ABSTRACT
Hamel and Prahalad (1994) in their book, Competing for the Future, wrote: We are standing on the verge, and for some it will be the precipice, of a revolution as profound as that which gave birth to modem industry. It will be the environmental revolution, the genetic revolution, the materials revolution, the digital revolution, and, most of aE, the information revolution. Entirely new indus tries, now in their gestation phase, will soon be bom. Such prenatal industries include microrobotics - miniature robots built from atomic particles that could, among other things, tmclog sclerotic arteries; machine translation - telephone switches and other
devices that will provide real-time translation between people conversing in different languages; digital highways into the home that will offer instant access to the world's store of knowledge and enter tainment; urban underground automated distribu tion systems that will reduce traffic congestion; Virtual' meeting rooms that will save people the wear and tear of air travel; biomimetic materials that will duplicate the wondrous properties of materials found in the living world; satellite-based personal commu nicators that will allow one to 'phone home' from any where on the planet; machines capable of emotion, inference, and learning that will interact with human beings in entirely new ways; and bioremediation - custom designed organisms - that will help clear up the earth's environment. Existing industries - educa tion, health care, transportation, banking, publishing, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, retailing and others - will be profoundly transformed. Many of these mega-opportunities represent billions of dollars in potential future revenues. Each of these opportuni ties is also inherently global. No single nation or region is likely to control aE the technologies and skills required to turn these opportunities into reality. Markets will emerge at different speeds around the world, and any firm hoping to establish a leadership role will have to collaborate with and leam from ieading-edge customers, technology providers, and sup pliers, wherever they're located. Global distribution reach will be necessary to capture the rewards of lead ership and fully amortize associated investments. The future is now.
