1. Issue 2
New paradigms, trends, and changes affecting the world.
WRITTEN BY
Teemu Arina
Sam Inkinen
Global, Local, Personal Juhani V. Parda
FOREWORD BY
Pasi Mäenpää / Elisa Corporation

2. What?
Megasignals explore the major paradigms, trends,
and changes affecting the world.
You are in the now business. The world lacks a straight-to-the-point publication that
Why describes the current paradigm shifts in an understandable way so that you can
take immediate action.
For The publication is intended for global leaders and business owners who need to make
informed decisions under extreme pressure in a short time frame.
How www.megasignals.com publishes an exclusive e-book quarterly and a blog expanding
on the topics addressed in the e-book and featuring top minds weekly – free of charge.
This issue has been produced in collaboration with:

3. Index
Megasignals Covered in This Issue
Global: Connected Companies
Develop new approaches to leadership, processes, and the workforce
Local: Context Is King
Build successful local services utilizing globally available information
Personal: Empowerment
Make your teams and people more effective with social technologies

4. Foreword by Pasi Mäenpää
These are times of significant transition. The fundamental beliefs regarding great leaders and
outstanding managers are in turmoil. The Internet generation is opening new pathways. For
members of this generation, social networking via the Internet is a birthright. They have grown up
with technology. Due to their hyper-connectedness, they have attained skills and mastered
technologies that are unknown to their elders. Some of these skills and technologies are now in
great demand in today’s business world.
Many young people have already put into practice new approaches to management in their own
startups. After examining some of the success stories from the last 10 years, it is clear that
companies, such as YouTube, Twitter, Digg, and Facebook, were all started by young
entrepreneurs. For example, Mark Bao is a Chinese-born Bostonian who started and sold more
companies by the age of 18 than most people will ever start. Specifically, he has been the founder
or chief executive officer (CEO) of 15 startups.
Management in the past was characterized by the need to manage physical assets, including office
buildings, warehouses, factory floors, materials, equipment, and people. Today, successful
companies do not necessarily need physical headquarters at which all of the people are located to
work effectively. Quite the contrary, a more successful architecture might be completely online.

5. A company that builds its key capabilities on top of information networks is more likely to instantly
grow globally than one that is still living in the age of wood and iron. Next generation coworking
spaces, mobile working tools, virtual conferencing, and telepresence have recreated the office in a
digitally distributed environment. Workers have become mobile assets as well. That is, (net)workers
are available on demand through the Internet to compete and complete even the most challenging
tasks.
Companies and leaders are under constant pressure to renew their thinking and practices. Facebook
founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated, “[M]ove fast and break things. Unless you are breaking
stuff, you are not moving fast enough.” Prepare to be unprepared; the act of breaking stuff and making
mistakes is something that businesses need to master. It is all about dealing with an uncertain but
exciting world in which employees and customers are globally connected and locally empowered
through information networks.
Sincerely,
Pasi Mäenpää
Executive Vice President, Corporate Customers
Elisa Corporation
www.elisa.fi

6. Global: Connected Companies
Develop new approaches to leadership, processes, and the workforce

7. Global: Connected Companies
Organizations Are Becoming Like Clouds
Common buzzwords: Past
• crowdsourcing The Industrial Revolution was about the division of labor, value
chains, and organization charts. A company was defined by static
• net force
and hierarchical structures, such as the location of physical
• mass collaboration facilities and reporting relationships between people.
• peer production
Present
• cloud computing
Due to advanced communication technologies, open global
• virtual conferencing
markets, and the mobility of the workforce, companies need to
• telepresence leverage agile management, distributed resources, and emerging
• agility technologies for greater efficiency and effectiveness.
Future
The development of social media, cloud computing, and Software-
as-a-Service (SaaS) are changing the game. Organizations are
moving their workforces into the cloud, involving consumers in
product development processes, and building cost-effective ways
to collaborate in distributed environments. These changes are not
only technological, but also cultural and psychological, which
affects leadership and working patterns.
7

