TWO WORDS FROM THE SPONSOR

The concepts and methodologies developed by these thought leaders are outstanding working tools for today’s manager. The same applies for the analysis models on top of which rely the modern strategic thought.

Despite all that have been said and written last year, the Internet revolution has not invalidated the accumulated knowledge that has enriched the various management disciplines for the last decades. An to prove that, we have but to look at current disillusionment of the ones that just one year ago would prefer to consider all the economical thought as outdated, when they had to explain why their own business models could not possibly create shareholder value. And also to the frequent interventions of would be revolutionaries, most of the times unable to escape the temptation of hiding lack of ideas under unimaginative restyling of old ones with a certain ‘technological exotism’.

For sure, the robustness of the most various management concepts, or as a matter of fact of any other scientific discipline, is permanently under scrutiny and subject to the acid tests provided by day-to-day reality or experimentation. And what an acid test the Internet was and will keep on being! It is therefore fascinating to read from the ones that helped modeling last century strategic thought and figure out how far pre-Internet developed models can go in accommodating the effects of a super connected world.

Gurus Online initiative will help us all understand how to benefit from already mature concepts in a new world where collaboration and relationship building are becoming the key success drivers. Altitude Software, as a leader in supplying solutions that allow organizations to create, support and strength relationships with all its stakeholders and customers, could therefore not possibly forego the opportunity to sponsor and participate in the Gurus Online initiative.

João António Cardoso
Executive Vice-President, Global Marketing & Strategy
Altitude Software