The old economy rewarded stable, predictable relationships — among customers, investors, companies, suppliers, employees, and communities — because large-scale production depended on stability and predictability. Any deviation undermined efficiency. Thus all participants came to rely on permanence. But the emerging economy is altering expectations. Commercial relationships are no longer assumed to last. People figure that everyone with whom they deal will switch to a better alternative should one become available, as will they.
— Robert B. Reich, The Future of Success