Book Description

"Blog" is short for "Web log"—an online site with time-dated postings, maintained by one or more posters, that features links and commentary. But that is like saying a car is a means of transportation featuring four wheels. Millions are changing their habits when it comes to information acquisition, and the blogosphere has appeared so suddenly as to surprise even the most sophisticated of analysts. In Blog, best-selling author Hugh Hewitt helps you catch up with and get ahead of this phenomenon.

Up until now no influential blogger has written a definitive book about this phenomenon. Since Hugh Hewitt's blog site—HughHewitt—was launched in early 2002, more than 10 million people have visited this site. Why does this visitor traffic matter? People’s attentions are up for grabs. If you depend upon the steady trust of others, suddenly you have an audience waiting to hear from you. The race is underway, though, to gain mindspace and to be part of the blogosphere readers’ habits and to position yourself as well as your business or organization at the forefront of this information movement.

Book Description

Now in a completely updated and revised Fourth Edition, this highly readable book emphasizes the core data management skills needed to succeed in today's business environment. The book presents a real-world, management perspective and offers fully integrated coverage of data modeling and SQL.
* New chapter on future directions, including u-commerce.
* New material on data integration, data quality, and data schemas.
* Includes reference sections on data modeling and SQL.
* Presents the "big picture" of data management. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Good for a few lines on the resume
I have two sets of comments - one for students and one for professors.

Students first... Watson focuses primarily on the practical aspects of SQL in an organizational database environment. However, database theory is also taught fairly well through the many examples offered in the text. Students will have ample opportunity to hone their hands-on skills, and as such, should be confident enough to put a line on their resume for SQL/ Database skills by the time the course is over. Although the publisher's website offers little support beyond lecture slides, the author's personal website does offer more in this regard.

Now for professors... The book is organized well and is thorough in its coverage of SQL and organizational database applications. I don't think I have seen a better text for teaching SQL that wasn't explicitly an SQL text. For my part, though, I prefer a deductive approach to teaching database theory rather than the inductive approach preferred by the text. Also, I would have preferred some more support materials for instructors, such as an instructor CD with testbanks, cases, SQL code examples from the text and problems, etc. Although the author's personal website carries ample support materials, it would be nice to have a CD bundled with the text. The one glaring omission in the instructor support materials was that there doesn't seem to be a testbank available for this text!

Great Book!!
I had the good fortune of taking a data management class with Dr. Watson. He uses this book for an MBA level course on data management.He is an excellent teacher with a great sense of humor and it reflects very well in the way this book has been written.

Even though I had known SQL well and also bits and pieces of data modeling prior to taking the class, this book put it all together very nicely.

Data Modeling is taught from the perspective of a business analyst/manager. It covers virtually any type of business problem you may encounter and I guarantee that you won't find any more complex SQL queries in your real life than the ones this book covers at length. The SQL playbook is simply a great reference!!

I would highly recommend it to any business student or executive who has anything to do with data management.

Outstanding Textbook for teaching Data Modeling and SQL
By introducing data modeling and SQL together in gradually increasing level of complexity, this book introduces students to these subjects in an intuitive manner.

As a matter of fact, by the time the text covers those two subjects formally in later chapters, most of my students found it almost trivial. And by building on sound data modeling principles through out, the students learn good data modeling habits from the ground up.

If I have any complaints, its that when the topic of normalization is covered in a later chapter, my biggest problem is explaining to my students why anyone would have created tables that are not in second or third normal form in the first place!

Truly a joy to teach from.

Data modeling and SQL integrated
This is a beautiful, accessible, up to date, patient, didactic, and all in all a very good book. A Dutch teacher of databases since a long time, I never came across quite the right thing for my non-Dutch students until I found this one.
Watson is not a computer nerd. He appreciates the fact that data modeling problems are real-world problems. And the fact that modeling and SQL are two sides of the same coin: getting the data IN a database in order to get information FROM it. And that fact that databases operate in an organization, not in a vacuum.

Perfect balance of depth and breadth
This book is written not for nerds or for lovers of formalisms, but for generalists with a need to really manage data, be competent at designing databases and at using them. It is a bit verbose but reads like a novel. Very didactic, but the reference value could be improved. All in all, better than many books on databases that tend to be narrow-perspectived. Well worth buying. ... Read more

Amazon.co.uk

The Art of Deception is about gaining someone's trust by lying to them and then abusing that trust for fun and profit. Hackers use the euphemism "social engineering" and hacker-guru Kevin Mitnick examines many example scenarios.

