The pursuit of immortality: a new approach beyond the competitiveness paradigm

Discusses the death of inter‐firm and intra‐firm competition as we know it and propose an approach beyond competition – “the pursuit of immortality”. Our digital age offers immense and unprecedented opportunities to bring forth the latent potential of organizations, by allowing individual employees scope for the expression of their capacity for learning and creativity. To help in this process, recommends that companies revive and imbibe pre‐industrial society value systems that allowed the free expression of what we call the “divinery” instincts in individuals while maintaining focus and coordination through the use of information technology. Proposes a 3ems path to immortality: embarkation, emulation and emancipation. Companies and individuals should quickly get over the first two phases and get on to the emancipation phase where they concentrate on setting their own standards rather than frittering away their energy in outsmarting competition.