Crises always existed – from the break-up of the Roman Empire to the world economic crisis in 1929. They are an inherent part of our economic and corporate life. But is this crisis really like all others? In our opinion this is by no means the case!

You may ask why? If you take a look at the economic ages, we are right at the transition to the next cycle - the information age. This transition implies radical, discontinuous changes ignoring our previous success patterns. For the information age is characterized by totally different variables and has different success factors than the previous ages.

• Capabilities as the crucial competitive factor: While in the previous ages the access to tangible success factors like for example land, capital, etc. was crucial for being successful, a new aspect is added by the information age: information and/or knowledge. That means beside a tangible value chain there is a virtual value chain and for this reason, the human being and his capabilities will be at the top of the agenda. Thereby, it must be pointed out that capabilities cannot be developed just like this at short notice. Here in fact the 1:2:4:8 rule applies. That means to develop a strategy the time unit 1, to establish the respective processes and structure the time unit 2 and to develop the technology the time unit 4 is needed. However, to develop the required capabilities you need the time unit 8.
• New picture of the world: the world can no longer be treated as a linear system with cause-and-effect-thinking and therefore as predictable and improvable. The system changed and reached such a degree of complexity that it can no longer be managed by methods of probability calculations. Therefore, we risk that our actual picture of the world does not fit the world and our inner map not to the landscape. Today, the first rule of psychology applies: “Some do, some don’t!” Consequently, a new perception of economic acting should be taken up which is not only based on the principle of rationality, which understands complex, dynamic systems and which needs a different kind of management and corporate governance.
• Management of paradoxes: In the opposite to the present where the OR (central or decentral, global or local, continuous or discontinuous change, etc.) was crucial, the age of the information is characterized by the AND (central and decentral, global and local, continuous and discontinuous change, etc.). This means for companies that they have to compete in two worlds: in a physical world AND in a virtual world consisting of information.
• Management of discontinuous change: So far, companies faced primarily continuous change. Today however, it is essential to provide answers for discontinuous change. Special capabilities are therefore required to identify already in an early stage the necessity for change, to manage successfully the required transition process characterized by discontinuities and to implement the changes.
• Increasing importance of intangible factor: While in the previous industrial ages employees got security by tangible factors, in the age of information employees increasingly work in steadily changing projects and/or cross-departmental teams. The new stability comes increasingly from intangible factors such as brand identity, corporate culture, values and behavior, rules in the company as well as rituals which provide for employees the sense for what they are doing and which inspire them to take risks.

The central challenge for corporate management in the 21st century is therefore to cope with the transition to a competitive strength relying on capabilities. Companies who want to take on a leadership role in the age of information have to be architects of the industry and have to differentiate themselves from competition. “Those who walk in the shade of others may not wonder why they do not leave an impression. Those who want to get ahead have to step out of the standard track!”