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Management for Professionals
Annika Steiber
Sverker Alänge
The Silicon
Valley Model
Management for Entrepreneurship
Second Edition
Annika Steiber • Sverker Alänge
The Silicon Valley Model

Management for Entrepreneurship
Second Edition
Annika Steiber Sverker Alänge
Management Insights Action Research Center for a
Menlo Park, CA, USA Resilient Society
Gothenburg, Sweden
ISSN 2192-8096 ISSN 2192-810X (electronic)

ISBN 978-3-031-48404-9 ISBN 978-3-031-48405-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48405-6
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland
AG 2016, 2024
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
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Paper in this product is recyclable.

Foreword from Stephen Denning
The Silicon Valley Model: Management for Entrepreneurship was published first in
2016. It was one of the first books to recognize that the industrial model of manage-
ment was becoming increasingly obsolete and that a new pattern of management
was already emerging in forward-looking firms particularly in Silicon Valley, but
also in China.
It was one of the earliest books to recognize that these changes involved more
than adding new tools and processes on top of the way the firm was currently being
run. The authors were among the first to say explicitly that the entire system of
management was obsolete and that new management, with new mindsets and think-
ing, was required. Now, agility, innovation, adaptability, and rapid response were
central, not peripheral. The authors were also among the earliest to recognize that
the rigid command-and-control cultures and bureaucratic structures of the late
twentieth century could not succeed in the emerging digital age.
The authors truly early grasped the renewed importance of entrepreneurship,
which had been suppressed in the effort of firms to achieve scale and maximize
profits from existing resources ahead of creating new business opportunities.
Unlike much academic writing on management, the authors did not limit them-
selves to analyzing the impact of individual tools and processes. They identified a
new pattern of management that includes multiple mindsets and processes, as well
as the interaction of the individual elements of the pattern. They were thus able to
achieve a more holistic picture of how fundamentally different management in the
new model really is.
What was seen by many in 2016 as just a possibility has become the reality of
2023 that is obvious to all. The corporate giants of the twentieth century, such as GE
and IBM, have given way to the giants implementing the Silicon Valley model—
Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla. The second edition
of the book also covers new exemplars of the model beyond Silicon Valley: Bosch
Power Tools division and Fidelity Investments. Firms that have not yet embraced
the new management model are finding it increasingly difficult to compete.
The book is not just an account of the management of firms in Silicon Valley. It
is a timeless guide to management of all firms who want to prosper in the rapidly
changing context of the digital age.
— Stephen Denning, author of The Age of Agile
v
Foreword from Carlota Pérez
Technological revolutions deserve the name because they do indeed revolutionize,

not only technology but also society and institutions, and particularly the manage-
ment of companies. The process is turbulent because the successful habits of the
past are deeply ingrained in all institutions and are very difficult to leave behind.
Dee Hock, the innovative creator of the Visa credit system, often said that “the prob-
lem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old
ones out.” This book helps you get those old ones out and opens the way for creating
the innovative organization.
We all know about the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley startups, we imag-
ine them as young risk-takers excited about innovation and take it for granted that,
if they are successful and grow into big companies, they will move to a more sedate
mode. What the authors prove is that it is precisely the biggest companies, the new
giants, that have kept the entrepreneurial attitude. They have remained ‘young’. And
what the book teaches is precisely, how to become young again.
To understand why this is so important, we need to contrast the previous mass
production revolution invented by Henry Ford with the Silicon Valley Model, which
responds to the requirements of the current information and communications revo-
lution. Even if General Motors’ Sloan managed to introduce variety by appealing to
three different income layers and offering attractive colors, Ford’s two core ideas:
“you can have any color as long as it’s black” and “leave your brain at home,” are
lurking in the background and have not completely disappeared. The information
revolution, by contrast, is about constant and rapid change, about creativity, diver-
sity, and customization.
A central notion introduced by the authors is that of ‘ambidexterity’: “being
excellent in satisfying today’s customers while working on products and services
for tomorrow—ones which could even be a direct threat to today’s.” That requires,
not only everyone bringing their brains with them, but also putting all their creativ-
ity to work every day. Keeping the entrepreneurial spirit and the types of teamwork
that make constant innovation possible is a completely different mode from the one
that is focused mainly on efficiency, productivity, and stability.
We are indeed in a different era, but we have not completely embraced it. For
each company and for each country, making the most of the new potential of the
information revolution is crucial, even more so with the geopolitical tensions, the
new power of artificial intelligence and the different aspirations of the young.
vii
viii Foreword from Carlota Pérez
This second edition is very timely. It comes after one of the authors wrote a book
about the Silicon Valley model as it is applied in China. Sometimes the newcomers
are more willing to embrace the new than those that are the already powerful. And
that makes them strong challengers.
The model presented here is not only extremely useful for the updating of man-
agement in companies but also in governments. I trust it will achieve its purpose.
— Carlota Pérez
Honorary Professor in IIPP-UCL and SPRU,
University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Author of Technological Revolutions and Financial
Capital: the Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages
Foreword to the First Edition
from David J. Teece
The competitive environment in all but the most protected economies and industries
has changed radically. Global competition has rained down from diverse origins,
from newly developing countries and from “disruptive” firms at home and abroad.
The consequences have not been kind to firms built according to the industrial logic
of yesteryear. Even those traditional firms operating efficiently using “best prac-
tices” have been swept aside.
The reason is that it is no longer enough for business firms to “optimize” and to
do things right; one must also do the right things. This requires dynamic capabili-
ties, and it is the essence of what the authors are writing about in The Silicon
Valley Model.
The authors provide rich vistas into how new dynamically capable firms are
organized and how they are managed. They are entrepreneurial, and they are good
at not just sensing new opportunities (and threats) but also at seizing opportunities
and conducting the necessary transformation or “shifting” when their newfound
success is itself challenged. These firms are most visible in Silicon Valley, California,
and are not just startups. They are established firms that have already scaled glob-
ally and operated profitably. They are populated by what this book calls a “special
breed of people”; they have a large percentage of tech-savvy top talent as employees
or independent contractors. The good news for most is that the model is no longer
confined just to Silicon Valley. It has been successfully applied elsewhere too.
The book draws on the existing literature and on the authors’ insightful field
research in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. It should be a compelling read to academ-
ics and practitioners alike and will hopefully lead to a better understanding of what
it takes to manage well in the challenging competitive circumstances which provide
the allure of rapid growth in sales and profitability.
University of California David J. Teece