8. Global: Connected Companies
“When the world is flat, whatever can be done will be done. The only question is
whether it will be done by you or to you.”
Key Business Book World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (2007)
By Thomas L. Friedman
This international bestseller discusses globalization and its
implications from various perspectives (e.g., different countries
and continents, companies, and individuals).
The title The World is Flat is a metaphor for discussing rapidly
changing markets, connected companies, and new
opportunities.
The author describes 10 “flatteners” that he sees as leveling the
global playing field, such as the collapse of the Berlin Wall in
1989, outsourcing, offshoring, and supply chaining (e.g., India
and China).
You should read this book to (1) understand the changed
nature of globalized business, the marketplace, and the mobile
workforce and (2) learn more about cost-efficiency, flexible
arrangements for labor, and the role of high technology in
connected companies.
8

9. Global: Connected Companies
“In today’s world, where the only constant is change, the task of managing
innovation is vital for companies of every size in every industry.”
Key Business Book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting
from Technology (2003)
By Henry Chesbrough
Open innovation assumes that companies can use both external
and internal ideas for their benefit. Traditional closed innovation
emphasizes control, whereas open innovation underlines openness
and networks.
In a deeply (and digitally) connected, rapidly changing world of
widely distributed knowledge and agile processes, companies need
to cooperate and interact. That is, they must have an active
dialogue with other firms and buy or license inventions from other
companies.
You should read this book to learn how various companies, such
as IBM, Xerox, Intel, and Lucent, have successfully opened up their
innovation processes to external influence and profited from
technology. Many thorough business cases in this book underline
the parameters for success in a more open, flexible, and interactive
business environment.
9

10. Global: Connected Companies
“Harness the new collaboration or perish.”
Key Business Book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything (2006)
By Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams
Don Tapscott is widely known as one of the leaders of the
digital economy, digital ecosystems, and net generation. In this
book, he focuses on mass collaboration (i.e., how a large
number of people and collective actions can help to achieve
business goals in a networked, hyper-connected world).
The Hawaiian word for wiki means “fast.” This word is a lingual
root for words, such as Wikipedia, WikiLeaks, and Wikinomics.
In the age of Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Second Life,
MySpace, and other globally distributed platforms, mass
collaboration has changed many industries.
You should read this book because, in today’s networked
society and changing markets, the role of the Internet,
collaboration tools, wiki workplaces, and social software should
be understood as a power shift to new modes of value creation.
New seminal keywords for dynamic business practices include
prosumers, sharing, and peer production.
10

11. Global: Connected Companies
“Social Media. New Media. Interactive Media. Integrated Marketing. Experiential
Marketing. Public Relations. Branding. Whatever we call it, it’s simply a matter of
digital Darwinism that affects any and all forms of marketing and service.”
Key Business Book Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to
Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web (2010)
By Brian Solis
Engage or die! Monologue has given way to dialogue, says
Brian Solis, one of the leading voices in the social media
revolution. Prior to the proliferation of interactive media,
traditional influence has followed a systematic top-down
process of developing and conveying messages to audiences.
As an alternative, the book presents some key approaches:
•
From top-down and broadcast to social, interactive media.
•
From marketing to “unmarketing.”
•
Arising new business processes and perspectives, such as
social media plan, social CRM, and relationship management.
You should read this book, as one part entitled “The New
Media University” provides in-depth knowledge and refreshing
ideas for engaging customers and stakeholders in social media.
11

12. Global: Connected Companies
Case: Kickstarter Connect Ideas, People, and Funding.
The largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.
A site for people to collectively fund creative projects in exchange
for rewards, such as access to the first batch of the finished product.
Examples
TikTok and LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch
• Transforms the iPod Nano into a multi-touch watch.
• Funding: 13,512 backers funded $941,718 of the $15,000 goal.
You should be interested in this case because the Internet offers
new ways to communicate grand ideas and gather people to help in
the process of building great products. In this case, people are
willing to provide funding to see an idea materialize into existence.
While providing their support, they are promoting the idea to their
friends through social media sites.
www.kickstarter.com
12

