The twin forces of globalization and technology revolutionized how successful companies compete. Now they present a threat to associations, as well as an opportunity that they must embrace.
But associations cannot reinvent themselves based solely on new technology that simply enhances current offerings. Only a major, top-to-bottom transformation will catapult associations into a new, uncharted competitive space.
Associations will make the change or contend with irrelevance in the face of globalization, online communities, digital and social media, user-generated content and on-demand access to research and information.
They must discover what members want and then deliver it however and whenever they want it. That is not too much to ask in a borderless world powered by technology. It is not only possible, but easy. The competition has figured it out. Have you?