Berkeley, CA, USA
2015
ix
Introduction: It’s Time for a New
Model — and a New Model Has Arrived
We wrote the first edition of this book, published in 2016, to help address an urgent
need: the need for a fundamentally new approach to managing large firms.1 The
purpose of this second edition is to extend and update the original findings. We have
done so by addressing new developments in management, and in the global business
environment, during the seven-plus years between January of 2016 and the present
publication date in 2023/2024.
These recent developments appear to validate the initial findings. More than ever,
global currents of change are demanding that companies move to a new manage-
ment model. In response, companies across a range of industries worldwide are
adopting new methods which resemble the “Silicon Valley Model” that we identi-
fied at leading Silicon Valley companies in 2016. As this occurs, the Model evolves
into new forms, although the underlying principles remain essentially the same.
And for businesses that haven’t yet joined the evolution, the need becomes increas-
ingly urgent.
Today as in 2016, many large companies are run based on a “legacy” manage-
ment system. The system is a holdover from the past Industrial Age and tends to
feature a rigidly bureaucratic structure, with multiple top-down channels of com-
mand and control and tightly specified work roles and procedures. There is nothing
wrong per se with using such a legacy system. It is well suited for holding a busi-
ness to pre-existing standards of performance. The problem is that it’s not very
nimble or changeable—and the imperative to respond quickly to change (or better
yet, to lead change) has permeated practically every industry.
As more than one observer puts it, the nature of change itself has changed.
Already in 2016 it was evident that forces including new technologies, societal
changes, and globalization had created a perpetual VUCA environment: Volatile,
Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. The result has been constant, unrelenting
pressure on incumbents in consumer (B2C) and B2B markets alike. The new envi-
ronment puts a premium on qualities like innovation, adaptability, and speed. Our
2016 research showed that highly successful firms in Silicon Valley were organized
and managed to precisely achieve these qualities. Growing numbers of researchers,
1
We strongly believe that not only are business firms in need of new approaches to management,
so are other types of organizations, such as nonprofits, public, and government agencies. And we
believe that the new management model we will describe here is applicable to them as well.
xi
xii Introduction: It’s Time for a New Model — and a New Model Has Arrived
consultants, and business journalists also found that companies managed by the
legacy model were greatly at risk of falling behind, even if they adopted the latest
management tools and techniques. Typically, the upgrades didn’t go deep enough;
they functioned mainly as add-ons to an obsolete foundation.
We therefore concluded in the first edition of this book that the future would
favor companies that can migrate to a new management model, better suited for the
twenty-first century. Further, we argued that the Silicon Valley Model—which had
evolved within the extremely fast-moving information technology industries, as
well as in a geographic region accustomed to change and growth—could serve as a
template for models to be used by other companies everywhere.
Events since that time have tended to support the first edition’s observations.
Each chapter of the current edition has a section titled “Recent Developments,”
summarizing activities and trends that are relevant to the research of the prior
decade. Here is a brief history of how our work has unfolded, followed by a chapter
outline and guide to the second edition’s content.
An Expanding Web of Discovery
We first observed key elements of the Silicon Valley Model at Google, during a year
of intensive research on that company. Our findings were published in an award-
winning journal article and in Dr. Annika Steiber’s previous book The Google
Model: Managing Continuous Innovation in a Rapidly Changing World. Then,
starting early in 2014—even as The Google Model was coming off the presses at
Springer—we expanded our studies. The goal was to ascertain whether we were, in
fact, on to something that might be widely applicable.
So, we combed through writings by a multitude of eminent business scholars,
consultants, journalists, and executives worldwide, searching for evidence on what
works best for managing amid rapid change. We also widened our own inquiries to
look at companies which, like Google, had grown and flourished well beyond the
startup stage in Silicon Valley. These companies were Tesla, Apigee, and the social-
networking leaders Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Along with Google, they
became the primary “case companies” for the book.
In analyzing all the results, we found a remarkable convergence. Our six case
companies turned out to be using management principles and practices which not
only were similar but were also congruent with the best new practices identified in
our global review of the literature. Therefore, we offered the first edition of this
book—and now likewise offer the second edition—as a synthesis. While it relies on
a great deal of work by others as well as us, we believe it makes an original contri-
bution in this regard: Within a single short volume, it weaves together many strands
of knowledge into a coherent and useful new model for managing in times of con-
stant change.
We called this new management model “The Silicon Valley Model” because that
was where it appeared to be most highly developed and most thoroughly applied.
Introduction: It’s Time for a New Model — and a New Model Has Arrived xiii
However, the model is not applicable only in Silicon Valley or in the IT/internet sec-
tors. Even while preparing the first edition, we found reports of certain other com-
panies, in the U.S. and in Europe, managing by principles that fit the model we had
described. Those companies were (and still are) successfully active in industries
ranging from advanced textiles to food processing.
Since 2016, Dr. Steiber has widened her research to identify still more compa-
nies using similar models. One collection of new findings was published in her 2018
book Management in the Digital Age: Will China Surpass Silicon Valley? As the
title implies, the case companies for this book were Chinese: the global appliance
maker Haier, the “big three” firms Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, Xiaomi, and
Huawei. All were found to be implementing management approaches that strongly
paralleled the Silicon Valley Model, and in some respects appeared to be even more
advanced.
The most radical iterations have been made by Haier, with its perpetually evolv-
ing RenDanHeYi management system. Moreover, the system recently has been in
the process of adoption at Haier’s U.S. acquisition GE Appliances. Dr. Steiber
described this process in her 2022 book Leadership for a Digital World: The
Transformation of GE Appliances. Meanwhile, in additional places and industries,
there are growing numbers of companies either piloting or fully adopting manage-
ment methods like the Silicon Valley Model. Examples that are profiled in this sec-
ond edition include the Bosch Power Tools division and Fidelity Investments. To a
greater extent than the first edition was able to do in 2016, the book you are now
reading presents a picture of a truly emergent global movement toward new ways of
managing.
The Key to All of It
One main characteristic of the Silicon Valley Model is its emphasis on entrepreneur-
ship. Whereas the term is typically used in a narrow sense, to mean the starting of
new companies, here we define it much as Peter Drucker did: stated briefly, it is the
act of creating and exploiting new business opportunities. We then explain its
importance for older and larger firms, including major global companies.
In fact, a key to the growth of all the companies we have studied is that they have
succeeded in integrating entrepreneurship with big-firm management. To coin a
phrase, they behave like startups in large suits. They keep innovating, with good
success rates, while far outgrowing their initial size and impact. And what’s vitally
important is that they can attract and retain the entrepreneurial people who make the
model work. Thus, although the individual fortunes of these companies may vary
over time, we argue that the management approaches they use have now passed a
significant series of reality tests and are likely to represent the future of large-firm
management worldwide.
xiv Introduction: It’s Time for a New Model — and a New Model Has Arrived
A Guide to the Contents of This Book
The Silicon Valley Model is written to be read by executives from the board and
CEO level on down, as well as by consultants, researchers, and others who study or
work with new developments in management. There are some scholarly touches—
such as formal citation of sources—but overall, we’ve tried to write in a style that is
neither too casual nor too stuffy. We also have tried to provide background and
context that build a case for the new model, while putting in plenty of specifics to
show how the model is applied. The book is organized as follows.
• Chapter 1—The World is Changing. Not everyone is convinced of the need for
a new management model, nor does everyone fully grasp the forces of change
that are driving this need. This chapter sets the stage while providing evidence
that any readers can use to persuade their more skeptical colleagues.
• Chapter 2—Six Basic Principles for a Changing World. The six basic man-
agement principles outlined here—dynamic capabilities, a continually changing
organization, a people-centric approach, ambidexterity, an open and networked
organization, and a systems approach—have been identified by many research-
ers as keys to managing well in today’s environment.
• Chapter 3—Silicon Valley: A Cradle of Management Innovation. Here, we
take a fresh look at the Silicon Valley region—not just as a “startup machine” or
as a hub of new technology but as a center for exploring and refining new ways
to manage firms.
• Chapter 4—Entrepreneurship: What It Really Is, and Why It Must Be
Integrated into Management of the Firm. This chapter dispels the myth that
“entrepreneurs” are only found (and can only flourish) in startup companies. It
offers a broad but concise look at the realities and argues for a new synthesis of
entrepreneurship with big-firm management.
• Chapter 5—A Special Breed of People. Every company wants to recruit top
talent, but a key requirement is to first know what kinds of talented people matter
the most. This chapter describes the multifaceted attributes of the “special breed”
of people sought by our case companies, then examines some strategies used to
attract and retain these star players.
• Chapter 6—Culture: The New Black. Amid all the management trends that
come and go, a new constant has emerged. Companies wishing to compete in
fast-changing environments must have a strong culture that’s appropriate to the
task. Here, we look at the cultures of our original case companies and others,
identify their key set of beliefs, and describe some steps they have taken to make
culture-building a priority.
• Chapter 7—Leading for Entrepreneurship. This chapter explores, in detail,
specific measures that have been used to lead people for entrepreneurial action.
• Chapter 8—The Entrepreneurial Firm Is Dynamic and Ambidextrous. Two
important aspects of the new management model are dynamic capabilities—i.e.,
the ability to sense new opportunities while reconfiguring resources and trans-
forming the firm’s structure to seize those opportunities—and ambidexterity, the
Introduction: It’s Time for a New Model — and a New Model Has Arrived xv
ability to optimize current operations while also innovating and experimenting

on new fronts. The chapter describes how companies can be organized and run to
achieve these abilities.
• Chapter 9—The Silicon Valley Model. Here is the synthesis chapter that pulls
together all of the elements described thus far in the book, creating a complete
conceptual model of this new approach to management.
• Chapter 10—Implications Beyond Silicon Valley. We wrap up the book by
considering issues related to wider application of the Silicon Valley Model. The
basic conclusion: this model has the potential for very wide use and global
impact, so long as it is adapted well to each company’s particular needs.
Throughout much of the book, we have left the first-edition text as it was when it
was first published. Although several details have changed since that time, the
observations and analysis are still pertinent, and many readers have found them use-
ful. New material appears mainly in the “Recent Developments” sections near the
end of each chapter. These substantial sections include both real-life events and new
research findings which relate, in various ways, to the management principles
described originally. In some cases, we see further validation of the principles; in
others, we see elements of the Silicon Valley Model taking on new forms in response
to changing times or the desires of the companies involved.
We have not tried to trace, in any detail, the strategic moves and changes at our
original Silicon Valley case companies since 2016, nor have we attempted to ana-
lyze the results of those moves. These are dynamic companies, constantly trying
new things, so there would be too much to cover and most of it is irrelevant anyway
to the focus of the book—the companies’ fundamental management principles and
practices. However, it is worth noting some major structural and ownership changes
to the original six case companies. These changes began while the first edition was
going to press, and by mid-2023 the following had occurred:
Apigee ceased existing as a separate business when it was sold to Google and
integrated into Google’s cloud operations. Google formed a holding company,
Alphabet, for itself and its various business ventures. LinkedIn was acquired by
Microsoft and has continued to operate as a free-standing subsidiary. Tesla acquired
Sun City, a solar energy firm, and is now active in that business (and in storage bat-
teries) as well as in electric vehicles. Facebook re-branded as Meta Platforms to
reflect its ventures into areas such as AR/VR. And, in perhaps the most controver-
sial move, Tesla CEO Elon Musk arranged an acquisition of Twitter—not merging
the company with Tesla, but rather making himself Twitter’s CEO while keeping the
same position at Tesla.
As of late summer 2023, Google/Alphabet, LinkedIn, Facebook/Meta and Tesla
all were profitable and financially sound. Each firm remained the world’s market
leader in its main business while experimenting and innovating along new lines.
Twitter, renamed X, was the outlier of the group, reorganizing amid a state of
upheaval. Much remained to be seen in terms of how that company’s future would
play out.
xvi Introduction: It’s Time for a New Model — and a New Model Has Arrived
Indeed, all companies studied in this book may eventually look quite different
from their present forms. That is the nature of our modern world. More significantly,
it is the nature of the companies most likely to survive and thrive through the
years ahead.
Acknowledgments We hope that the synthesis we present here does justice to the

work of many, by bringing it into a new light. Above all, we hope this book will
prove to be provocative and useful to boards of directors, managers, consultants,
and scholars everywhere, for years to come.
At this point, we would like to express our gratitude to our families, colleagues,
case companies, and publisher, who have made this book possible. We thank Rikard
Steiber and Sari Scheinberg, who from the very start encouraged us to write this
book and who have stood behind us, literally and figuratively, during many hours at
the desk. We also thank Mike Vargo, who helped us not only to write the book but
also to complement our knowledge with new insights. We don’t think we could have
found a better, more curious, and trustworthy colleague to join us in this project. We
thank colleagues such as David Teece, Gary Hamel, Kathleen Eisenhardt, Henry
Chesbrough, Henry Etzkowitz, AnnaLee Saxenian, Charles O’Reilly, Homa
Bahrami, Carlota Perez, Steve Denning, Hunter Hastings, Rita McGrath, Amy
Edmondson, Richard Straub, Johan Roos, Peter Diamandes, Salim Ismail, Michele
Zanini, Darrell Rigby, and Michael Lurie who, along with encouraging our work,
have done important research of their own in key areas covered here. In addition, we
appreciate all the help given to us by our original case companies—Google,
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tesla, and Apigee—as well as Haier and GE
Appliances in subsequent studies. Finally, we want to thank Springer DE for choos-
ing to publish this book and the Institute for Management of Innovation and
Technology (IMIT) for supporting the administration of this project through the first
edition.
Silicon Valley, California, USA