13. Global: Connected Companies
Case: Elance.com Hire Online Workers to Get the Job Done.
Elance offers instant access to qualified professionals who work
online and provides the tools to hire them.
The site links employees to potential employers for contractual
work over the Internet. It is a fast, cost-efficient, and
unbureaucratic way to hire talented individuals. The model is
highly disruptive for various sectors due to buyer
recommendations. According to the site, in April 2011, it had:
• Over 49 000 job tasks posted.
• Over 350 000 contractors.
• Over $360 000 000 of work delivered.
You should be interested in this case because, as it becomes
easier to hire high-quality talent globally, models like Elance
will destroy value in traditional local consulting businesses.
Popular categories include marketing, accounting, customer
service, legal, finance, human resources, design, writing, and
www.elance.com
ICT skills.
13

14. Local: Context Is King
Build successful local services utilizing globally available information

15. Local: Context is King
Context Expands Content, Intent, and Location
Past
Common buzzwords: Before mobility and location-based services (LBS) became
• geolocation available, there were a limited number of informants and
advisors available. Without electronic navigators, individuals
• ubiquitous technologies
had to rely on telephone books, printed maps, guidebooks, close
• ambient intelligence friends, and locals.
• interactive touchscreens
Now
• urban informatics
Globally aggregated information and people-powered online
• mobility and navigation
services are now available on the latest generation of mobile
• augmented reality devices. Smart interfaces, such as tablets, interactive
• smart mobs information screens, and application phones, are now common.
• hivemind Keywords are sharing and social recommendations.
Future
Mobile-based services utilizing social networks are becoming
mainstream. Advertisements are becoming context-aware and
personalized. Consumers do not feel interrupted by
recommendations coming from their friends and trusted brands.
On the contrary, they consider it to be a necessity. Winners are
those who view their users and customers as participants and
tailor their offers according to their contexts and intentions. 15

16. Local: Context is King
“The many forms of ubiquitous computing are indistinguishable from the user’s
perspective and will appear to a user as aspects of a single paradigm: everyware.”
Key Business Book Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing (2006)
By Adam Greenfield
There are many notions and expressions to describe future
developments of user interfaces and human-computer
interaction, including ubiquitous computing (or ubicomp),
pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, and everyware.
The book points toward the emergence of computing without
computers, where information processing is almost
imperceptible, but omnipresent. This includes smart buildings,
smart furniture, and smart clothing. The cities in which
individuals live will never be the same.
You should read this book to understand the opportunities
that digitally connected cities and media environments can
provide in a local context. Instead of technological determinism
or unrealistic hype, the book focuses on relevant viewpoints of
digital media, consumer behavior, and ubiquitous
environments from the philosophical and cultural perspectives.
16

17. Local: Context is King
“Mobile shouldn’t be viewed as a standalone channel, but rather as an extension
of a company (or product) that exploits additional channels.”
Key Business Book The Mobile Revolution (2010)
By Andrew Pearson
This author details how the mobile phone is transforming not
only the way people communicate with each other, but also the
way advertisers and marketers are communicating with them.
The author describes methods, such as 2D barcodes, app store
applications, mobile social media, mobile analytics, targeted
mobile campaigns, and location-aware advertising.
You should read this book because, since the first wireless
phone call was placed to the grandson of Alexander Graham
Bell in 1983, the mobile phone has come a long way. It grew
from simply a device to make calls to a much more diverse and
sophisticated platform for location-based and personalized
services. Read the book to learn about the latest proven
approaches to mobile marketing in the era in which customers
are no longer consumers, but active participants.
17

18. Local: Context is King
Case: Tripadvisor Reviews and advice on hotels, resorts, flights, vacation
rentals, vacation packages, travel guides, and more.
Connect yourself to local surroundings more than most locals.
• Provides you with “smart mobs” insights into places to
which you travel.
• Includes non-Photoshopped images of hotels, candid
reviews of restaurants, flight information, and
recommendations.
• Available as a website and as a mobile or tablet application.
You should be interested in this case because it is one of the
best examples of how to use connected information and
collective intelligence in a local context. People provide advice
based on local experience. In addition, future visitors ask
questions and compare reviews to gain insight into the top
activities. Most of the value is generated by other users. The site
www.tripadvisor.com would be less valuable as a directory without the unfiltered
traveller reviews.
18

