Can corporations evolve meaningfully enough?

Innovation adviser Erik PM Vermeulen believes the secretive, closed and controlled world of corporations, which was so effective in delivering economic and social development, “is now out of touch with the values of the digital world.”

Business leaders using old business models, outdated organisational structures and strategies won’t cut it in the new world. Digital disruption is no longer news – it has already happened. Boards, as stewards of the organisation, need to quickly adopt the right approach in this new reality.

This is one of several bold, complacency-shattering statements that precede the introduction of innovation adviser, professor and legal practitioner Erik PM Vermeulen, whose 2019 essay, ‘The End of the Corporation’, has likely rubbed up against some ingrained biases.