The Internet era brought with it distinct kinds of businesses. These technology and knowledge based businesses have in turn ushered in a new management style. The Silicon Valley Management Style as it has come to be called has its set of priorities. To what extent is this style of management successful and applicable to the traditional kind of businesses?

The management style of the umpteen IT companies in the Silicon Valley is different from most of the old economy companies. Are there any lessons in management styles that could be learnt from the Silicon Valley approach?

The Silicon Valley approach to management was born in companies such as Varian Associates back in the 1940's. Varian Associates specialized in the development of medical linear accelerators for the treatment of cancer, a field requiring top-flight researchers with the latest technologies. Varian attracted the very best by forming a co-operative owned by its employees with stock option agreements. This approach coupled with an environment where they could create without restriction spawned many important breakthroughs and won hundreds of innovation awards. Initially unprofitable the company was sustained by its enthused employees who eventually went onto help Varian to become a world leader in the field with over 3,500 systems treating more than one million patients annually.

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