The Human Context of IE Companies

Companies operating within successful IE regions share some common attributes. They are highly adaptive, flexible, self-renewing, and emphasize learning. They are also fragile and sometimes irrational. In these companies experimentation is the norm, local solutions predominate, participation and individual contributions are encouraged, and there are fewer levels of management. Employees of high-tech companies don't believe in top-down approaches and have the capacity to self-organize without any externally imposed plan or direction. They build communities of practices (virtual or not), self-managed teams , and networks of relationships. Change is the organizing force in these companies, not a problematic intrusion. And leaders emerge from the need of the moment. High-tech companies are in some ways self-managed living systems.