The Ghost Of Business Future

Shoshana Zuboff, co-author of The Support Economy, writes to students in today's Harvard Crimson ("Capitalism's Next Revolution"):

When we take our complex new lives to the door of business, we are typically met with adversarialism and indifference. Efficiency dictates that we get seven minutes with our doctors, even though we spend hours navigating automated phone trees and negotiating with call centers. Legitimate insurance claims are routinely rejected to keep costs down. Do you know anyone who looks forward to calling his or her telecom provider or bank to question a bill? Have you tried calling an airline lately? Managerial capitalism was great for making cars, but it has been a disaster when applied to services and is hopeless in the face of our new yearning for support.

In the article and her book Dr. Zuboff further explains why and how she thinks these undeniably colliding forces will transform business, capitalism, and daily life.