Centralization can be well defined by the control and power that has always been in the hands of the big banks. After the crash of 2008, attempts were made to clip their wings but things just stayed the same. In a zero interest rate environment, large public companies borrowed cheaply from the bond market. Smaller businesses found it a lot more difficult to access funds and this stifled their growth potential.
But now, decentralization is coming to the forefront. Advances in technology allow companies to move away from a centralized environment to benefit greatly from being independent. Metaphorically, one could compare a decentralized organisation to a starfish. If you cut off its leg, it grows a new one, and the partial piece of leg can grow into a new starfish. There is no head or brain to consider.
When we look at an organisation which is decentralized, there is no weak point which can be focused on to bring it down. Some examples would be accommodation, driver-owned taxi services, e-marketplaces, Wikipedia and Craigslist. Outside of the internet there is, for example, Alcoholics Anonymous and the Mafia.
Let's compare Napstar and BitTorrent. The former had an easily identifiable server and could be shut down whilst the latter is decentralized and has no particular "place of business". That is why it is still around today.
Moving people, power and functions away from a central authority is a trend we see continuing. It is evident that the problems caused by centralization often result in decentralization taking place. In business it leads to management by results and for government programs, increases in efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved.
