para-digms, in which they regard a deep respect for the environment and a genuine concern for their stakeholders as a fundamental strength, not just of their value system, but in their business practice.
Studies like that undertaken by Collins and Porras of companies that have achieved sustainable business success reveal the fundamental importance of strong values to their existence and continued vitality and, in particular, the high value placed upon relationships.' Good relationships with, and between, employees, customers, suppliers, investors and the community not only allow companies to anticipate, learn and adapt; they also provide them with the public support that allows them to maintain and develop their operations. When based on reciprocity and partnership these relationships can form invaluable corporate resources of extensive knowledge, new ideas, growing sales, stable investment and a sense of purpose and long term security.
The new business paradigm is not simply a fixed template of criteria that a company must try to fulfil; it is not a checklist or a ten-step programme. Increasingly, new business paradigms will be about images of forming, not images of form; processes of development and achievement, values and vision. More than ever before management will be based on intelligence, creativity and the capacity to question and to learn. Sustaining energy and direction without the support of the material structures that earlier defined the organization of enterprise will be the key management challenge of the new millennium.
An intgeresting book. I think they have more or less got it right. (And it's now 26 years old) I give it four stars. ( )

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