After Mitnick's first dozen examples anyone responsible for organizational security is going to lose the will to live. It's been said before, but people and security are antithetical. Organizations exist to provide a good or service and want helpful, friendly employees to promote the good or service. People are social animals who want to be liked. Controlling the human aspects of security means denying someone something. This circle can't be squared.

Considering Mitnick's reputation as a hacker guru, it's ironic that the last point of attack for hackers using social engineering are computers. Most of the scenarios in The Art of Deception work just as well against computer-free organizations and were probably known to the Phoenicians; technology simply makes it all easier. Phones are faster than letters, after all, and having large organizations means dealing with lots of strangers.

Much of Mitnick's security advice sounds practical until you think about implementation, when you realize that more effective security means reducing organizationalefficiency--an impossible trade in competitive business. And anyway, who wants to work in an organization where the rule is "Trust no one"? Mitnick shows how easily security is breached by trust, but without trust people can't live and work together. In the real world, effective organizations have to acknowledge that total security is a chimera--and carry more insurance. --Steve Patient, amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (79)

Personalities aside, an original, entertaining, scary book
There's nothing new about debating a criminal's right to publish his story. Frank Abagnale Jr, hero of the excellent "Catch Me If You Can" movie, wrote two books about his escapades. Concentrate on the message, not the messenger, and you'll learn something from either Mitnick or Abagnale.

Mitnick's message is frightening: the easiest way to get what you want may be to ASK for it. "The Art of Deception" (TAOD) is built around dozens of realistic scenarios, showing how con men (and women) deceive victims and defeat security. It's easy to dismiss Mitnick's insights as trite. For example, it makes sense that "valuable information must be protected no matter what form it takes or where it is located. An organization's customer list has the same value whether in hardcopy form or an electronic file." (p. 227) This "Mitnick Message" seems obvious at first glance, but how many company's act on that truism?

"TAOD" shares technical, procedural, and psychological insights which aren't normally discussed by security personnel. Mitnick mentions secrets of the telecom system, like reprogramming caller ID on phone switches. He dances across company lines, shuttling information among secretaries, fax machines, voice mail, and other vulnerable parts of business life. His understanding of human nature shows he treats his craft seriously, believing security awareness is the best defense against social engineering. I found his "Security at a Glance" chapter indispensable, especially its 'Warning Signs of an Attack' and 'Responding to a Request for Information' sections.

Mitnick's security policy recommendations in chapter 16 appear to be squarely based on military information handling guidelines. I followed all of his ideas, like data classification, need to know, cover sheets, and so on, as a military intelligence officer in a top secret facility. The corporate world, particularly the financial sector, is implementing some of these practices already.

It's still too easy to defeat the technical defenses of many organizations. Those who do have their networks locked down leave social engineering and insider fraud as the best ways to steal information and money. As more organizations fall victim to "the art of deception," they will turn to the wisdom of books by Mitnick and others. While they won't follow Mitnick's advice to provide "copies of this book to all employees" (p. 257), they will learn how to improve their "human firewalls."

Scary Stuff
When I picked this book up, I thought it was going to be an apologia from Mitnick for his prior life's work: cracking into supposedly secure phone and computer systems and networks. I read the book just before Hallowe'en, and that was appropriate, because the stories Mitnick recounts are really scary. Instead of wasting words explaining his own actions, Mitnick gives scores of fascinating examples of how most "security" proved to be simply non-existent. In the end, all security systems depend on humans, and therein lies the weakest link. The books shows how easy it is to gain people's trust- over the phone- and by getting them to reveal little bits of seemingly harmless information, gaining complete control over any data the con man (or woman) wants to get.

The book sets out security policies, and there's also a whole chapter on security training. One of Mitnick's recommendations is for companies to supply each employee with a copy of the book. Normally I'd dismiss this as blatant self-promotion. But believe me, in this case, the more people share the book's stories with each other at the water cooler, the closer the company will come to being a secure environment.

Mitnick makes it clear that everyone in the company has to be aware of security issues, and of the many types of attacks he describes so well, and know how to react to any demand for information, even from someone who appears to be an insider. By the time you finished the book, you'll be a believer, and you'll think two or three times before giving out information. And company security officers may want to stop simply sending e-mails about security, and get all employees (including the receptionists!) into classroom training.

