In Their Time

[TEN]

1990–1999

Reengineering, Restructuring, and Reality Check

The world is poised on the cusp of an economic and cultural shift as dramatic as that of the Industrial Revolution. (OK, it doesn’t take a genius, or even a politician, to figure out that big changes are afoot when we have a medium that lets someone throw up a virtual storefront on the Web and instantly gain access to the global market.)

—Steven Levy, “Random Access,” Newsweek, July 7, 1997

IN THE WANING HOURS of the century, America seemed to be on the verge of delivering on the promises of its long-held dreams of prosperity for all. In every year of the 1990s, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record highs.¹ Between November 1995 and March 1999, the Dow more than doubled, increasing ...