About change...

Paul Polman, manager Western-Europe Procter & Gamble

Polman says ‘change’ is the biggest threat for companies in the 21st century. “In the past two, three years we had to adapt more than in the previous 15 or 20 years. So the knowledge which used to be in the hierarchy is completely gone. Mobile phones, the internet and especially e-mail have changed our communication behaviour drastically. And consumer behaviour, political constellations and technology is also in constant change. So in the company, you built a basis where the pyramid is turned upside down, where you manage people who operate the machine bottom up.

De Volkskrant, August 18, 2003