The only problem I had with this book was Mitnick's use of the term "social engineering" to describe the manipulation of employees and security systems. Social engineering is what the conservatives accuse the liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court of doing.

But that's a minor item in an otherwise overwhelming and totally convincing book.

Very boring. Not worth the time it takes to read
I bought this book based on the positive reviews here at Amazon. I was very disappointed. The book is nothing but a collection of anecdotes most of which are very much the same. Over and over the same little story is told with very little value. I read half this book then just couldn't do it anymore. It was horrible. To top it off Mitnick admits that these stories are fiction. A collection fictitious stories on how someone might dupe someone else to get their password. This Mitnick guy is just using his name to sell books. The content obviously doesn't matter to him. The first few little stories are amusing and then disappointment sets in as the rest of the book is basically the same little stories over and over with a name change here and there. Complete filler. For those of you that think this is a computer book - it is not. Nothing about computers here. Its all about social engineering aka "con games". The writing seems to be targeted towards teenagers. That or Mitnick is very immature.

Packed With Knowledge!
In The Art of Deception, Kevin D. Mitnick, a corporate security consultant who was once arrested for computer hacking, has written a fascinating book about how to control security lapses due to the "human element." With writer William L. Simon, he describes how con artists use social engineering to gain information by lying to pass themselves off as insiders. By being sensitive to human behavior and taking advantage of trust, they learn to bypass your security systems. The book teaches you how to ward off such threats and educate employees. Yet, problematically, this information could also help con artists be more sophisticated. In any case, this highly informative, engaging book includes sample conversations that open the door to information, along with tips about how various cons are used and what to do about them. We recommend this book to corporate officers, information managers, human resource getAbstract. directors and security personnel, but don't tell anybody.

A good eye-opener for business people
I'm a business person turned technical and have mixed opinions about this book. I would recommend it to people who have no awareness of how social engineering can compromise computer security above any physical security countermeasures.

It is repetitive in its warnings and examples, but one's reaction to that repetitiveness (boredom, apathy) only serves to illustrate how one can easily become a target of deception. One must analyze all social interactions within any high-security context to decrease security risk. This book emphasizes that a situation can actually be high-security without the average business person knowing it. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for the CIO Survival Guide

"This book makes all the right assumptions about where the partnership between business and technology should be going. CIO Survival Guide is right on target:get the infrastructure right and then leverage it for strategic and competitive advantage–and make sure that you use the language of business to sell your effectiveness and vision. CIOs and technology managers that take Schubert’s advice to heart will never again find themselves out in the corporate cold."
–Stephen J. Andriole, PhD
Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology, Villanova University
Former CTO and senior vice president of technology strategy at CIGNA Corp.

"Dr. Schubert weeds through the many possible leadership priorities that challenge this as—yet—undefined executive position and its responsibilities.Simply put, organizations that hire CIOs to merely deliver profit—motivated, silver—bullet technology will not survive in the long—term; organizations must hire CIOs that first and foremost understand the business as a strategic partner and who use an organizational network of partnerships to leverage the right technology at the right time. This book guides IT professionals at all levels to become such a person, and it provides concrete ways for CEOs, CFOs, and other non—IT executives to size up their current or prospective CIOs."
–Joe and Catherine Stenzel
Editors in chief, Cost Management
Authors of CFO Survival Guide: Plotting the Course to Financial Leadership ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Follow the path to success
I have a single quibble with this outstanding book, and that is the title, "CIO Survival Guide", implies a reactive approach, while the book is totally focused on a proactive approach that will assure the success of any CIO who follows Schubert's excellent advice.

From the first pages, where the new CIO is given ten key questions to ask the CEO to establish his of her role with clarity, to the steps to build a functioning IT organization that is aligned to business imperatives, this book is on target every step of the way.

In a nutshell, Schubert leads you through relationship building, how to lead as well as manage, prioritization and resource management, and strategy formulation and decision making. These are critical success factors for any CxO position, but are too often lacking in CIOs. By following the advice on gaining a focus and unifying business and technology competencies you'll establish yourself as a valued member of the CxO team. More importantly, the advice provided in Chapter 4, Connecting IT to Value Creation, is not only the true key to success, but is the key to proving the value of IT to business - this is the one area where most CIOs and their IT organizations fall short, yet Schubert manages to distill all you need to know in a single chapter.

