MetaManager.net

THE WAGES OF VIRTUAL SIN: Debt Farming

The sale of debt obligations to ‘debt farmers’ is a particularly insidious practice of present day business. Portfolios of unpaid and disputed bills from phone, credit card, utility companies or retailers are routinely sold to specialized firms for pennies on the dollar. This may be a very profitable operation for the purchaser if the firm [...]

THE WAGES OF VIRTUAL SIN: Financial predators

FRIAR BARNARDINE. Thou hast committed– BARABAS. Fornication: but that was in another country, And besides, the wench is dead. - from “The Jew of Malta,” Christopher Marlowe, 1589/1590 Wars and calamities breed predators. Morality is almost always a casualty of the disorder following upon conflict and social upheaval. So we should not be surprised, however disgusted, that a [...]

THE WAGES OF VIRTUAL SIN: Diminished trust in borrowing and lending

LORD POLONIUS Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. - from “Hamlet,” William Shakespeare, 1599/1601 Few of us have been following Lord Polonius’ advice. Credit is the lubricant of the modern economy. In the throes of a major financial collapse triggered by excessive credit formation [...]

Japanese Translation of Virtual Organization (PDF format)

Translator: Akira Kawaguchi Download the entire translation as a single ZIP file or individual chapter PDFs below. Complete Japanese Translation (ZIP file containing all chapters) Individual chapter PDF files – Forward by Translator – Profile of Translator – Preface to Japanese Translation (by Author) – Foreword (by Murray Turoff) – Preface – Chapter 1: Intimations of a New [...]

Preface to Japanese Translation of Virtual Organization

November 1, 2005 (Original article date) Virtual organization presents two different faces to the world. One face reveals an ability to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of management, and to achieve greater flexibility of action. The other shows the dissolution of traditional relationships in the course of realizing these desirable ends. In a word, virtual organization [...]

Virtuality and the Financial Crisis: Part 2

Corrective measures envisioned by lawmakers in the heat of the financial crisis are directed toward strengthening oversight of financial markets. The regulatory system including the Federal Reserve, the Securities Exchange Commission, and other Federal agencies collectively may have been unable to detect the formation of a speculative bubble in the housing market; or perhaps [...]

Virtuality and the Financial Crisis: Part 1

The financial crisis that began in 2007 and reached fever pitch in the past few months is generally believed to be a consequence of the securitization of subprime mortgages and more generally of the over extension of credit. Participants in this tragic drama include actors in the real estate and financial services industries as well [...]

Google’s change in position regarding the keyword “abortion”

Google recently changed its earlier position regarding the use of the keyword “abortion” by anti-abortion groups to take out ads on Google… Regardless of the position one takes on abortion, this decision by Google is the right one in the interest of freedom of expression (while at the same time drawing attention to other [...]

Indentured servitude in a new key

These reflections on virtual organization are about the meaning and social significance of computers as mediators and brokers. Computers mediate between individuals by providing channels of communication in the form of messaging systems; they act as brokers in matching buyers and sellers, employees and employers, resources and work processes, etc. The explosive growth of electronic [...]

Virtual Organization – the definitive text

Virtual Organization – Towards a Theory of Societal Transformation Stimulated by Information Technology [Google Books] … [Amazon] Download PDF version “Before Internet (BI), the historian Stavrianos (1976) wrote, “The Western world today is re-experiencing the decay and despair of its early post-Roman centuries.” Despite opposite causes – technological stagnation in the Roman Empire versus unbridled technological [...]