Picture the corporation of the new Millennium:

Lean, nimble, fast, global, streamlined, tech-driven — with a lateral web-inspired, rather than pyramidal, patriarchal, ‘top-down’ vertical structure. Fewer — even no — employees, greater autonomy, collaboration in project teams, sharing ‘know-how’ and creativity, ensuring the best and speediest results.

Smaller physical or virtual offices, employees working from home or at a resort, overseas, families and all, sharing common ‘work-shells’, easily convertible to suit temporary work requirements on a project basis.

Virtual global connectivity achieved through portable technology: laptops, mobile or WAP phones, personal digital assistants, computer telephony, video conferencing equipment, share-ware files, broadbands in all. Or maybe no keyboard or mouse, but a speech, text and image.

Playing in the era of mass customisation, corporations will have to harness technology in their bid to cater to customers increasingly looking for personalised, individualised service.

Sparked by new technologies, especially the Internet, a dramatic evolution of corporations and businesses is upon us — and nothing less than a new Industrial Revolution, this ‘DNA Century’.

Firstly, laws and rules governing corporations will have to undergo a major transformation to keep pace with new corporate norms and practices worldwide.

Our Government, recognising that in a rapidly changing market, rules and regulations run the risk of being outdated even as they are promulgated, recently announced a new, less prescriptive ‘negative list’ approach to rules and regulations, where prohibited acts are specified by a regulatory body, with that which is not expressly banned being permissible.

Is the law keeping up with the changes faced by corporations? In the United Kingdom, the Department of Trade and Industry launched a long-term fundamental review of core company law with the aim of developing a simple, modern, efficient and cost effective framework for carrying out business activity in Britain for the 21st Century. One area is in respect of the regulations and boundaries of the law, international issues and information technology.

Our Companies Act will soon be seeing similar streamlining — on a holistic approach — to deal with some criticisms levelled against it. Indeed, the usefulness and necessity of auditing of companies’ financial statements is being considered, with a view to possible audit exemptions. We may wish to ponder on the continued viability of long established institutions and practices in relation to companies.

Is it necessary or efficacious to hold physical Annual General Meetings when they can be done via video-conferencing or via email? Can Annual Reports be made available and distributed on-line? Can other communications (notices, resolutions) be done circularly, electronically? This is just the tip of the Titanic iceberg.

While the Industrial Revolution placed a premium on machines and proprietory rights, the Information Age relies on the ideas and skills residing not in a worker’s hands but between his ears. With technology, products and markets in a constant state of flux, the corporation’s strongest assets will be dynamic and visionary managers and group-oriented leaders, imbued with the ability to thrive amid uncertainty. In short, its intellectual capital. The ability to acquire knowledge will be less important than the ability to obtain, disseminate and apply that knowledge quickly.

In his speech at the Social Market Foundation late last month, the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced steps undertaken by the Director General of Fair Trading to review restrictions on competition in the professions, including restrictions on entry to a profession, reserving categories of work to certain professions and advertising. These restrictions will be considered in the light of whether they are justified in the consumer interest or whether consumers will benefit from their relaxation. As Professor S Jayakumar said in his recent address in Parliament on a consideration of a review of conveyancing scale fees, the consumer is the ultimate consideration.

Entities which offer professional services, including law firms, will not be exempt from the inexorable stream of change and will have to constantly reinvent themselves to stay relevant in a rapidly changing market. The identity and regulatory landscape for professionals, including lawyers, will undergo dramatic transformation over the course of the next decade and more. New issues arising from Internet usage will initiate new forays into ethical issues involving the legal profession.

The advent of joint law ventures and formal alliances in Singapore is but the first step in the globalisation of Singapore law practices, leading — hopefully — to the transfer of desired legal technology and knowledge to our local players, enhancing their performance in the international arena.

Under the auspices of a Law Corporation (LLC), Singapore lawyers will soon be able to provide legal services as a director or employee.

However, entering the realm of corporations will entail grappling with a host of regulatory issues, hitherto non-existent.

Amidst these changes, the beacon of honesty, true public service and integrity must not be diminished or dimmed in any way. We cannot go wrong if we shift corporate thinking from delivering a product to serving the customer.

In today’s economy, the emphasis on customer service is all-pervasive. It is not just about replacing the human voice with a tinny answering machine or voice-mail. Nor requiring your client to run through a gamut of numerical services online, whilst having a mechanical voice repeat to him ad nauseam that his call is important to you.

For me, the secret of success of the new economy will be in retaining the humanness of personal service, but enhanced with the speed of technology.

It must, after all, first and foremost, be all about client care, to provide him the benefit of the law, no more, no less. That is public service, the essence of professionalism.

Palakrishnan
President
The Law Society of Singapore