This is the best book I've read on the roles and responsibilities of a CIO. Too many books on this subject are more about small-to-medium businesses and focus too much on managing technology instead of managing to shareholder value and business operation support. I strongly recommend this book as a primary reference, and also recommend "CIO Wisdom: Best Practices from Silicon Valley" (ISBN 0131411152), which is a collection of articles by successful CIOs that nicely augment this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Information Technology and Management, Second Edition by Thompson and Cats-Baril is not just an introduction to information technology; rather, it is an introduction to business processes and the information systems that can make these processes more effective. The book covers the traditional topics of information technology, information system components, and information system development.But it goes beyond this traditional coverage, showing how businesses function and how information systems enable businesses to function more effectively.The theme of IT and organizational responsiveness has been retained, but now centers on the context of how an information system can impact the competitiveness of an organization. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Book
I thought this book did an excellent job of describing the aspects of Information Technology.It was clearly written and easy to read.I also thought the CD did a great job also, though it was a little tricky to navigate around, at first.My only regret is I cannot get my boss to read it.He's a Technophobe. ... Read more

Book Description

Are you one of many new IT managers with limited managerial experience?Are you a technician or programmer contemplating a move into IT management?Or, has your technical position evolved to include significant management responsibilities?

The IT Manager's Handbook provides essential information to help you manage your new responsibilities.This unique book provides a guide to help you create budgets, manage projects, evaluate technology and hire and motivate personnel.The authors provide sound advice to equip you with an overall, winning strategy for success.

* Provides practical, easily accessible management advice specifically for new IT managers.
* Organizes information modularly, so you can delve directly into the topics that you need to understand.
* Brings you up-to-speed on the business practices that are most critical to effective IT operations: recruiting, resource planning, working with vendors, and more.
* Provides a unique management perspective on the technical issues with the heaviest business ramifications: e-commerce, remote access, system security, LAN/WAN management, intranets, disaster recovery, and more.
* Includes pointers to additional resources, on the Web and in print, that you can turn to for more information on particular topics. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Very basic
This book is written only for the very basic beginner in IT. If you have been around an IT department for any length of time, you will find it difficult to pick up any new management thoughts in this book. For example, the entire topic of ERP systems is covered in 2 pages.

The more things change, the more they stay the same
Technology can change all it wants but the fundamentals of being a good IT Manager have changed very little. This book hits all the major areas of focus from staffing and budgeting to infrastructure and disaster recovery.

The section entitled "Certification: How Do I Know Its Worth" applied 10 years ago, and still applies today. Right on the money and a good brief for an IT Manager building a team. Also, small but extremently important policy issues like email and security are included.

I do think that the book included slightly heavy doses of technical information such as a full page table of different memory technologies as well as an entire section entitled "How Do I Configure a Server". These would service a Network Administrator or Engineer just fine but an IT Manager ? Not so much. Don't let this detract you from the overall picture though. Too much information is certainly better than not enough.

I have to be honest, I didn't read this cover to cover. But for someone who has spent time as an IT Manager in the past and one who is looking at doing it again, I was able to re-establish concepts and draw on new tools that, no doubt, provided benefits.

full of practical examples!
This book is full of practical examples. It is useful to people who have in-depth programming knowledge but no idea how to do a budget or interview job candidates. I found this book specially timely, given that my team is composed of several technical professionals who are now considering a move into management. The information in the book is well layed out and quite accessible.

Well Written and Long Overdue
I am an IT Manager with over twenty years of experience. I believe that the authors do a great job in covering all of the necessary topics, yet even a seasoned manager can pick up some new stuff in here. I have not previously seen a book written for new IT Managers. I highly recommend it. The transition from a technical role to management is often difficult - this is well documented. This book will make that change easier. I plan on making it required reading for my direct reports who are new managers.

Learned nothing
I am a Systems Administrator by trade and have been given the reins ofa 12 person tech staff including Network, Systems and DatabaseAdministrators and Web Developers in an ASP for Telecom. I need helpwith the management aspect of this job, not help choosing my laptopcomputer or the classic pitches that we geeks are used to giving tonon technical people about backups and network security (ie: How muchdowntime can you afford ?)

This book might be aimed to another kindof person than I. It might be aimed at a manager that is new to IT,but this book is very light on content for a person who is seasoned inIT but new to management.

