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“Corporate doesn’t sell.”
HR SENIOR MANAGER
AT A GLOBAL BANK
DIGITAL IS
REPOSITIONING
CORPORATE
Radical openness presents a challenge for
corporations; it turns many of the traditional
assumptions and indeed the ecosystem
of corporate business, on its head.
Historically, knowledge has always meant power.
Whoever has had the means of developing and
preserving knowledge within the business and at a
corporate level, within the market has been rewarded
with success – a sharp contrast to the world in which
knowledge is collaboratively created and openly
shared. Within the corporation, it was the longer
serving, more experienced staff who were the
custodians of the knowledge base, whereas in the
digital world it is more often than not the younger
new talent that bring ideas and innovation, that
drives the digital strategy. Whereas in the past,
the expectations would be for this talent to stay
within the company for many years, whilst they
work their way up the hierarchy, the new mind-set
for the millennial generation is to move not only
from one company to another, but even from one
sector or industry to another, as the disruptive
nature of digital facilitates knowledge and people
transfer. One option that is attractive not only to
the young talent, but many of the middle managers
in business, is to leave the corporate world behind
and set up or join a new start-up disrupter business.
It is not just the entrepreneurial nature of such
businesses that are attractive, but the culture and
style of these organisations, as the traditional world
of ‘corporation’ is no longer appealing to many.
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