INTRODUCTION
The global economy has undergone a paradigm shift because of the convergence
of digital technology, intellectual property, and customer supremacy. Such a paradigm
shift can be characterized as follows: It is a shift in emphasis from physical assets and
products to intellectual assets and services. It is a shift in emphasis from monetary
capital ownership by shareholders to human capital ownership by employees. It is a
shift in emphasis from mass standardization to mass customization. It is a shift in
emphasis from stand-alone competition to cooperative competition within an
ecosystem of partners.