I walked out of the book store with"Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams" and"Creating High Performance Software DeleopmentTeams"... Even though we are do not do development it seemed toapply. I enjoyed my last Amazon purchase, "The Mythical ManMonth", very much. ... Read more

Book Description

The Complete Guide to Competitive Intelligence is an invaluable source for the CI professional.Far-ranging in scope, comprehensive in detail, it establishes a blueprint for conducting the entire competitive intelligence process from start to finish.This 300-page book provides you with all the methodology necessary to gather and analyze intelligence, establish networks, conduct intelligence interviews, and more.Plus, it offers detailed instruction on designing and implementing a corporate CI process that can operate as an integral function of a corporation, company, division or an individual business unit. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Provides strong, direct, and user-friendly help
This book is derived from the workbook that Kirk Tyson developed for (and from) his global workshops over many years. This second edition is a little longer than the first, which I reviewed for the Competitive Intelligence Review, vol. 9(4), October-December 1998. It is still a document that provides strong, direct, and user-friendly help, particularly for the organization starting up, or considering starting up, its own CI unit.

As with the first edition, the book is carefully done, with an easy style, walking the reader through the entire process of CI. Given the strengths of the first book, Kirk did not have to "reinvent the wheel." He took a solid work, made a few changes to update it, added some additional charts, and replaced the entire 15 page "published sources" appendix.

What I think is most helpful is that it reflects Kirk's clear desire to give his readers something which they can use - and use right away.

The book includes direct, easily understood lessons throughout, such as "No published information should be accepted at face value....[P]ublished information should not be used for intelligence purpose until it has been confirmed with non-published sources." (p. 8-1). This warning is not an over-simplification. As Kirk says, it (and all of the other important lessons throughout) reflects his experience with hundreds of assignments.

Kirk provides in the text, and also in PowerPoint on the two accompanying disks, a set of overheads to help a new CI unit improve CI awareness within the company. These were provided on disk with the First Edition and are, as far as I know, still a unique feature. While the overheads should be adapted for each individual situation, the set provides a quick start for the individual who has to make a presentation - tomorrow - on the company's need for CI. And not only are the overheads direct and useful, there are many other helpful items, including many forms, also provided on the disks. That touch makes the adaptation of these forms smooth and relatively seamless.

Overall, the book's strength is that it reflects both Kirk's broad experience in CI as well as his personal vision of its place in the development and implementation of corporate strategy, about which he has earlier written so well.

For those starting a CI unit from scratch, or just thinking about it, I highly recommend the second edition of this thorough and lucid work.

Excellent for those who manage the CI function
There is a 2nd edition available now. Tyson's COMPLETE GUIDE is my first choice for a text that supports the instructional objectives of the capstone (graduate) CI course at Drexel University. The needs analysis portion of the text differentiates between specific CI needs at the strategic, tactical and operational levels of an organization. Through efficient discussion and extensive forms and examples, Tyson provides guidance in acquiring and distributing CI in a form that meets the learning styles and information needs of the users.

This handbook will surely frustrate those who are looking for a tutorial in the "basic" analytical skills of CI, but CI is an applied professional discipline that is grounded in the fundamental and technical knowledge of many other disciplines. Since Drexel's CI students are working professionals who often have advanced degrees in business and related scientific and technical discipline, what they need--and this book quite efficiently provides--is a managerial overview of the CI process.

I chose this text after extensive review of numerous trade and academic publications. I have not been sorry--and a number of my students have thanked me for using it. ... Read more

Book Description

Understand what managing information technology means, why you need to do it well, and how best to do it. If you manage information technology, or work with people that do, you need to understand the management process. IT Management is complex, so what is needed is a clear, logical approach to the subject.

This book provides that approach.

Build your knowledge of IT Management and its relationship with the rest of IT and the business.

Understand how economic fundamentals impact the management of IT and how this forms the basis of the IT/business relationship.

Learn what motivates IT people and their business customers. Use this information to manage better.

Use the Simple IT Management Model to put the IT process into focus.

Understand problem and change management.

Find out how to choose the best IT Management tools. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Simplicity!
This book took what would have otherwise been a complex subject and simplified it to my level of understanding.

Sensible approach and excellent presentation of essentials
The simple model that is described in this book is straightforward and represents a viable, effective starting place for establishing process-oriented management. However, in my opinion the best features of this book are found in the chapters on fundamental knowledge and background material.

Section One, in particular, is one of the most readable and accurate summaries of the economics of IT management I've ever read. If this section alone was read and understood by IT managers and consultants, and then put into practice it would go a long way towards improving the way IT supports their business constituents. The material covers subtle and not-so-subtle aspects of investing in the right initiatives for the right reasons, and will cause any IT professional to alter the way they view their role in an enterprise.