Date August 8, 2023
Contents
1 The World Is Changing �� 1

1.1 Introducing a New Management Model �� 1
1.2 The Changing Nature of Change (and What It Means for
Management)�� 3
1.2.1 Implications for Management: Drawbacks
of the Old Way�� 5
1.2.2 The New Model: Essentially Entrepreneurial�� 6
1.3 Tales of Two Industries �� 7
1.3.1 The Clothing Industries: Textiles, Garments,
Shoes, Retail �� 7
1.3.2 Telephones and Phone Services�� 9
1.3.3 What Can We Learn?�� 10
1.4 The High Road Versus the Missed Turn: Comparing New
and Old Management Models�� 12
1.4.1 Finding the High Road: The Entrepreneurial Path�� 12
1.4.2 Missing the Turn: The Case of Kodak�� 15
1.5 Recent Developments �� 16
1.5.1 Acceleration of New Entrepreneurial Models�� 16
1.5.2 Management in an AI World �� 17
1.5.3 Management in a Sustainable World�� 19
1.5.4 Summarizing Recent Developments�� 20
1.6 Moving On�� 20
References�� 20
2 Basic Principles for a Changing World��
Six 23
2.1 Dynamic Capabilities�� 25
2.1.1 When ‘Core Competencies’ Aren’t Enough �� 25
2.1.2 Dynamic Capabilities: A New Concept of Corporate
Resources�� 26
2.2 A Continually Changing Organization �� 28
2.2.1 Some Practices Allowing Continual Change�� 28
2.3 A People-Centric Approach�� 30
2.4 An Ambidextrous Organization�� 32
2.5 An Open Organization That Networks with Its Surroundings�� 34
xvii
xviii Contents
2.6 A Systems Approach�� 35

2.7 Recent Findings�� 38
2.8 Moving On�� 39
References�� 39
3
Silicon Valley: A Cradle of Management Innovation�� 41
3.1 The Forces That Drive Management Innovation, in Brief�� 42
3.2 Management Innovation: The Influence of IT�� 43
3.2.1 New Ways of Managing Emerge�� 44
3.3 Management Innovation: The Influence of Regional Culture�� 46
3.3.1 The Early Electronics Industry �� 48
3.4 Management Innovation: New Levels of Networking�� 49
3.5 Management Innovation: People Focus, from Postwar
to the Present�� 51
3.6 In Summary (with Remarks on ‘Replicating’ Silicon Valley)�� 53
3.7 Recent Developments: The Resilience of Silicon Valley�� 54
3.7.1 A Brief Analysis of ‘Negative’ Events�� 54
3.7.2 The Valley’s Fundamental Strength and Resilience�� 55
3.7.3 Persistence of the Culture and Business Model�� 56
3.7.4 Silicon Valley as a Global Innovation Hub in Transition�� 56
References�� 58
4 Entrepreneurship: What It Really Is, and Why It Must Be
Integrated into Management of the Firm �� 61
4.1 What Is Entrepreneurship?�� 62
4.1.1 A Modern Understanding (and a New Definition)�� 64
4.1.2 The Company as ‘Entrepreneur’�� 65
4.2 The Divide Between Entrepreneurship and Management:
Obstacles and Evolutionary Forces�� 66
4.2.1 How Business Schools Reinforced the Split�� 67
4.2.2 Toward a Re-synthesis of Entrepreneurship
and Management�� 69
4.4 What Can a Company Do? �� 70
References�� 71
5 Special Breed of People��
A 73
5.1 Focusing on the ‘Special Breed,’ from Google Onward�� 74
5.2 On ‘Multidimensional’ People and the Need for Them�� 76
5.3 Cornerstones of Success: Five Core Qualities
of the ‘Special Breed’ �� 78
5.3.1 Entrepreneurial�� 79
5.3.2 Adaptable�� 79
5.3.3 Passionate�� 81
5.3.4 Constantly Questioning the Status Quo�� 81
5.3.5 Collaborative�� 82
Contents xix
5.4 Attracting the Special Breed �� 83

5.5 How Do We Keep These People? �� 85
5.5.1 The Ugly Duckling �� 86
5.5.2 Meaningful Work, Perks and Benefits�� 87
5.5.3 The Employer-Employee Alliance�� 89
5.7 Conclusions (and a Start)�� 93
References�� 94
6 Culture: The New Black�� 95
6.1 What ‘Culture’ Consists Of�� 95
6.2 External Influences on Culture�� 97
6.3 The People Effect: How Founders Shape Culture�� 98
6.4 Steps to Building a Strong Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.5 The ‘10 Commandments’: Core Attributes of the Cultures
We Studied�� 101
6.5.1 Not an Ordinary Company�� 102
6.5.2 Things Change Constantly and We Need to Be Adaptable�� 103
6.5.3 Move Fast, Speed Matters�� 104
6.5.4 Hiring Is the Most Important Thing We Do�� 105
6.5.5 Product Excellence Is Key�� 106
6.5.6 Data-Driven Decision Making and Fast Learning�� 107
6.5.7 A Flat Organization with Minimal Bureaucracy�� 108
6.5.8 Openness and Transparency�� 109
6.5.9 Leaders, Not Managers �� 109
6.5.10 Build an Ecosystem, Not Just a Company�� 110
6.6 Recent Developments: The Growing Importance of Culture
and the ‘Ten Commandments’�� 111
6.6.1 Culture in Digital Transformation�� 112
6.6.2 Culture That Aligns with Generation Z�� 113
6.6.3 Culture for Innovation and Growth�� 114
6.7 Concluding Comments�� 115
References�� 115
7 Leading for Entrepreneurship�� 117
7.1 Top Leaders’ Roles �� 118
7.2 Providing Direction and Expectation Level�� 119
7.3 Communication and Leader Behavior�� 121
7.4 Founder Entrepreneurs�� 124
7.5 The Role of Leaders on the Middle Levels�� 125
7.6 Decision-Making�� 126
7.7 Incentives and Motivation�� 127
7.8 Hiring and Developing Leaders�� 129
7.10 Concluding Comments�� 131
xx Contents
8 The Entrepreneurial Organization Is Dynamic

and Ambidextrous�� 135
8.1 Dynamic Capabilities�� 136
8.1.1 Ambidexterity in Theory�� 137
8.1.2 The Challenge of Ambidexterity�� 138
8.2 Innovation by Many, Inside Present Operations �� 139
8.2.1 Top Executive Focus �� 139
8.2.2 The ‘Semi-Structured’ State �� 140
8.2.3 Small Teams�� 140
8.2.4 Transparency and Openness�� 141
8.2.5 Heuristics or ‘Simple Rules’�� 141
8.2.6 Intrinsic Incentives in Meaningful Work�� 143
8.2.7 Rapid Learning Processes �� 144
8.2.8 Big Data on User Behavior �� 145
8.3 Innovation by Separate Innovation Units�� 145
8.3.1 Acquisitions�� 146
8.3.2 Corporate Ventures�� 146
8.3.3 Small Firm-Large Firm Ventures�� 147
8.3.4 Spin-Ins and Incubation�� 148
8.4 Open Innovation Approaches�� 149
8.4.1 University Interaction �� 150
8.4.2 Suppliers as Innovators �� 150
8.4.3 Crowdsourcing from Users and Communities�� 150
8.4.4 External Development Platforms�� 152
8.4.5 Cultivating Ecosystems�� 152
8.5 Concluding Comments in 2016�� 153
8.6.1 Employment in Case Companies�� 154
8.6.2 Evolving Organizational Trends �� 155
8.6.3 Conclusions�� 156
9 The Silicon Valley Model �� 159
9.1 The Evolution of a New Breed of Organizations�� 159
9.1.1 The New Model’s Roots in ‘Adhocracy’�� 160
9.2 The Silicon Valley Model: ‘A Startup in a Large Suit’ �� 162
9.2.1 Major Elements of the Silicon Valley Model�� 162
9.3 A Conceptual Model, Visualized�� 165
9.4 Differences Between a Traditional Management Model
and the Silicon Valley Model�� 166
9.5 The Silicon Valley Model and the Six Basic Principles
for a Changing World�� 168
9.6 Summing Up Key Points …�� 170
Contents xxi
9.7 Recent Developments and Further Thoughts�� 170

