The Emergence of the Relationship Economy

Book excerpt: The convergence of technology that accelerates the power of relationships and facilitates dynamic communications-- peer to peer and to entire communities--is revolutionary to say the least. The book examines the factors that are influencing the emergence of The Relationship Economy. The book defines The Relationship Economy as: "The people and things we are connected with in our personal networks who or that distribute or consume our capital, which in turn influences our individual production outputs." The book analyzes the factors that are influencing an emerging economy based on the sum of factors driving massive and significant changes to the way everyone will work, play, and live. This emergence will have an especially profound effect on businesses and individuals. While individual factors are self-evident, the collective factors, taken as a whole, are the basis for individual conclusions for strategic opportunities that can be gained from the new economy. The book provides the knowledge, tools and suggested skills necessary for improved comprehension of the strategic issues required to succeed in The Relationship Economy, and provides the context of actions that enable success. It covers an emerging opportunity for the global community of users/consumers/prosumers/citizens, consumer brands, corporations, non-governmental organizations and governments to play a critical role in forging this new carbon neutral economy: The Relationship Economy. This book details an emerging economy, driven by factors that are affecting massive changes to the way people work, play, and live. This emergence will have an especially profound effect on business. While individual factors are self-evident, when taken collectively, they are the basis that individuals use to identify strategic opportunities to be gained from the new economy. Starting with a foreword by Doc Searls, Co-Author of 'The Cluetrain Manifesto', this book is a foundational resource for individuals and entities to use as each begins to plan for participation in the accelerated changes brought on my technological advances of the World Wide Web. The goal of the book is to enable all parties to gain perspectives, knowledge, and insights as to the dynamics of technology, the impact of changes brought on by the social Web, and what factors should be considered for the purposes of planning for success.