Psychology of IT management covered in Section Two is equally valuable. It accurately portrays the separation of concerns of both IT and business, then provides tools and techniques for aligning the two. Entire books have been devoted to this subject area, yet the author manages to capture all of the important points in a mere 26 pages.

The sections on understanding problems and understanding change also stand out as exceptionally well-written recipes for managing two key elements of any process-oriented approach to IT management. The material in these two sections are directly applicable to anyone who is involved with implementing an operational model based on the ITIL.

While the model presented in this book is not 100% consistent with the ITIL, it is close enough, and if properly implemented will give a solid foundation for an ITIL-based operations management paradigm.

If you work in IT operations this book is one best investments you can make. It's short enough to be quickly read, and is rich in knowledge and techniques.

Simple, but not simplistic - essential for all IT pros
I was privileged to first read this book when it was in manuscript form. My take on it then was that it provided a collection of proven tools and techniques, and a structured and straightforward approach to applying them. In its final form I stand by my original assessment.

In less than 200 pages the author sets forth all of the key ingredients for successfully managing information technology. He starts by laying the foundation with well-written sections on the economics and psychology of IT management. These two sections clearly explain to managers and those who aspire to management how to think in business terms when approaching problems or starting initiatives, and how to bridge the wide IT-business chasm by examining IT's technology focus and what is important to business, then marrying the two together.

The meat of this book is in Section Three, which introduces the IT management model - topics covered include business processes, tools, the relationship between processes and tools, instrumentation, management data and information, and action resolution. I especially liked the table on page 94 that summarizes the mapping between major industry models and the simple model proposed by the author. This table compares and contrasts the simple model to the ISO network management model's five management areas (FCAPS), the TMN model and the ITIL. I like this because the major industry models require a significant investment in resources to implement, and by starting with the author's simple model a foundation is established with less effort and resources, then when it is running steady state the more sophisticated models can be implemented in a structured fashion.

Each of the subsequent sections augment the simple model by delving into details of understanding problems (framing them correctly within the context of a process), understanding change (which includes all of the key elements of an effective change management process), issues and special cases, and how to select management tools.

Overall this book covers the basics in a balanced manner that keeps technology and business issues and requirements in balanced perspective. Regardless of whether you are a software engineer, IT manager, network or systems engineer, or a consultant, this book will give you a solid foundation of knowledge, and a recipe for success that are sorely needed in our industry. ... Read more

Book Description

This book heralds a breakthrough that redefines competitive advantage for the next fifty years. Don't bridge the business-IT divide: Obliterate it! The book is the first authoritative analysis of how third-wave business process management (BPM) changes everything in business and what it portends. While the vision of process management is not new, existing theories and systems have not been able to cope with the reality of business processes --until now. This book describes a radical, simplifying shift in process thinking and technology that utterly transforms today's information systems and reduces the lag between management intent and execution.

A process-managed enterprise makes agile course corrections, embeds Six Sigma quality and reduces cumulative costs across the value chain. It pursues strategic initiatives with confidence, including mergers, consolidation, alliances, acquisitions, outsourcing and global expansion. Process management is the only way to achieve these objectives with transparency, management control and accountability. The process-managed enterprise grasps control of business processes and communicates with a universal process language that enables partners to execute on shared vision --to understand each other's operations in detail, jointly design processes and manage the entire lifecycle of their business improvement initiatives.

Process management is not another form of automation, a new killer-app or a fashionable new management theory. With the third-wave BPM breakthrough and its solid mathematical underpinnings, business processes can now be unhindered by the constraints of existing IT systems. Short on stories and long on insight and practical information, this book will help your business become the company of the future, the real-time enterprise, the fully digitized corporation --the process-managed enterprise. The book also offers continually updated information and a dialog with the authors at its Web site. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Validation from my real-world experience for this book!
We have collectively read "BPM, the Third Wave" in our BPMS (Business Process Management System) company and can validate through literally hundreds of engagements we have had with leading companies that Fingar and Smith are both pragmatic and prophetic in their analysis.

Bottom line: this book is a great resource to understand the BPM space.

Don't be afraid of some of the supporting concepts that are there simply to logically prove their hypothesis. (Six Sigma, Process calculi, BPML, Pi-Calculus, etc. - each one is a book in it's own right!) While critical, they are not the core point of the book -- the coming transformation of where business value is going to be generated is.

