{"id":406,"date":"2006-10-03T16:16:18","date_gmt":"2006-10-03T23:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.redmonk.com\/cote\/wp\/?p=406"},"modified":"2006-10-03T16:16:18","modified_gmt":"2006-10-03T23:16:18","slug":"the-network-and-the-enterprise-or-hey-its-not-a-bubble-if-no-one-pops-it-hey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redmonk.com\/cote\/2006\/10\/03\/the-network-and-the-enterprise-or-hey-its-not-a-bubble-if-no-one-pops-it-hey\/","title":{"rendered":"The Network and The Enterprise, or, "Hey! It's not a bubble if no one pops it! Hey!""},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s an email I sent to a recent b-school graduate this morning:<\/p>\n

\n

I was listening to the recent Gillmor Gang<\/a> episode, and there was much talk, in the last two segments<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.podshow.com\/shows\/?mode=detail&episode_id=28803<\/a><\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.podshow.com\/shows\/?mode=detail&episode_id=28804<\/a><\/p>\n

where they start talking about the old (to put it cynically) “the internets [or “tubes”] are going to make Big Companies obsolete!”<\/p>\n

I of course eat up that kind of stuff. But, then I realized, I don’t have a base line for the intentions, benefits, and discussion of why you’d want a big company.<\/p>\n

So, I thought, surely there’s some articles, books, authors, etc. that would answer the seemingly dumb question, “why would I want a large company anyhow?” Now, the cynical answer (I’m full of cynical!) would be “so the people at the top can skim money off all the people in the rest of the hierarchy, but that’s a sort of bathroom graffiti understanding of things.<\/p>\n

So, any recommendations?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I mean, I assume, and have long acted like, it’s all a good idea, and people seem to like it. But where’s the documentation?<\/p>\n

Now, aside from widening that question to all of you, dear readers, allow me do some riff-questioning on the idea:<\/p>\n