Will's Thoughtstream

I've been pondering how technology impacts the culture inside in a corporation, such as HP. While I was in my Sustainable Business MBA program, I wondered if technology could create a set of systems conditions that would foster a bias towards a more democratic and participative workplace, and that that bias would then shape a company to become more environmentally and socially responsible.

I'm still pondering that question. It seems clear that outside the corporation, Web 2.0 is having a cultural impact that is biasing our culture as whole towards greater transparency and participation. And in parallel with that, we see that corporations are increasingly adopting environmental and social responsibility as part of their corporate strategy. But what's happening inside the corporation?

I don't have the answer to that yet, but I did give myself my own reading list as a sort of self-created study at home class. Here's my list:

• Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams. Amazon. 
  
• The Naked Corporation: How the Age of Transparency Will Revolution Business by Don Tapscott and David Ticoll. Amazon.
  
• The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson. Amazon.
  
• The Transparent Leader: How to Build a Great Company Through Straight Talk, Openness and Accountability by Herb Baum, Tammy Kling. Amazon.