Biography

Kjell NORDSTRÖM & Jonas RIDDERSTRÅLE

2009 ranking: 23

Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle are both professors at the Stockholm School of Economics: Nordström at the Institute of International Business; Ridderstråle at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Leadership. They both hold doctorates in International business and economics and are highly respected members of the Swedish academic family. Both consult Swedish and international companies, and have a broad range of business interests.

They have achieved fame amongst the ranks of management thinkers through their books and their lectures, both of which are different. At their lectures (they prefer to call them gigs) they appear (should that be perform?) together, dressed in black. The similarities with the world of rock music are deliberate. Their delivery is fast and punchy. Another flamboyant presenter, Tom Peters (a big fan) might be described as a modern County-and-Western performer; these guys are definitely hard-core heavy metal artistes.

Their first book Funky Business (1999) caught the atmosphere of their gigs. It contained some stark and simple messages. The world of business had changed dramatically. What will work has to be different in a revolutionary way.

“Traditional roles, jobs, skills, ways of doing things, insights, strategies, aspirations, fears and expectations no longer count…. We cannot have business as usual. We need business as unusual. We need different business, We need innovative business. We need unpredictable business. We need surprising business. We need funky business.”

The successful organisations will be different too, unafraid of difference or creativity: They will seek emotion. The meaning of e-commerce must be changed to emotional commerce. Employees should be hired because they have some of that emotion. They can then be trained to carry out specific skills. They should be sought in unusual ways at pop concerts even, far removed from the traditional “milk round”.

Ideas are what will make a difference. Riches should be sought in niches wherever they are, amongst “homosexual dentists or pigeon-fancying lawyers.”

The workplace of the future will be Funky Inc. It ‘"isn't like any other company. … [it] thrives on the changing circumstances and unpredictability of our times." The future will be incoherent, dominated by movement and speed, by the imperatives of “Move it, move it fast, move it faster, Move it now.” The strengths of an organisation won’t be core competencies but core competents, people whose skills and knowledge make a difference. “These walking monopolies will stay as long as the company offers them something they want. When that is no longer the case they will leave.”

Today’s world is a place of excess. This is the age of time and talent, both of which are commodities. Talent will allow firms to be unique. The challenge is: How are you make yourself more attractive, more sexy? In a world of economic Darwinism, survival is a question of being either fit or sexy. Competition takes place using models and moods. Fitness boils down to using market imperfections to your advantage. Masters of mood exploit the imperfections of man by seducing or sedating consumer. Excellent companies re-invent innovation.

Their second book Karaoke Capitalism (2004) was never going to be a dog-eared sequel to their earlier volume, a mere “Funky 2”. The two Swedes attempted to get political and ideological, and to ask what changes we can expect to emerge from a world dominated by super-fast and soulless machines. In places the book reads like a manifesto, a call to the barricades. The world is undergoing change on a scale unknown before, greater than the move from an agricultural to an industrial society that took place in Europe two hundred years ago. That took well over a century and was accompanied by major changes in behaviour and religious observance, not to mention political changes too. Individuals now have more choice than ever The world of Karaoke capitalism is increasingly dominated by copy-cats bashing out cover versions of great originals.. Only imagination, innovation and originality will place societies, organizations and individuals center-stage. The book talks about how to create capitalism with character, and how to live a fulfilling life while making a living. To develop the character of capitalism involves accepting individual responsibility. “Look inside. Do you want to be a first-rate version of yourself or a second-rate version of someone else?”

Both books are written in an uncompromising style. Sometimes they deliberately aim below the belt and between the eyes.

Essential Reading:
Funky Business (1999)
Karaoke Capitalism: Managing for Mankind (2004)

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