9.7.1 The Evolution of Adhocracy �� 171
9.7.2 The Next Evolutionary Step?�� 172
10 Implications Beyond Silicon Valley�� 175
10.1 The Use of Elements of the Silicon Valley Model
in Other Companies�� 176
10.1.1 An Inspiring and Socially Significant Vision�� 176
10.1.2 Visionary, Entrepreneurial and Growth-Oriented Top
Leadership�� 177
10.1.3 Belief and Investment in Entrepreneurial People�� 178
10.1.4 A Culture That Guides and Motivates Entrepreneurial
People�� 179
10.1.5 Leaders Who Support Entrepreneurial People�� 179
10.1.6 An Ambidextrous Organization�� 180
10.1.7 Open Innovation�� 181
10.1.8 Coordination �� 182
10.1.9 Information and Communication Technologies:
Do the Silicon Valley Companies Have a Unique Edge?�� 183
10.2 Can the Whole System of Interlinked Elements
Be Used Outside Silicon Valley?�� 184
10.2.1 Startup Culture in Mature Companies�� 184
10.2.2 A System of Interconnected Elements�� 185
10.3 Use of the Model in an Innovation Unit Within a Large
Company �� 186
10.4 Recent Developments: Further Dissemination
of the Silicon Valley Model�� 187
10.4.1 New Models in China �� 188
10.4.2 Case Study: RenDanHeYi at Haier and GE Appliances�� 189
10.4.3 Case Study: Fidelity Investments�� 191
10.4.4 Case Study: Bosch Power Tools �� 191
10.4.5 Case Study: Fujitsu Western Europe�� 192
10.4.6 A Growing Force for Change: Digital Transformation�� 193
10.5 Ultimate Conclusions�� 194
Index�� 199
The World Is Changing
1
This is a book about re-inventing management. We and many others who study the
field or work in it, are convinced that the need is great. Most companies today are
still managed on the basis of models developed for the Industrial Age, while the
world has moved to a much faster-changing Digital Era—an era so different, that
operating in the old way is like trying to apply Newtonian physics in a quantum-
physics world.
Certainly, managers everywhere try to keep up with changing times. New man-
agement methods and programs are always being tried, and some may be helpful.
The trouble is that most firms are using these efforts to tweak an underlying man-
agement system that isn’t right. As the cliché says, they are rearranging deck chairs
on the Titanic. Fundamentally new ways of navigating are required. Companies that
keep steaming along, ignoring the need, may be staying afloat by luck to a greater
degree than they realize.
In this book we present a new management model for the times, drawn from
research on what is actually working at a number of leading companies.
1.1 Introducing a New Management Model
We have studied firms that operate in rapidly changing environments, with a specific
focus on six Silicon Valley firms that served as the “case companies” for our
research: Google, Tesla Motors, Apigee, and the social-networking leaders
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The principles and practices they used were strik-
ingly similarly in terms of both what they believed in and how they did it.
These companies were, and remained, entrepreneurial—even as large firms. All
brought an initial great new product to market, no easy feat in itself. But what they
did after that is even harder. In a world where yesterday’s pace-setting firms can
quickly be overtaken, they not only sustained their initial successes but built on
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024 1

A. Steiber, S. Alänge, The Silicon Valley Model, Management for Professionals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48405-6_1
2 1 The World Is Changing
them. Consistently, these entrepreneurial companies seemed able to rise to chal-

lenges and find new opportunities; they stayed ahead of the winds of change.
The explanation to this is that they were managed radically differently from
the norm.
• Their management structures and approaches were built around principles and
practices that, in many respects, are 180 degrees opposite to those of the typical
large firm.
• Most important, however, these companies were built on entrepreneurial people,
and they cultivated their skills and channeled their abilities into innovative
results. By managing in this way, the firms were able to attract and retain the
entrepreneurial people they needed.
In this book, we claim that this new way of managing firms is the answer to the
“paradigm shift” that the management expert Gary Hamel foresaw and called for,
in 2009.
Tomorrow’s business imperatives lie outside the performance envelope of today’s

bureaucracy-infused management practices… Equipping organizations to tackle the future
would require a management revolution no less momentous than the one that spawned
modern industry.1—Gary Hamel
We chose to call the new management model that we observed “The Silicon Valley
Model,”2 as it seemed to be more common in that region than in other parts of the
world and was explicitly operationalized in our Silicon Valley case companies. In
our view, it is a model particularly fit for our modern era’s unpredictable, fast-
changing industries and times. The rest of this chapter will describe how and why
today’s economy is fundamentally different from that of the past and what implica-
tions this will have for management. The section titles and content are:
• “The Changing Nature of Change”—which sets the context by pinpointing what

is different about today’s economy, and what it means for management.
• “Tales of Two Industries”—a section that illustrates how the new kind of change
swept through two very different fields, and how entrepreneurial firms responded.
• “Taking the High Road vs. Missing the Turn”—which highlights some new man-
agement approaches used at our case companies, then contrasts them with a
negative example: the story of a distinguished global company that sailed into
trouble after being unable to adjust.
1
Hamel (2009), p. 92.
2
We are not the first to talk about a Silicon Valley Model. In a 1996 article titled “Firm organiza-
tion, industrial structure and technological innovation,” Professor David Teece identified four
archetypical firms by scope, structure and integration. One of these was labeled the “Silicon Valley
Model” and was characterized by having a flatter structure, a more change-oriented culture, and
being more specialized and less integrated.
1.2 The Changing Nature of Change (and What It Means for Management) 3
Now let’s begin by mapping the landscape.
1.2 The Changing Nature of Change (and What It Means

for Management)
We of today’s world are hardly the first to live in a time of profound change. The
first decades of the Industrial Revolution, from the late 1700s through the early
1800s, brought a veritable parade of major innovations: the factory system, the
improved steam engine, the mechanical loom, the coming of the railroads. Those
were truly “disruptive” events. They disrupted the basic patterns of life and work for
generations to come—often provoking armed conflict between the disrupters and
disrupted, as well as high-stakes rivalries among firms.
Our times may not match that period for high drama, but they are extremely chal-
lenging in a different sense. As Gary Hamel wrote in his book What Matters Now,
“change has changed.”3 The big, disruptive changes of the past were fewer in num-
ber, happened more gradually, and it was usually easier to see where they were
headed. Everybody knew the race was on to build a railway from one point to
another, or to win the war of currents between AC and DC systems in the early
electric power industry.
Today the situation is a constantly swirling, buzzing cloud of change. In Richard
Florida’s words, change is “pervasive and ongoing,”4 and business is less a matter of
fighting pitched battles and more like guerilla warfare. With surprises popping up
everywhere—unpredictable innovations here, sudden market shifts there—it can
even be hard to tell whom you are competing against, and the strategy that worked
last year may now be a blueprint for disaster.
How has the world gotten to this state of constant, swirling buzz? In her book
The Shift, Lynda Gratton spoke of five broad “forces” that are shaping the future of
work: technology, demographics, globalization, society, and energy resources.5
Each is a source of change. Condensing our discussion of some parts for brevity,
let’s consider how rapid, constant change can arise from each:
Technology Technological change is said to be exponential, which isn’t strictly

true—some technologies (notably, computer chips) have gotten more powerful by
leaps and bounds, while others have not. But the impact of technology grows at a
faster-than-linear compounded rate, one reason being that few technologies are just
single-use tools or devices. As the MIT scientist and entrepreneur Eugene Fitzgerald
explained,6 they can be combined and re-combined in new ways—as when engines,
wheels, advanced metalworking, etc. were put together to make the automobile.
3
Hamel (2012), p. 85.
4
Florida (2002), p. 5.
5
Gratton (2011), pp. 23–48.
6
The following discussion is from Fitzgerald and Wankerl (2010), pp. 19–30.
And, Fitzgerald noted, technologies can also be combined with different business
models and market applications. That is where the possibilities really proliferate.
Computer chips and software have been combined with other technologies, and
with different business models and market applications, in areas from travel book-
ing to brain surgery. With more people than ever in the world making combinations
from an ever-growing pool of technologies, one can see how the pace of change
multiplies and becomes unpredictable from this “force” alone.
Demography and Society Let’s condense two of Gratton’s forces into a single
“people” category. The central fact is that when people change, in terms of how they
live or what they value, the impacts ripple through the business world. Markets
change, sometimes radically, as there can be changes in what people buy, how they
buy it, and the features they want their goods to have. Meanwhile the workforce
changes, too, as people enter it bringing new skills, traits, and desires. Therefore
business analysts feverishly study each new generation.
But all generations from the Baby Boomers to X-Y-Z are part of a major and ongo-
ing shift. They have grown up since World War II, during a time when economic
growth keeps making more of the world’s people more prosperous. And as the long-
running World Values Survey has shown, prosperity correlates with changes in val-
ues. People move up the scale in Maslow’s classic hierarchy of needs. In the Survey’s
terms, they move from a “Survival” mindset to a way of thinking that values “Self-
expression” more.7
Florida’s book The Rise of the Creative Class gave stunning examples of this in
the U.S. The author noted that his home state had a severe shortage of young people
willing to be trained for well-paid and secure jobs as machinists, at the same time
there was an oversupply of young people becoming hair stylists—a lower-paying
but more “creative” line of work.8
The impacts on market demand are tremendous. To mention just one effect that
Florida and others have observed, people’s lives become more complex and frag-
mented as they seek multiple forms of novelty and fulfillment. The result is a con-
stant demand for any new goods that promise to (a) save time or cost or (b) help
people express themselves in areas from work to active outdoor pursuits to active
parenting.
Our book will have much more to say about impacts in the workplace. We’ll
especially focus on the highly skilled people who come to work wanting to create
change as well as experience it: they are the entrepreneurs.
The effects of globalization do not need much explaining. Everyone should be
familiar with the basics of how an interconnected world generates new market
opportunities along with hyper-competition and volatility. And, what Gratton calls
energy resources relates to the broad area of growing environmental concerns.
7
The World Values Survey, started in 1981, is based in Stockholm and has contributors and inves-
tigators worldwide. Homepage: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp
8
Florida (2002), pp. 85–86.
1.2 The Changing Nature of Change (and What It Means for Management) 5
Here, there are constraints and regulations that require changes while they also cre-
ate expanding, evolving market opportunities in the green industries.
Moreover, all five forces and sources of change are operating at the same time,
and they interact, adding up to the proverbial VUCA9 world: highly volatile, uncer-
tain, complex, and ambiguous. It is not at all apparent where the Next Big Thing, or
the Next Big Threat, might be coming from.
1.2.1 Implications for Management: Drawbacks of the Old Way
Most firms are ill-equipped for this maze because they are managed by systems and
principles that evolved into shape—and settled into shape—during the Industrial
era. Gary Hamel’s “Moon Shot” conference of business leaders and scholars in
2008 identified the system features that are major hindrances, including: formal
hierarchies, with chains of command and spans of control. Tightly specified job
roles, rules, and procedures. Strategic decision-making done by small groups at the
top. And a narrowly defined concept of the company’s purpose, with performance
judged and rewarded accordingly, all up and down the line.10 We will show later that
these organizational features are more or less mirroring the characteristics of what
Henry Mintzberg11 labeled a “Machine Bureaucracy Model,” still used by many
large firms today.
As Hamel noted, the old system is good for coordinating large numbers of people
to carry out prescribed tasks. That was its original purpose, for managing big, com-
plex tasks like mass production. But when the task becomes to change the task—
seeing new openings, pivoting quickly, developing new business ideas and
mobilizing people around them—almost every feature becomes a negative, which
was also something identified by the UC Berkeley professor David Teece in 1996.12
The formal, more bureaucratic structures are hard to reconfigure. The people in
them get conditioned to thinking and acting in narrow channels (whether they real-
ize it or not). The strategists at the top are few and may have limited perspectives. In
addition to the structural issue, organizations tend to become path-dependent (that
is: the set of decisions one faces for any given circumstance is limited by the deci-
sions one has made in the past, even though past circumstances may no longer be
relevant). So even firms that see themselves as innovative leaders can therefore
stumble badly.
9
VUCA is an acronym used to describe or reflect on the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and
ambiguity of general conditions and situations. Common usage of the term VUCA began in the
1990s and derives from military vocabulary. It has been subsequently used in emerging ideas in
strategic leadership that apply to a wide range of organizations, from for-profit corporations to
educational institutions (http://www.wikipedia.org. Accessed 6 Aug 2015).
10
Hamel (2009).
11
Mintzberg (1980), pp. 332–333.
12
Teece (1996).
Example Nokia was once the world leader in making mobile phones. Then it not
only lost its lead but exited the market. One problem, analysts agreed, was that the
firm clung too long to a key product behind its initial success, the Symbian operat-
ing system, while users were migrating to Android-based phones or iPhones, which
they saw as having more advantages. At Nokia, changing the OS in a timely fashion
would’ve been a significant and cost-incurring step that also ran counter to estab-
lished thinking at the firm. The impetus for timely response—let alone for proactive
change, ahead of the curve—just wasn’t there.13
Lynda Gratton, in a blog post, made these further observations:
Leaders must constantly acknowledge that their companies are subject to an onslaught of
destabilizing forces. Being vigilant and observant about the nature and velocity of these
forces is crucial …
At Nokia, the senior leadership team was for a long time extraordinarily homogenous
(mostly men, mostly from Finland, mostly software engineers, mostly educated in Helsinki).
How likely was it that they would be on top of the rapid developments in Asian consumer
markets, or in technology and design emanating from Silicon Valley?14
Firms that manage this way can become like medieval knights: formidable and fast-
moving at a straight-ahead mounted gallop, but encumbered by heavy, stiff armor
and peering out through narrow slits in their visors. The era of those warriors ended,
and it ended badly.
1.2.2 The New Model: Essentially Entrepreneurial
Meanwhile, entrepreneurial firms thrive in a world of fast-moving change. Since