Little note from the field...technology people are starting to really get it, and end up loving BPM once they actually see and work with one -- and are more empowered than ever to impact the organizations where they work because they can focus on VALUE ADDED tasks.

A true BPMS can get everyone involved in a business process focused on adding value, and that is the best job security you can ask for.

Smith and Fingar do not demonize the role of the IT professional in this book...they simply redefine it in a way that makes perfect sense. In fact, it is obvious in our experience that if you understand and implement a BPM strategy that everyone's role is enhanced from the business side to the IT side.

"Obliterating the IT/Business Divide" is not overstating it at all...

Why should a business analyst (or any process owner) be forced to educate an application programmer on the multiple facets of a given business process, which then gets translated to a programming team, that then gets built into a technology stack, (new or extended) - put into production...only to find out that all of that investment was wasted because a key business condition changed, or worse? (And we wonder where all the money went...)

If you are an IT professional, it is critical you read and understand what is being said in this book so you can proactively manage your career to be that value-added player.

If you are coming at this from the business side...dramatic and sustainable competitive advantage is available to you as a result of BPM if you can grasp it.

Revenge of the non-technical business manager
"Business Process Management - the third wave" is aimed at experienced business leaders scouting the economic horizon. The book is buzzword heavy and assumes a great deal of prior knowledge. Terms like lambda calculus, process calculi, PKI, six sigma and BPML are scattered throughout and not generally explained. The authors make a rather poor attempt at explaining Business Process Modeling Language (BPML), which lies at the heart of BPM (BPML is similar in format to XML and generates flowcharts), but otherwise you're on your own.

The overall tone of the book is abrasive. Smith and Fingar rail against "technology gods" and "cast in concrete" data stovepipes. They lament the disruptive and "painful reengineering" second wave advocated by their former colleague, James Champy. They see the main differentiator of BPM as being its ability to connect outwards to partner businesses.

What Smith and Fingar hope to achieve with business process engineering is to cut IT entirely out of the business change loop. They envisage being able to completely describe all business processes in BPML diagrams - down to the "Coke" machine's inputs (coins) and outputs (cans of soda). This way, business managers need never deal with IT folk again, and they can outsource entire processes by exposing the relevant sections of BPML to subcontractors.

It's truly hard to tell from the book how much of this is blue sky and how much is part of the trend already underway. Either way it behooves anyone who might be in a position to benefit from BPM -- or to get trampled by the BPM steamroller -- to familiarize themselves with the subject.

Waste of time
BPM is solution for all problem businesses facing today: from Snow White animation to unknown changes of next 50 years -- that's the description, comments, history reivew and the coclusion from Chapter one to Chapter nine. The "why" and "how" are missed. Too bad.

Pure Fecal Matter - a Waste of paper, ink, and time
This book is horrendous. The whole concept of BPM and all the consultant idiots who run aound extolling its virtues are just a bunch of people trying to seize the next silver bullet of IT.

BPM has nothing to do with implementation and has everything to do with spending money on crap. Isn't this just workflow revisited.

There are no silver bullets. If you see anyone on your staff reading this crap, talking about this crap, or trying to get you to buy this crap, fire them immediately before they become a cancer to your organization and ruin any chance of getting even one iota of work completed.

BPM is pure pie-in-the-sky garbage.

Lots of proselytizing, little guidance
I got about 100 pages into this book and checked the cover to see if I was reading an L. Ron Hubbard book. There was a lot of trumpeting of the party line "The third wave of BPM is not a fantasy ... or hype. For BPM, like other true breakthroughs, is based in the mathematics ... as opposed to static relational data". Praise the Lord, I'm saved!
There's only one chapter on implementation, and even that provides very generalized guidelines - start small, prove the concept, pat yourself on the back in these ways. Admittedly the audience is so general as to set the lowest common denominator pretty low, but the argument is pretty simple: the old way of provisioning services in IT is restrictive and inefficient. If that's the case, could we not expect to see a glimpse of the new IT business processes that support a BPM management model and encourage its adoption?
If you need to be convinced that managing your environment to your business processes is a good idea, this book delivers that message loud and clear. If you're a believer, though, it does little to put you on the path to salvation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Every year, companies spend billions of dollars on training programs and management consultants, searching for ways to improve. But it's mostly all talk and no action, according to Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, authors of The Knowing-Doing Gap. "Did you ever wonder why so much education and training, management consultation, organizational research and so many books and articles produce so few changes in actual management practice?" ask Stanford University professors Pfeffer and Sutton. "We wondered, too, and so we embarked on a quest to explore one of the great mysteries in organizational management: why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge." The authors describe the most common obstacles to action---such as fear and inertia---and profile successful companies that overcome them.

