Suppose a corporate Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep on the job a generation ago were to wake up today. He would find his company changed almost beyond recognition. As he wandered through manufacturing, he would rub his eyes at the sight of strange new machines. "Something’s very different," he would mutter. "The shop floor looks like a laboratory. The oil, the grime, and the piles of half-finished goods have gone. There are no rows of people working at repetitive tasks. No one is standing around waiting for instructions about what to do next. There’s not one quality control inspector in sight. Where are the supervisors? Who is a worker and who is a manager?"

It is a huge transformation, and more than Rip can absorb on his first waking day, so off he goes in search of something more familiar. First, he heads for the typing pool, only to discover that it no longer exists. Then he tries a succession of other departments. Everywhere he goes he sees new technology, new processes, and above all a radically new approach to work itself.

Everywhere? Not quite. The sales department, where he used to work, remains much as it was...