they tend to be organized and managed on principles and practices that in many
cases are the opposite of those described for large bureaucratic firms, they have
already accomplished many of the “moon shots” that Hamel’s team proposed. For
instance, they have “limited the pathologies of formal hierarchy” and have flatter
and more fungible structures that are easier to reconfigure.15
13
In addition, when the choice to replace Symbian finally came in early 2011, it was to a Windows-
based system instead of Android. In connection with the launch of the last Symbian-based smart-
phone, the new Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop (previously with Microsoft) announced that it would be
replaced within a year by a smartphone with a Microsoft OS. http://money.cnn.com/ 2011/02/11/
technology/nokia_microsoft/ (Accessed 5 August 2015).
In 2010 Symbian held 37.6% of the smartphone market, down from 46.9% in 2009. http://www.
gartner.com/newsroom/id/1543014 (Accessed 5 August 2015).
By 2013 Symbian had disappeared from the statistics and Microsoft OS had 3.2% of the smart-
phone market, while Android had 78.4% (up from 22.7% in 2010 and 3.9% in 2009) http://www.
gartner.com/newsroom/id/2665715 (Accessed 5 August 2015).
14
Gratton (2013) http://lyndagrattonfutureofwork.typepad.com/lynda-gratton-future-of-
work/2013/10/index.html
15
Hamel (2009), p. 93.
1.3 Tales of Two Industries 7
Importantly, they also attract entrepreneurs into the fold—the highly skilled peo-
ple who “want to create change.” All told, these firms are prepared to behave entre-
preneurially in every respect.
1.3 Tales of Two Industries
Pervasive, ongoing change has become a reality for firms of all kinds, not just new
entrants in ICT. Let’s look at an old and seemingly traditional set of industries—the
clothing industries—along with an ICT industry that’s more than a century old:
telephones and phone service. In each we find that change has increased dramati-
cally, with some firms profiting while others perish.
1.3.1 The Clothing Industries: Textiles, Garments, Shoes, Retail
Textile making was the first industry to be mechanized, in factories of the early
1800s. Later, finished garments and shoes also became mass-produced, and for
many years this group of industries settled into a relatively stable configuration.
There were far-flung supply chains feeding cotton, wool, and leather into regional
manufacturing clusters where myriad firms made shirts, coats, shoes, and other
items, selling them through established networks of wholesalers and retailers.
Today, everything is in flux. Upheavals began in the second half of the twentieth
century, when the forces of technology and globalization came sweeping in. New
synthetic materials emerged to compete with natural fibers. Industry clusters in
regions like the eastern U.S. and northern Portugal (a center of contract manufactur-
ing) were devastated as manufacturing shifted to lower-cost parts of the world and
kept shifting. Sales channels were disrupted by the internet and by innovations in
distribution and retailing.
And through it all, the “people” force grew more volatile, as changing lifestyles
impacted market demand. The clothing industries have always had to be very
market-sensitive to stay abreast of changing fashions. But now something more
profound was happening: People began to want not only new styles but new kinds
of clothing. Consider one sub-segment, the market for athletic shoes. This was a
niche business until the 1970s, when the arcane sport that used to be called distance
running suddenly became a booming popular activity for the public. Some compa-
nies introduced “running shoes” that were not thin-soled racing flats but a new type
with much more cushioning and support. They were a mass-market hit. The firms
competed (and still compete) fiercely in technical shoe design—but that was not all.
This trend in the consumer market soon triggered a secondary trend. People
found the running shoes so comfortable they were wearing them for casual use. As
social standards relaxed, the same happened with athletic clothing. Fashion became
a factor. Sales of “athletic” goods for non-athletic purposes soared, with many of the
goods designed and marketed explicitly on a fashion-and-comfort basis.
The winners were firms like Adidas and Nike that exploited the shifting trends by
innovating on many fronts at once—diversification, multi-pronged design and mar-
keting, reorganization of supply chains and corporate units, and retailing. (Both
firms have their own branded retail stores.) Meanwhile, one big loser was the
U.S. firm Converse. Up to the 1970s, Converse utterly dominated the basketball-
shoe niche and competed strongly in tennis with its distinctive canvas and rubber
shoes. The company had even seized on the idea of selling the shoes for everyday
wear. But by staying with its traditional designs and business methods while others
raced past it, Converse went bankrupt in 2001.16
While Adidas and Nike were winners in the more “traditional” clothing industry,
an unexpected new winner was W.L. Gore. This company started as a maker of
polymer-covered cables for electronics. After discovering that its polymer could be
tweaked to produce a waterproof fabric, Gore shifted gears and turned Gore-Tex
into its largest revenue stream. Another unexpected winner was Petratex, a contract
manufacturer in Portugal. Petratex developed unique processes for bonding pieces
of a garment together without bulky sewn seams—and rose to prominence, in part,
by using its processes to make the advanced low-friction swimsuits worn in the
2008 Olympics.
These two “unexpected” winners are of interest for us as their success stories
were not all about technology breakthroughs, but about their entrepreneurial corpo-
rate cultures and organizational structure.
Gore’s “lattice” organization is a flexible structure that does not rely on chains of
command but allows teams of people to organize around new projects and leaders.
The company regularly shows up on lists of best places to work—which attracts
good entrepreneurial people, who then are enabled to keep improving and diversify-
ing Gore’s products and searching for new markets.17
Petratex, a newer and smaller firm, also went with a remarkably non-hierarchical
organization. As a Portuguese business magazine18 observed in 2013:
All major decisions are discussed in a group, and are often taken in a plenary session …
Even management decisions, such as the expansion of premises [and] the definition of
annual objectives … are usually subject to collective analysis.
The article noted that the CEO even had a personal policy of not being photo-
graphed: “I don’t want to be recognized. I want everyone to know the company and
the quality of those who work there,” the CEO said. He further spoke of recruiting
top-notch people who are risk-takers, not security-seekers, since the company keeps
developing new processes and seeking unusual new market applications. For one
client, Petratex made a high-tech undershirt with embedded microsensors and trans-
mitters. Worn by medical outpatients, the shirt monitored their bodily functions and
16
See for example Dukcevich (2001). Converse was later acquired by Nike and Converse-branded
shoes are still sold, as of 2015.
17
Nicholls-Nixon (2005).
18
Pinto (2013) http://upmagazine-tap.com/en/pt_artigos/petratex-the-dream-factory/ (Accessed 29
June 2015).
1.3 Tales of Two Industries 9
could signal for aid. Petratex has done other advanced work for a global client base.
The company’s long-term vision, which the employees regularly reaffirm, was
stated simply by the CEO as: “We want to transform the textile industry.” And its
philosophies reflect the principles we are discussing. In fact, the one just mentioned
happens to fit the first item on Gary Hamel’s Moon Shot list:
Ensure that the work of management serves a higher purpose.

