If you feel inclined, I think a review of the rise of NOCs and their dependence on experienced specialists would be a fascinating topic.
It could also touch on the drivers of innovation, ie the R&D. I saw an article recently about companies hedging the risk of innovation by simply purchasing smaller companies that had developed innovations that worked!
They were in effect, capitalizing their R&D costs and growing their revenues by acquisition. This is a topic I had hinted at earlier in that I think DDI is a prime acquisition target at several times its current market cap due to the IP in the patented products and methods it owns.