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James Surowiecki Quotes

Journalist

James Surowiecki is a renowned journalist and author, born in 1967. He is known for his insightful analysis of economic and social issues, particularly for his ability to translate complex economic theories into easily understandable content.

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All People Ifs Company Thinking Way Decision Groups Jobs Long Real Seems Procrastination World Able Doe Economy Smart Consumers Corporations Done

Famous James Surowiecki Quotes

“The typical American corporation is a shareholders' republic the same way that China is a peoples' republic.”

Way China Corporations Republic Typical Shareholders

Author:James Surowiecki

“No decision-making system is going to guarantee corporate success. The strategic decisions that corporations have to make are of mind-numbing complexity. But we know that the more power you give a single individual in the face of complexity and uncertainty, the more likely it is that bad decisions will get made.”

Knows Giving Mind Made Faces Individual Decision Corporate Uncertainty Corporations Complexity Guarantees Decision Making Strategic Bad Decision Numbing

Book:The Wisdom of Crowds

Source: The Wisdom of Crowds

“In confusing stock options with ownership, corporations confuse trappings with substance.”

Substance Corporations Ownership Confusing Stock Options

Author:James Surowiecki

“Corporations hope that the right concept will turn things around overnight. This is what you might call the crash-diet approach: starve yourself for a few days and you'll be thin for life.”

Might Turns Approach Concepts Corporations Diets Crash

Author:James Surowiecki

“Self-dealing, essentially, occurs when managers run companies to line their own pockets instead of those of the companies' owners. It's been a perennial problem in American capitalism and became a real dilemma when America moved toward a model in which corporations would be run by professional managers who had only small ownership stakes.”

Real Self Problem Would Be Running America Lines Company Models Capitalism Moved Managers Corporations Pockets Owners Stakes Ownership Dilemma American Capitalism

Author:James Surowiecki

“There are certainly valid reasons for taking a company private, and it's also possible that C.E.O.s perform better when monitored by a small number of owners in a private company rather than by the dispersed and often uninterested shareholders of a public corporation.”

Reason Numbers Company Corporations Owners Shareholders Small Numbers Uninterested

Author:James Surowiecki

“What corporations fear is the phenomenon now known, rather inelegantly, as 'commoditization.' What the term means is simply the conversion of the market for a given product into a commodity market, which is characterized by declining prices and profit margins, increasing competition, and lowered barriers to entry.”

Mean Given Term Known Products Competition Profit Conversion Corporations Barriers Phenomenon Commodity Margins Entry Profit Margin

Author:James Surowiecki

About the Author

Born: 1967
Known for: Journalist
Quotes: 173

Books & Sources

The Wisdom of CrowdsRelated source material

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