Most companies strive to maximize shareholder wealth—a goal that is inadequate in
many respects. As an emotional catalyst, wealth maximization lacks the power to fully
mobilize human energies … tomorrow’s management practices must focus on the achieve-
ment of socially significant and noble19 goals.20
These examples from textile-making show that even in industries outside the ICT
sector,21 definite earmarks of a new management model are emerging amid chang-
ing times.
1.3.2 Telephones and Phone Services
Here is an industry area where the pace and nature of change is vastly greater than
in the past. Let’s compare telephony’s first 50 years with recent decades.
Commercially viable telephone technology was developed in the mid-to-late
1870s and moved swiftly to market: the first telephone exchange in Stockholm
opened in 1880. There followed a period of feverish expansion in many countries,
with thousands of startup companies (as many as 6000 in the U.S. alone, at one
point) making or buying telephone equipment, stringing lines, and setting up
service.
And yet 50 years after invention—in the mid-to-late 1920s—penetration of tele-
phone service was still quite low in many places. In 1926, Stockholm had 28 phones
per 100 people,22 while London and Brussels had only 6 per 100.23 Moreover, by the
19
Noble goals are important in Japanese culture as well—and this point was strongly introduced by
Percy Barnevik of ABB when he was seen as one of the world’s thought leaders.
20
Hamel (2009), p. 92.
21
It can even be argued that the textile industry often leads the development when new manage-
ment models emerge. Examples include the use of outsourcing, a focus on design and distribution,
and the “shop-in-shop” concept that Apple later adopted in its industry.
22
A major reason why the diffusion in Stockholm was almost five times the one in other major cit-
ies was the business strategy of the leading actors. While Lars Magnus Ericsson in Sweden viewed
the telephone as something for broader groups and focused on a low-price strategy, Alexander
Graham Bell, the innovator in the US, initially viewed the market in a considerably more limited
way and used a high pricing strategy. The telephone was introduced by Bell in 1876 and already in
1885 Stockholm was the place in the world with most telephones: “SAT’s business philosophy
resulted in Stockholm having more telephones in 1885 than anywhere else in the world, both per
head and in absolute figures. There were 4832 telephones in Stockholm, 4248 in Berlin, 4193 in
London, 4054 in Paris and 3700 in New York.” (Karlsson & Lugn, n.d.).
23
These statistics are from Huurdeman (2003).
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on her floor, and the furniture comprised only an iron bed-stead, a
chair and a table. The house was rented by a tailor, who used the
ground floor for his shop and residence, and sub-let the upper rooms
to a half dozen different families. The three attic rooms were let to
women, Lally being one, and two thin, consumptive seamstresses
occupying the others.
It was necessary for Lally to find employment without delay, and she
inserted an advertisement in one of the local papers, soliciting a
position as nursery governess. She had the written recommendation
of her former employers, the superintendents of a ladies’ school, and
with this she hoped to secure a situation.
Her advertisement was repeated for three days without result. Upon
the fourth day, as she was counting her slender store of money, and
wondering what she was to do when that was gone, the postman’s
knock was heard on the private door below, and presently the tailor’s
little boy came to Lally’s room bringing a letter.
She tore it open eagerly. It was dated Sandy Lands, and was written
in a painfully minute style of penmanship, with faint and spidery
letters. The writer was a lady, signing herself Mrs. Blight. She stated
that she had a family of nine children, five of whom were young
enough to require the services of a nursery governess. If “L. B.”—the
initials Lally had appended to her advertisement—could give
satisfactory references, was an accomplished musician, spoke
French and German, and was well versed in the English branches,
she might call at Sandy Lands upon the following morning at ten
o’clock.
Accordingly the next morning Lally set out in a cab for Sandy Lands,
whose location Mrs. Blight had described with sufficient accuracy. It
was situated in one of the fashionable suburbs of the old cathedral
town. Lally expected from the grandeur of its name to find a large
and handsome estate, but found instead a pert little villa, close to the
road, and separated from it by a high brick wall in which was a
wooden gate. The domain of Sandy Lands comprised a half-acre of
rather sterile soil, in which a few larches struggled for existence, and
an acacia and a lime tree led a sickly life.
The little villa, with plate-glass windows, green parlor shutters drawn
half-way up, a gabled roof, from which three saucy little dormer
windows protruded, was unmistakably the house of which Lally was
in search, for on one side of the gate, over a slit in the wall required
for the use of the proper letter-box, was the legend in bright gilt
letters, “Sandy Lands.”
The cabman alighted and rang the garden bell. A smart looking
housemaid with white cap and white apron answered the call. Lally
alighted and asked if Mrs. Blight were at home. The smart
housemaid eyed the humbly clad stranger rather contemptuously,
and remarked that she could not be sure; Mrs. Blight might be at
home, and then again she might not.
“I received a letter from her telling me to call at this hour,” said Lally,
with what dignity she could summon. “I am seeking a situation as
nursery governess.”
“Oh, then Missus is at home,” replied the housemaid. “You can come
in, Miss.”
Bidding the cabman wait, Lally followed the servant across the
garden to a rear porch and was ushered into a small over-furnished
reception room.
“What name shall I say, Miss?” asked the maid, pausing in the act of
withdrawal.
“Miss Bird,” answered poor Lally, who had relinquished her young
husband’s name, believing that she had no longer any right to it.
The maid went out, and was absent nearly twenty minutes. Lally
began to think herself forgotten, and grew nervous, and engaged in
a mental computation of her cabman’s probable charges. The maid
finally appeared, however, and announced that “Missus was in her
boudoir, and would see the young person.”
Lally was conducted up stairs to a front room overlooking the road.
This room, like the one below, was over-furnished. The wide window
opened upon a balcony, and before it, half-reclining upon a silken
couch, was a lady in a heavy purple silk gown, and a profusion of
jewelry—a lady, short, stout, and red-visaged, with a nose much
turned up at the end, and so ruddy as to induce one to think it in a
state of inflammation.
“Miss Bird!” announced the maid abruptly, flinging in the words like a
discharge of shot, and retired precipitately.
Mrs. Blight turned her gaze upon Lally in a languid curiosity, and
waved her hand condescendingly, as an intimation that the “young
person” might be seated.
Lally sat down.
Mrs. Blight then raised a pair of gold-mounted eye-glasses to her
nose, and scrutinized Lally more closely, after what she deemed a
very high-bred and nonchalant fashion indeed.
She beheld a humbly dressed girl, not past seventeen, but looking
younger, with a face as brown as a berry and velvet-black eyes,
which were strangely pathetic and sorrowful—a girl who had known
trouble evidently, but who was pure and innocent as one might see
at a glance.
“Ah, is your name Bird?” asked Mrs. Blight languidly. “Seems as if I
had heard the name somewhere, but I can’t be sure. Of course you
have brought references, Miss Bird?”
“I have only a recommendation signed by ladies in whose service I
have been,” said Lally. “I have been a music-teacher, but I possess
the other accomplishments you require.”
She drew forth the little worn slip of paper which she had guarded as
of more value to her than money, because it declared her
respectable and a competent music-teacher, and gave it into the
lady’s fat hands.
“It is not dated very lately,” said Mrs. Blight. “How am I to know that
this recommendation is not a forgery? People do forge such things, I
hear. Why, a friend of mine took a footman on a forged
recommendation, and he ran away and took all her silver.”
Lally’s honest cheeks flushed, and her heart swelled. She would
have arisen, but that the lady motioned to her to retain her seat, and
so long as there was a prospect that she might secure the situation
Lally would remain.
“The recommendation looks all right,” continued Mrs. Blight,
scanning it with her glass, while she held it afar off, and daintily
between two fingers, as if it were a thing unclean. “You look honest
too, but appearances are so deceiving! I had a nurse girl once who
looked like a Madonna, and as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth,
but she turned out a perfect minx, artful as a cat. What salary do you
expect?”
“I—I don’t know, Madam. I have never been employed as nursery
governess.”
“My husband allows me forty pounds a year for the salary of the
governess,” said Mrs. Blight. “But, of course, forty pounds ought to
get a governess with the very best of references. You are
inexperienced, as you confess. Now I will take the risk of you turning
out bad, if you should decide to remain with me as governess to my
five children, at a salary of twenty pounds a year, board and
washing, lights and fuel, included.”
It was “Hobson’s choice—that or none”—to poor Lally. Twenty
pounds a year, and to be sheltered and fed and warmed besides,
seemed very liberal after her recent terrible struggle with the vulture
of starvation.
“I will accept it, Mrs. Blight,” she said, her voice trembling—“that is, if
you will take me when you know that I have only the clothes I stand
in, and that for a few weeks I shall need my pay weekly to provide
me with decent garments.”
“Oh, as to that,” said Mrs. Blight, “your clothes are poor, beggarly, I
might say. They will have to be improved at once. I will advance you
a quarter’s salary, five pounds, if you are quite sure you will use it for
clothes, and that you do not intend to cheat me out of my money.
You see I always speak plainly. My governesses are not pampered.
They have to earn their money, but that you probably expect to do. I
don’t know of another lady in Canterbury who would do as I am
doing, lending money to a perfect stranger, on a recommendation
you may have written yourself. But I am different from other ladies. I
am a judge of physiognomy, and am not often deceived in my
estimate of people. Why are you out of clothes?”
“I have been out of a situation as a teacher for some time,” said
Lally. “I have the present addresses of the ladies who signed my
recommendation, and I beg you to write to them to assure yourself
that I have spoken the truth. The addresses are written on the
recommendation itself.”
“I noticed them, and shall write this very morning,” declared Mrs.
Blight. “Go now for your clothes, and be back to luncheon. I want to
introduce you to the children, who are running wild.”
She waved her hand, and Lally, with her five pounds in her hand,
took her departure. She had found a new home, and one not likely to
be pleasant, but it would afford her shelter, and she believed she
could bear all things rather than to pass again through the poverty
and misery she had known. She little knew that it was the hand of
Providence that had brought her to Sandy Lands, and that the
acceptance of her present situation was destined to change the
entire future current of her existence, and even to affect that of her
young husband.
CHAPTER XXV.
LALLY IN HER NEW SITUATION.
Lally returned to Canterbury in the cab that had brought her out to
Sandy Lands, Mrs. Blight’s pert little villa in the suburbs, and entered
upon the task of procuring a neat although necessarily scanty
wardrobe. She bought a cheap box, which she had sent to her
lodgings. A lady’s furnishing house yielded her a change of under
garments, another print dress, and a gown of black alpaca, and a
supply of collars and cuffs; her entire purchases amounting to three
pounds ten shillings. She carried her effects to her attic lodgings, the
rent of which she had paid in advance, packed her box, and set out
again in the cab for Sandy Lands.
It was noon when the vehicle stopped again before the little villa. The
cabman rang the garden bell as before, and when the housemaid
appeared he dumped down Lally’s box upon the gravelled walk,
received his pay, and departed. The smart housemaid was as
contemptuous as before of Lally’s humble garments, but spoke to
her familiarly, as if the two were upon a social level, and conducted
her toward the rear porch, saying:
“Missus said you was to be shown up to your room, Miss, to make
your twilet before seeing the children. If you please,” added the girl,
with increasing familiarity, “you and I are to see a good deal of each
other, and so I want to know what to call you.”
Whatever the social rank of Lally’s parents, Lally herself was a lady
by instinct and education. The housemaid’s easy patronage was
offensive to her. She answered quietly:
“You may call me Miss Bird.”
“Oh,” said the housemaid, with a sniff and a toss of her head. “That’s
the talk, is it? Well, then, Miss Bird, follow me up to your room. This
way, Miss Bird. Up these stairs, Miss Bird.”
Lally followed her guide up the stairs to the third and topmost story,
and to a rear room.
“This is the room of the nussery governess,” said the offended
housemaid, her nose in the air. “The room on your right is the
school-room, Miss Bird. That on the left is the nussery. You are to
have your room to yourself, Miss Bird, which I hopes will suit you.
There’s no petting of governesses in this here ’stablishment. You
rises at seven, Miss Bird, and eats with the children. You begins
lessons at nine o’clock, Miss Bird, and keeps ’em up till luncheon,
and then comes music, langwidges, and them sort. Dinner in the
school-room, Miss Bird, at five o’clock. Your evenings you has to
yourself.”
“I shall receive my list of duties from Mrs. Blight,” said Lally
pleasantly, “but I am obliged to you all the same.”
The housemaid’s face softened under Lally’s gentleness and
sweetness.
“I wouldn’t wonder if she was a born lady, after all,” the girl thought.
“She won’t stand putting down, and her face is that sorrowful I pity
her.”
But she did not give expression to these thoughts. What she did say
was this:
“My name’s Loizy, and if I can do anything for you just let me know.
There’s my bell, and I must go. When you get ready, come down
stairs to Missus’s boo-door.”
She vanished just as the house boy, or Buttons, as he was called,
appeared with Lally’s box. He set this down near the door, and also
departed. Left alone, Lally examined her new home with a faint thrill
of interest.
The floor was bare, with the exception of a strip of loose and
threadbare carpet before the low brass bedstead. There was a
