Abstract

The competitive advantage associated with large firms needs to be carefully and critically re-examined. In many cases, large firms have proven to be less competitive. Average firm size is shrinking in all industrial economies: the era of the Fortune 500 is over! The only way large firms can survive is by becoming less heirarchical and more decentralized. They need to learn to open themselves up to market forces and they need to discover how to take advantage of the growing importance of niche markets.