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From the early days of radio to the coming revolution in space travel, pirates have appeared at key moments in history.
But the common link is that they always arrive when capitalism is experiencing massive change, such as the digital revolution. What's more, pirates are instrumental in shaping the industries of those times by proposing alternative norms.
And that's why business people should follow pirates or even become pirates themselves, said Ivey Professor Jean-Philippe Vergne, who led the Ivey Idea Forum: The Pirate Organization: Lessons from the Fringes of Capitalism. It could even mean aligning with competitors and proposing rules that would best serve their industry.
"When entering uncharted territory, you should see your competitors as natural allies. Together you can propose laws for this territory," he said.
Vergne is co-author of The Pirate Organization: Lessons from the Fringes of Capitalism, which outlines ways pirates have re-shaped industries ranging from radio and Internet to the study of DNA. He depicts modern-day pirates, such as Steve Jobs, as heroes who help fight to change the rules of business to better serve the public as a whole. Jobs fought the monopoly of AT&T in the telecommunications industry by pirating Bill Gates' software, Vergne explained.
"These pirate organizations end up creating more sustainable business models. Many pirate organizations even end up becoming the monopoly," he said.
Next up is space exploration because we haven't worked out rules regarding mining resources from other planets and selling them, Vergne said.
"The big issues of today need to be solved at the supranational level," he said.
Source: IVEY Business Journal - Social Responsibility - January / February 2011