chintz-covered couch, a chintz-covered easy-chair, a chest of
drawers, and a green-shuttered blind at the single window. The room
had a dreary aspect, but to Lally it was a haven of refuge.
She locked her door and knelt down and prayed, thanking God that
He had been so good to her as to give her a safe shelter and a
home. Then, rising, she dressed herself as quickly as possible,
putting on her black alpaca dress, a spotless linen collar and cuffs, a
black sash, and a black ribbon in her hair. Thus attired, she
descended the stairs, finding the way to the boudoir, at the door of
which she knocked.
Mrs. Blight’s languid voice bade her enter.
She obeyed, finding her employer still reclining in an armed chair,
looking as if she had not moved since Lally’s previous visit. She had
a book in one hand, a paper cutter in the other. She recognized Lally
with a sort of pleased surprise.
“Ah, back again, and punctual!” she exclaimed, glancing at a toy
clock in white and blue enamel on the low mantel-piece. “I had a
great many misgivings after you went away, Miss Bird. Five pounds
is a good deal of money to one in your position in life, and the world
is so full of swindlers. I have already written to the ladies to whom
you referred me. I suppose I should have waited for their answer
before engaging you, but I am such an impulsive creature, I always
do just as I feel at the spur of the moment. My husband calls me ‘a
child of impulse,’ and the words describe me exactly. I’m glad to see
you back. I don’t know, I’m sure, what I should have said to Mr. Blight
if you had decamped, for he does not appreciate my ability to read
faces. The time I got taken in with my last cook—the one we found
lying with her head in a brass kettle, and the kitchen fire gone out, at
the very hour when I had a large company assembled to dine with
me—Charles said, ‘Fudge, don’t let us hear any more about
physiognomy.’ You see, I engaged the woman because her face was
all that could be desired. And since that time Charles won’t hear a
word about physiognomy.”
Lally sat down, obeying a wave of Mrs. Blight’s hand. That “child of
impulse,” silly, garrulous, and puffed up with self-importance and
vulgarity, pursued her theme until she had exhausted it.
“You are looking very well, Miss Bird,” she said, changing the
subject, “but all in black—why, you are quite a black-bird, I declare,”
and she laughed at her own wit. “Are you in mourning? Have you
lately lost a friend?”
“Yes, madam,” replied Lally sorrowfully, “I have lately lost the only
friend I had in the whole world.”
“Oh, indeed. That is sad; but I do hope you won’t wear a long face
and go moping about the house, frightening the children,” said Mrs.
Blight, with a candor that was less charming than oppressive to her
newly engaged governess. “You must do as the poet so romantically
says:
“‘Wear a smile,
Though the cold heart runs darkly to ruin the while.’
“If he doesn’t say that, it’s some such thing, and a very pretty
sentiment too. And now let us discuss your new duties.”
She proceeded to sketch Lally’s duties much as the housemaid had
done. Then she gave a history of each one of the five children who
were to be under Lally’s supervision. Three of the children were
boys, and their fond mother described them as paragons. Her girls
also were extraordinary in their mental and physical attractions,
“having once been taken at the Zoological gardens during a visit to
London, by a strange gentleman, for the children of a nobleman!”
“I will accompany you to the nursery, Miss Bird,” said the lady,
arising. “I desire to introduce you to my darlings. I have great faith in
the instincts of children, and I want to see what my children think of
you.”
Accordingly Mrs. Blight conducted Lally again to the upper floor and
to the nursery, which was at the moment of their entrance in a state
of wildest confusion and disorder.
The nurse, a stout old woman, and the nursemaid, a red-faced
young girl, were in a state of despair, and frantically holding their
hands to their ears, while five robust, boisterous, frouzy-headed
children rode about the room upon chairs, played “tag,” and
otherwise disported themselves.
The entrance of Mrs. Blight and Lally caused a cessation of the
noise. The mother called her children to her, but they retreated with
their fingers in their mouths, looking askance at their new governess.
The three “noble boys” presently set up a loud bellowing, and the
two girls who had been “mistaken by a strange gentleman for the
children of a nobleman,” hid behind their nurses.
It required all the persuasions, coupled with threats, of Mrs. Blight, to
induce her shy children to show themselves to Lally. It appeared that
they had a horror of governesses, regarding them as tyrants and
ogresses created especially to destroy the happiness of children; but
Lally’s smiles, added to the fact that she looked but little more than a
child, finally induced them to be sociable and to approach her.
“In a day or two you won’t be able to do anything with them, Miss,”
said the head nurse. “They’ll ride rough-shod over you.”
“They are so spirited,” murmured Mrs. Blight. “Study their characters
closely, Miss Bird, and be very tender with them. I have one child
more than the Queen, and my children are named for the royal
family. These three boys are Leopold, Albert Victor, and George. The
girls are named Victoria and Alberta. My elder children are at school.
Children, this is Miss Bird, your new governess. Now come with her
into the school-room. Lessons begin immediately.”
The little flock, with Lally at their head, was conducted to the school-
room, a large, bare apartment, furnished with two benches, a
teacher’s chair and desk, and a black-board. Here Mrs. Blight left
them, convinced that she had fulfilled her duties as parent and
employer, and returned to her book.
Lally proceeded to examine into the acquirements of her pupils,
finding them lamentably ignorant. Lessons were given out, but there
was no disposition on the part of her pupils to study. They threw
paper balls at each other, whispered and giggled, and altogether
proved at the very outset a sore trial to their young teacher. Their
shyness lasted for but a brief period, and then, having no longer fear
of the sad-faced governess, they began to romp about the room, to
shout, and to engage in a general game of frolics.
Lally had a vein of decision in her character, and with the exercise of
a gentle firmness induced her pupils to return to their seats. She
explained their lessons to them, with an unfailing patience, but the
hours of that September afternoon seemed almost endless to her.
The children were froward, disobedient, and idle. They had been
spoiled by their mother, and were full of mischievous tricks, so that
Lally’s soul wearied within her.
Dinner, a very plain and frugal one, was served to the governess and
the children in the school-room at five o’clock. After dinner, Lally’s
time belonged to herself, and she put on her hat and went out for a
walk, having a longing for the fresh air.
This first day at Sandy Lands was a fair type of the days that
followed. The children, under Lally’s firm but gentle rule, became
more quiet and studious, and conceived an affection for their young
governess. Mrs. Blight was delighted with their improvement. She
had received a reply from Lally’s former employers, giving the young
girl very high praise, and was consequently well pleased with herself
for securing such valuable services as Lally’s at a salary less than
half she had ever before paid to a governess.
Mr. Blight was a lawyer in good practice at Canterbury, and spent his
days at his office, returning to Sandy Lands to dine, and leaving
home immediately after breakfast. He was a small, ferret-eyed man,
always in a hurry, a mere money making machine, with a great
ambition to make or acquire a fortune. At present he lived fully up to
his income, a fact which gave both him and Mrs. Blight much secret
anxiety. With ten children to educate and provide for, several
servants to pay, a carriage and pair for Mrs. Blight, and the lawyer’s
wines, cigars, frequent elaborate dinners to his friends, and other
items by no means small to settle, Mr. Blight was continually
harassed by debt, and yet had not sufficient strength of will to reduce
his expenses and live within his income.
One cause, perhaps, of their indiscreet self-indulgence was that they
had “expectations.”
There was an old lady connected with the family, the widow of a
wealthy London banker who had been Mr. Blight’s uncle. This old
lady was supposed to have no relatives of her own to enrich at her
death, and the Blights had lively hopes of inheriting her fifty thousand
pounds, which had descended to her absolutely at her husband’s
death, and of which she was free to dispose as she might choose.
This lady lived in London, at the West End, was very eccentric, very
irascible, and went little in society, being quite aged and infirm. She
was in the habit of coming down to Sandy Lands annually in
September, ostensibly to spend a month with her late husband’s
relatives; but she always returned home within a week, alleging that
she could not bear the noise of the Blight children, and that a month
under the same roof with them would deprive her of life or reason. It
was now about the time of this lady’s annual visit, and one morning,
when Lally had been about two weeks at Sandy Lands, Mrs. Blight
came up to the school-room, an open letter in her hand, and
dismissing the children to the nursery for a few minutes, said
confidentially:
“Miss Bird, I have just received a letter from the widow of my
husband’s uncle, a remarkable old lady, with fifty thousand pounds at
her own absolute disposal. My husband is naturally the old lady’s
heir, being her late husband’s nephew, and we expect to inherit her
property. Her name is Mrs. Wroat.”
“An odd name!” murmured Lally.
“And she’s as odd as her name,” declared Mrs. Blight. “She comes
here at this time every year, and always brings a parrot, a lap-dog, a
band-box in a green muslin case, a blue umbrella, and a snuffy old
maid, who eyes us all as if we had designs on her mistress’s life.
The absurd old creature is devoted to her mistress, who is a mere
bundle of whims and eccentricities. The old lady calls for a cup of
coffee at midnight, and she hates our dear children, and she
thrashed Leopold with her cane last year, because he put nettles in
her bed and flour on her best cap, the poor dear innocent child. And I
never dared to interfere to save Leopold, though his screams rang
through the house, and I stood outside her door listening and
peeping, for you know we must have her fifty thousand pounds, even
if she takes the lives of all my darlings!” and Mrs. Blight’s tone was
pathetic. “She’s a nasty old beast—there! Of course I say it in
confidence, Miss Bird. It would be all up with us, if Aunt Wroat were
to hear that I said that. She’s very tenacious of respect, and all that
bother, and insisted I should punish Albert Victor because he called
her ‘an old curmudgeon.’”
“When do you expect this lady?” asked Lally.
“To-morrow, with her maid, lapdog, parrot, umbrella and bandbox.
She writes that she will stay a month, and that she must have no
annoyance from the children, and that she won’t have them in her
room—the old nuisance! If it wasn’t for her money, I’d telegraph her
to go to Guinea, but as we are situated I can’t. I must put up with her
ways. And what I want of you, Miss Bird, is to see that the children
do not stir off this floor while she is here. Let them die for want of
exercise, the poor darlings, rather than we offend this horrid old
woman. If we sacrifice ourselves, she can’t leave her property to
some fussy old charity, that’s one comfort.”
“I will do my best to keep the children out of Mrs. Wroat’s sight,” said
Lally gravely.
“You must succeed in doing so, for the old lady says this will
probably be her last visit to us, as she is growing more and more
infirm, and she hints that it is time to make her will. Everything
depends upon her reception on the occasion of this visit. Let her get
miffed at us, and it’s all up. I declare I wish I had a place where I
could hide the children during her stay. She must not see or hear
them, Miss Bird.”
“Is there anything more that I can do, Mrs. Blight?”
“Yes; she always has the governess play upon the piano and sing to
her in the evening. She is fond of music, desperately so. We always
hire a cottage piano and put it in her sitting-room while she stays,
and the governess plays to her there evenings. She’s very liberal
with a governess who can play well. She gave Miss Oddly last year a
five-pound note. And always when she leaves us after a visit, she
hands me twenty pounds and says she never wants to be indebted
to anybody, and that’s to defray her expenses while here. I have to
take it. I wouldn’t dare to refuse it.”
“I shall be glad to amuse her in any way, Mrs. Blight,” declared the
young governess. “I shall not mind her eccentricities, and shall
remember that she is ‘aged and infirm.’”
“And she has fifty thousand pounds which we must have,” said Mrs.
Blight. “Don’t fail to remember that!”
Much relieved at having guarded against a meeting between her
expected guest and her children, Mrs. Blight departed to seek an
interview with her cook.
Extensive preparations were made that day for the reception of Mrs.
Wroat. Two rooms were prepared for her use, one of them having
two beds, one bed being for the use of the maid. A cottage piano
was hired and put into one of the rooms. The choicest articles of
furniture in the house were arranged for her use. The hint that Mrs.
Wroat was thinking of making her will was sufficient to render her
time-serving, money-hunting relatives gentle, pliable, and apparently
full of tender anxiety for her happiness and comfort.
Mr. Blight was informed of the good news when he came home to
dinner, and he sought a personal interview with his children’s
governess, entreating her to keep the youngsters out of sight during
the visit of Mrs. Wroat, as she valued her situation.
Everything being thus arranged, it only remained for the guest to
arrive.
No. 232 of the Select Library, entitled “Neva’s Choice,” is the
sequel to the foregoing novel, and the story of Neva’s romance,
together with the intrigues and plottings of her enemies, is
charmingly brought to its conclusion.
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A Big Step
forward in quality is the reason for the unprecedented strides in
popularity that the S. & S. novels are making.
The demand has been greater than the supply, the latter having
been somewhat restricted on account of war conditions. We are
running our presses night and day turning out “good ones” for the
consumption of men and women who want good reading matter and
who have got to get it at a modest price.
If you want to read a novel really worth while, buy a copy of No. 1020
New Eagle Series—SLIGHTED LOVE—by Mrs. Alex. McVeigh
Miller. This is a book that will be appreciated by every woman.
If the above are ordered from the publishers, 4c. must be added to
the retail price of each copy to cover postage.

