One of my favorite lectures covers the topic of Darwin and Business. The idea goes like this: Darwin discovered the concept of evolution which involves the success of organisms that adapt most effectively to their environment. Fundamental to this concept is the stability of the environment. It is only through that stability that the barrage of experiments done through errors in reproduction can happen upon advantages that lead to dominance.
As seen by the dinosaurs, over time species can collect the attribute of size and strength to achieve dominance. But as also seen through the dinosaurs, extinctions occur when the stability of the environment is disrupted. In their case it is assumed to be a giant asteroid that changed the planet's ecosystem, destroying much of the edible plant material. Note that the advantages of size became disadvantages with this disruption in that the need for copious amounts of food and a relatively slow ability to travel hindered the dinosaur's ability to survive through adaptation.
I maintain that businesses evolve in exactly the same way albeit faster. Their use of language to encode rules of organization and execution gives the corporation the ability to more quickly adapt. But, what happens if the instability in the environment is even too fast for that adaptation?
I believe that extinction is the result and that today, uniquely in history, the speed of innovation driven by technology is just such a disruption to the environment. As such, I suggest that the "day of the large company" is over and dinosaurs like Kodak and others are dying before our eyes.
When the dinosaurs bit the dust, it gave an opportunity to our fore-bearers who, prior to that were hiding under rocks to prevent being stepped on, to become the dominant species. In our case, the process of evolution led to the development of our brains instead of our muscles, and as well, the development of social structures and reliance upon others to provide strength in numbers.
If I am right, then the new corporate model is based upon small and mobile companies which band together to achieve dominance. It is the best time to be an entrepreneur that has ever existed.
Go and make your fortune.