Today's Update from the WarZone

Recently a very successful young company in Singapore was acquired by MediaCorp: one of the biggest names in Asian Media. The strange thing is that knowing the media space and these organizations one can tell that they have very little in common; in fact they are as different as the baby Boomers and Gen X! And even stranger is the fact that this is probably the highest point for this young company.

There is a new kind of imperialism going on: corporate imperialism if you may. Big MNCs that acquire oust and acquire and continue acquiring. Capturing ‘new’ growing markets, dominating markets: there is a whole lot of militaristic undercurrent here. On the other side of the fence we have small entities: companies, individuals, and groups that do not want to relegate their beliefs and be engulfed by the giants. This side mainly comes together in networks to build on each others strengths, cooperating against their ‘enemies.’ There is a new kind of warfare too, called the media and there are all kinds of it. While big companies continue to dominate traditional media, broadcast news channels etc the small team is looking at ‘new media’, blogger netwoks, internet communities and the like. Even language is being used to suitably gain credibility by either camp: our big guys like to define 'progress' in terms of free trade. Economies that havent 'opened up' are not yet developed.

The war is far from over and there are quite a few casualties. Even in acquired territories there are uprisings and there are those who switch camps or convert. Some get disillusioned of the tireless, dehumanizing monotony of corporation, some get tired of idealism and its disparity with reality. The battle is leaning towards the big guys I think, so you better watch out!

NOTE: I work for a start-up myself, we are struggling to make a place in the world. It’s not easy given the circumstances of our 'free world'...

Photo Courtesy: Inlet.org