19. Local: Context is King
Case: Foursquare Foursquare gives you and your friends new ways to explore
your city.
Earn points and unlock badges for discovering new things.
• A location-based service for checking into places you visit
and letting your friends know about them.
• Includes special badges to unlock and a weekly leader
board for friendly competition.
You should be interested in this case because location-
based services have existed a long time, although Foursquare
implements game-based mechanics with location. The service
became highly popular very quickly. Checking in has never
been as much fun. Moreover, brands are leveraging this
opportunity to reward their most loyal customers.
When designing services, consider game-based elements,
virtual goods, and virtual gifts as drivers for your business.
www.foursquare.com
19

20. Personal: Empowerment
Make your teams and people more effective with social technologies

21. Personal: Empowerment
The Age of Empowered Customers
Past
Common buzzwords: The Industrial Revolution was about mass media, mass markets, and the
• personal learning standardization of products and services. One-way broadcast channels
environment (PLE) controlled passive consumers. Employees were bound by hierarchical
organization, mechanical processes, IT policies, and fixed geography.
• produsage
Present
• prosumerism
• application phones Today’s consumers are participants. They actively search for
personalized information and services. Prosumers post opinions,
and tablets
reviews, fan content, and product development ideas online. Consumers
• social networking make decisions based on recommendations from their friends and
• real-time web opinion leaders, such as bloggers. The same is happening within
• enterprise 2.0 organizations. Specifically, employees use mobile technologies and
social networking to connect with each other and complete tasks.
Future
Mass customization enables the personalization of products and
services. Media environments are tuned into individual needs.
Customers are partaking in product ideation and development.
Employees manage their own working and learning environments.
Application phones and tablets offer an empowering platform for
creativity and collaboration. 21

22. Personal: Empowerment
Key Business Book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
(2010)
By Clay Shirky
As a continuation of his previous book entitled Here Comes Everybody
(2008) in which he described how the Internet gives way to new
forms of group formation, the author provides insight into how new
technology is changing individuals from consumers to collaborators.
The main question involves where people find the time in the context
of activities, such as editing Wikipedia or discussing world events on
Twitter. The author argues that the modern lifestyle and abundance
of resources have created additional free time that people are
consuming in passive activities, such as watching television.
He defines cognitive surplus as the time that people can use for
creative and collaborative activities, rather than engaging in passive
activities. Now, for the first time, people are embracing new media,
allowing them to pool their efforts at a low cost to build resources,
such as Wikipedia.
You should read this book to find out how to motivate seemingly
busy people to collaborate more frequently by changing their
patterns of free time and media consumption.
22

23. Personal: Empowerment
Key Business Book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2008)
By Seth Godin
The author argues that lasting and substantive change can be
best implemented by a tribe (i.e., a group of people connected
to each other, to a leader, and to an idea). Change is no longer
driven by mass markets alone, but by a tribal movement of
similarly minded individuals who become excited by a new
product, service, or message, often via the Internet.
Tribes are different from mass markets and need to be
approached in an unconventional way. He describes how to
transform a shared interest into a passionate goal, provide tools
to allow members to tighten their communications and
embrace change, and allow the tribe to grow and gain new
members.
You should read this book to find out how to assemble,
motivate, and lead tribes.
23

24. Personal: Empowerment
“In the new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and
participation with one another in fluid relationships that are the result of
shared interests and opportunity.”
Key Business Book A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a
World of Constant Change (2011)
By Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown
The authors examine the challenges that education and learning
environments face today due to constant change. They argue that
two factors have changed everything: (1) a massive information
network that provides almost unlimited access and resources to
allow students to learn about everything and (2) a bounded and
structured environment that allows for unlimited agency in which
students can build and experiment with things within those
boundaries.
They discuss how the new culture of learning gives individuals the
freedom to make the general personal and then share their personal
experience in a way that, in turn, adds to the general flow of
knowledge. The connection between the personal and the collective
is seen as a key ingredient in lifelong learning.
You should read this book to understand how to build a new
culture of learning for people to keep up with the constant changes.
24

