What do Captain Kidd, pirate radio jocks, net hackers and the manipulators of DNA have in common? According to French academics Rodolphe Durand and Jean-Philippe Vergne, their actions helped foretell the future of capitalism.
The Pirate Organization: Lessons from the fringes of capitalism suggests that these buccaneers of the high seas, airwaves, cyberspace and the biotech revolution break the norms and foreshadow the direction of the economy.
Originally published in French in 2010 and recently updated and released in English, the book posits that pirate organisations of all ilks are often highly organised and disproportionately influential.
It’s let down by some lumpy translation and contorted explanations. While The Pirate Organization explores an interesting line of enquiry I was left with lingering sense of an analogy stretched that tiny bit too far.
Organisational purpose playing increasingly important role
Management Editorial Team
October 22, 2026
Organisational purpose is playing an increasingly important role in helping New Zealand organisations navigate economic uncertainty, organisational change and evolving workforce expectations, new research from Hum Consulting, finds.
