Brief

The Jenga Phenomenon: How eCommerce Is Reassembling Industry

The game of Jenga, named after the Swahili word for "construction," challenges each player to remove as many blocks as possible from a cross-hatched tower of wooden beams.

By Bob Bechek and Chris Zook

First published on Δεκεμβρίου 01, 1999
min read


The game of Jenga, named after the Swahili word for "construction," challenges each player to remove as many blocks as possible from a cross-hatched tower of wooden beams and to use them to build additional stories, all without causing the tower to crash. Although the name connotes "building," the game is about both disassembly and reassembly, and as such forms a fitting analogy for the way eCommerce is plucking out key blocks or leveling and rebuilding towers in virtually every business. The question of the hour: will such activity forever change the skyline of industry? The answer: absolutely. Download PDF

The game of Jenga, named after the Swahili word for "construction," challenges each player to remove as many blocks as possible from a cross-hatched tower of wooden beams and to use them to build additional stories, all without causing the tower to crash. Although the name connotes "building," the game is about both disassembly and reassembly, and as such forms a fitting analogy for the way eCommerce is plucking out key blocks or leveling and rebuilding towers in virtually every business. The question of the hour: will such activity forever change the skyline of industry? The answer: absolutely.

Download PDF