25. Personal: Empowerment
Case: Twitter A real-time information network.
A way to share and discover what is happening right now.
Simple and straightforward 140-character messages that
people can update from their mobile gadgets and desktop
computers in the middle of short breaks during the day
Twitter is suddenly becoming the news desk of the planet.
Individuals can often obtain personalized and relevant
information faster than they can from traditional news and
media companies, as seen in the cases of Japan, Haiti, and
Iceland.
You should be interested in this case because people are
using new ways to communicate in situations where SMS,
Conan O’Brien rebranded himself on
phone calls, and email are less effective and developing
social media after disputes with the
entirely new capabilities for sharing information in real time.
NBC channel. His Twitter messages
Status updates as seen on Twitter and Facebook can also
became his first public statements
serve as models for sharing information inside the firewall.
since his departure. After 24 hours, he
had more than 300,000 followers.
www.twitter.com
25

26. Personal: Empowerment
Case: Application Stores
Apple Google Nokia
App Store for iPhone Android Market Ovi Store
333 200 apps 206 100 apps 54 000 apps
Windows Phone 7 Mac Google
Marketplace App Store Chrome Webstore
11 700 apps 2 700 apps 2 300 apps
Apple started the trend, which is now a common way for individuals to customize the
experience of various devices to their own needs through applications. The model is
spreading from phone to tablet, desktop, and web platforms.
26

27. Personal: Empowerment
Case: Ushahidi A real-time information network.
Democratizing information, increasing transparency, and
lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories.
Ushahidi (Swahili for “testimony” or “witness”) is a non-profit
website for collecting eyewitness reports. It was created in the
aftermath of Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election. The
site has also played a role in the recent crisis, including the
Japanese earthquake and tsunami in the spring of 2011.
People provide reports through SMS, Twitter, email, and
website forms.
You should be interested in this case because it shows the
importance of real-time information sharing and how to
www.sinsai.info/ushahidi empower and mobilize masses to help each other through
mobile technologies. Government agencies and cities in
particular can benefit from creating similar participative
architectures.
27

28. Summary
Global, Local, Personal – Management Everywhere
Managers and employees are now empowered through locally available,
globally aggregated, and connected information and people. Traditional
models for management and collaboration are now in question: Do we need
centralized offices? Are meetings really that efficient when people meet face-
to-face? Should we hire or buy services?
Centralized organizations are now becoming more like decentralized clouds
with digitally distributed people, resources, and practices.
Do the following:
Leverage globally available resources in terms of technology, information, and
the workforce. Move your operations into the cloud, consider involving your
customers in the product development processes, and invest in social
collaboration environments for the enterprise.
Consider what context means to you in your business. Use mobile
technologies and location-based services to increase the relevance of
advertising and services. Utilize globally available information on the spot.
The best possible working environment is always tailored to personal and
localized needs. Allow employees to build their own working environments
on next-generation application phones, tablets, and desktops.
28

29. Recommendations
Global: Connected Companies
• Move your existing operations to the cloud and utilize SaaS to drive
costs down by 30-60% and increase efficiency.
• Build distributed collaboration environments to reduce travel costs.
• Involve customers in product development processes (crowdsourcing).
• Recruit ad-hoc globally available talent through global networks.
Local: Context is King
• Improve the targeting of your advertising through location-based
recommendations, intention-based marketing, and personalization.
• Actively encourage customers to share their reviews, opinions, and tips
regarding your products and services online.
• Be aware of opportunities to use interactive touchscreens or mobile
services (i.e., at restaurants, info kiosks, and attractions).
• Offer local services through the Internet to expand your business.
Personal: Empowerment
• Offer your employees the ability to customize their own working
environments through smart devices and application stores.
• Act like your customers are working for you by giving them the
power to influence decision making and product development.
29

30. About the Authors
Megasignals is a joint book and media project initiated by three
internationally known writers, consultants, and researchers:
Mr. Teemu Arina , Dr. Sam Inkinen, and Mr. Juhani V. Parda.
The authors live a nomadic lifestyle exploring markets, cultures and
societies, writing articles and books, giving presentations at major
conferences, and providing advice to leading organizations on all
continents. They have a background in the high-tech, media and telecom
industries, and the academic context.
For more information, please visit: www.megasignals.com
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