79 Seventh Avenue, New York City
1855-1919
For sixty-four consecutive years, Street & Smith have
specialized in the publication of clean, wholesome
fiction. During this time we gave the public what it
wanted, and as the demand changed, our publications
changed with it.
What most American readers want at present are the S.
& S. novels, especially those in the New Eagle Series
by Emma Garrison Jones, who wrote straightaway
American love stories of exceptional interest and vigor.
Mrs. Jones’ works cannot be found in any other line,
and for interest they cannot be excelled at the price.
Here are some of the best Jones books:
Against Love’s Rules No. 890
All Lost but Love No. 868
Her Twentieth Guest No. 860
His Good Angel No. 786
Just for a Title No. 909
If the above are ordered from the publishers, 4c. must
be added to the retail price of each copy to cover
postage.

79 Seventh Avenue, New York
City
A REQUEST
Conditions due to the war have made it very difficult for us to keep in
print all of the books listed in our catalogues. We still have about
fifteen hundred different titles that we are in a position to supply.
These represent the best books in our line. We could not afford, in
the circumstances, to reprint any of the less popular works.
We aim to keep in stock the works of such authors as Bertha Clay,
Charles Garvice, May Agnes Fleming, Nicholas Carter, Mary J.
Holmes, Mrs. Harriet Lewis, Horatio Alger, and the other famous
authors who are represented in our line by ten or more titles.
Therefore, if your dealer cannot supply you with exactly the book you
want, you are almost sure to find in his stock another title by the
same author, which you have not read.
It short, we are asking you to take what your dealer can supply,
rather than to insist upon just what you want. You won’t lose
anything by such substitution, because the books by the authors
named are very uniform in quality.
In ordering Street & Smith novels by mail, it is advisable to make a
choice of at least two titles for each book wanted, so as to give us an
opportunity to substitute for titles that are now out of print.
STREET & SMITH

CORPORATION,
79-89
Seventh Avenue,
New York City.

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The Silicon Valley Model: Management

for Entrepreneurship, 2nd Edition

The Contrarian Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley s Pursuit

Seeing Silicon Valley Life inside a Fraying America 1st

Primary Mathematics 3A Hoerst

Silicon and Nano-silicon in Environmental Stress

Project Portfolio Management: A Model for Improved

Summary of BAD BLOOD Secrets and Lies in a Silicon

Entrepreneurship For Dummies Kathleen Allen

Cambridge IGCSE and O Level History Workbook 2C - Depth

The Silicon Valley Model

ISSN 2192-8096 ISSN 2192-810X (electronic)

Paper in this product is recyclable.

— Stephen Denning, author of The Age of Agile

Technological revolutions deserve the name because they do indeed revolutionize,

University of California David J. Teece

An Expanding Web of Discovery

The Key to All of It

A Guide to the Contents of This Book

ability to optimize current operations while also innovating and experimenting

Silicon Valley, California, USA

1 The World Is Changing �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1

2.6 A Systems Approach������������������������������������������������������������������������ 35

5.4 Attracting the Special Breed ���������������������������������������������������������� 83

8 The Entrepreneurial Organization Is Dynamic

9.7 Recent Developments and Further Thoughts���������������������������������� 170

1.1 Introducing a New Management Model

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024 1

them. Consistently, these entrepreneurial companies seemed able to rise to chal-

Tomorrow’s business imperatives lie outside the performance envelope of today’s

• “The Changing Nature of Change”—which sets the context by pinpointing what

Now let’s begin by mapping the landscape.

1.2 The Changing Nature of Change (and What It Means

Technology Technological change is said to be exponential, which isn’t strictly

1.2.1 Implications for Management: Drawbacks of the Old Way

Lynda Gratton, in a blog post, made these further observations:

1.2.2 The New Model: Essentially Entrepreneurial

Meanwhile, entrepreneurial firms thrive in a world of fast-moving change. Since

1.3 Tales of Two Industries

1.3.1 The Clothing Industries: Textiles, Garments, Shoes, Retail

Ensure that the work of management serves a higher purpose.

1.3.2 Telephones and Phone Services

What Makes a Superwoman?

The Ainslee Magazine Company

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION

STREET & SMITH

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