Adopt customer-relationship management. Be customer-centric. Organize around the customer. The customer is king. By now, these customer mantras should sound familiar. But are they the new hype or the new habit? Fast Company page 80
Michael Hammer, consultant, author, evangelical business revolutionary, unleashed reengineering on an unsuspecting public in the early 1990s. Now he's back -- with a new book, a new agenda, and a bunch of new ideas. Be afraid. Be redeemed. Or be both. Daniel H. Pink page 108
Yale economist Robert J. Shiller wrote the defining book on the Internet bubble. Now he's busy rewriting the laws of economics, where emotion and psychology dominate data and numbers. (And in his spare time, he's busy worrying about his own dotcom.) John Ellis page 118
Fast-paced experimentation. Distributed intelligence. Total teamwork. The scientific formula behind the new economy is still disrupting the status quo -- in this case, 20,000 leagues under the sea. Fara Warner page 128
Imagine a company started by the best-connected investment bank in the world, by a leading management-consulting firm, and by one of the top venture-capital firms. Give it $300 million -- and set it loose to reinvent big business. Keith H. Hammonds page 134
The giant Danish toymaker has a history and a reputation that most companies can only dream of. Yet its efforts to change and grow with the times just won't click. Charles Fishman page 144
Do you want to check out the future of hotels? Then check into the Peninsula Beverly Hills, where Ali Kasikci is creating rooms with incomparable service -- built around unconventional ideas. Jill Rosenfeld page 160
They are the world's most powerful promotional currency -- a medium of exchange that people manage almost as carefully as cash. So what does the future hold for frequent-flier miles? Answers to seven high-flying questions. Ron Lieber page 166
Business travel today revolves around one simple idea: Cut back on it. But is that always wise? American Express's Pam Arway distinguishes between smart travel and spending that deserves to be eliminated. Ron Lieber page 170
BMW's Designworks/USA studio has a formula for profitable creativity that involves working on everything from tractors to goggles. Which may be why it designs such cool cars. Fara Warner page 43
Behind the Harry Potter juggernaut is a London-based company that is rewriting the rule book in publishing. Its formula: Stay nimble, share the wealth, and work the way your authors do. Ian Wylie page 54
Why would a CEO of a fast-growing company take time out every month to teach his new hires? Because he wants them to take customer service as seriously as he does. Jennifer Reingold page 64
Want to find one area where Internet technology is delivering more than expected? Look within. Intranets are boosting efficiency and creativity, and changing work patterns. Here are seven steps to the ultimate Intranet. George Anders page 176
As Texaco taps oil fields all around the world in search of crude, John Old helps the company's 18,000 people tap their collective brainpower -- and the ideas to help the company operate faster and more productively. Fara Warner page 186
As companies march ahead with efforts to link employees through internal Web sites, they are learning a key design principle: If you want your intranet to take off, then take a hands-off approach. The case for intranet democracy. George Anders page 192
Still not convinced that there's much "new" about the new economy? Harvard's Juan Enriquez, author of the new book As the Future Catches You: How Genomics and Other Forces Are Changing Your Life, Work, Health, and Wealth, makes the case. In an interview, he explains how business and economics are changing -- and what it means for you.
David Nadler has advised the CEOs of some of the best-known companies in the world -- a few of which (such as Lucent and Xerox) have recently experienced big setbacks. That goes with the fast-changing leadership territory, Nadler argues: "The capacity for a leader to destroy awesome amounts of economic value in a short time is awesome." Keith H. Hammonds
When Anne Mulcahy took over as president of Xerox, she had a mission: Change everything fast -- but not too fast. Lessons on the right "clock speed" for change. Keith H. Hammonds
Michael Bloomberg wants to be mayor of New York City -- based largely on his track record as founder and CEO of the financial-information company that bears his name. Would he get your vote? Consult our A - Z Fast Companies directory to explore the past, present, and future of Bloomberg LP.