Among the companies that Pfeffer and Sutton say do it right: General Electric, the Men's Wearhouse, SAS Institute, Southwest Airlines, Toyota, and British Petroleum. The book, based on four years of research, is broken into chapters with titles such as "When Talk Substitutes for Action," "When Fear Prevents Acting on Knowledge," "When Internal Competition Turns Friends into Enemies," and "Turning Knowledge into Action." Each chapter contains tips on what to do and what to avoid, and provides examples of how a lethargic company culture can be transformed. The Knowing-Doing Gap is a useful how-to guide for managers looking to make changes. Yet, as Pfeffer and Sutton point out, it takes more than reading their book or discussing their recommendations. It takes action. --Dan Ring ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Not really applicable to small companies
This book is not so much about knowing-doing gap as about how things are done in big traditional hierarchical organization. I doubt that there are many small entrepreneurial companies that have similar problems.

When talk replaces action - when there are too many people in the company whose sole job is "analyzing", "monitoring" and "controlling". No wonder that their performance is measured by talking, presenting and writing. In a company of 10 people nobody would tolerate a "talker" for more than several days.

When memory replaces thinking - on the whole that's not a bad thing because we are talking about experience and intuition here. Big corporations have so much "memory" that they don't need to think much about anything. Actually in such cultures as Japanese intellect and formal knowledge are almost synonyms.

When measurements prevent good judgment - measurements are needed when real-life results and actual work are set too much apart. In small companies you simply deliver or not.

All other major key points of the book are also applicable mostly to big companies and don't explain why in small companies knowing - doing gap exists. Maybe because thinking replaces memory?

Contemporary Update on Change Management
'The Knowing-Doing Gap' describes the barriers to turning knowledge or strategy into action based upon surveys, interviews, and case-study evidence spanning many sectors. The problem: US companies annually spend over US$100 billion on training and consulting often failing to improve operations.

The well-referenced and presented chapters span:

* knowing "what" is not enough- evidence, measuring & significance of the knowing-doing gap, and knowledge management projects.

* when talk substitutes for action- presentations, documents, mission statements, planning, smart-talk, smart negative people, business school 'bad' training, and complexity & jargon (remedies described include working leaders, simplicity, vocabulary).

* when memory is a substitute for thinking- convention & consistency, culture, history, and need for cognitive closures.

* when fear prevents acting on knowledge- fear as management and the remedies.

* when measurement obstructs good judgement- problematic measures, short-term financial focus, over-complexity, and in-process versus outcome measures (remedy- simplicity & focus on critical elements).

* when internal competition turns friends into enemies- undermining loyalty & teamwork & knowledge sharing, and significance of interdependence.

* firms that surmount the knowing-doing gap- British Petroleum, Barclays Global Investors, and New Zealand Post.

* turning knowledge into action- 8 guidelines including- company philosophy, knowing from doing and teaching others how, action counts more than elegant plans & concepts, forgiving mistakes from action, drive out fear, fight external competitors, measure what matters, and lead by example.

Weakness include the subjectively dry "unemotional/unengaging" style of writing; the verbatim repetition of some sections in different chapters (perhaps a re-edit could reduce page count by 25% without losing content); occasional errors in use of sector-specific jargon; and relatively shallow treatment of significant subject- perhaps a deeper follow-up text with case-study evidence of whether the recommendations actually work together is due? Also the book neglects attention to dot.com enterprises- which are through self-fulfilling prophecies- transforming the global business landscape.

Overall a timely text, addressing a real-problem, that is worth shelf-space. Despite that, to this reviewer there were no new 'aha' moments- as the findings/recommendations repeated many already existing in change management business texts spanning the last 3 decades.

too lengthy but good ideas
I like the writings of Bob Sutton and had high expectations when I read this book but was somewhat disappointed for a couple of reasons. First, the book is about a number of (very good) ideas, which could have been brought across in much fewer pages. After some pages, the same couple of thoughts about the same couple of companies become repetitive. Secondly, as with many management books, there tends to be black and white but not much gray (eg where the authors interview employees and where you get a sense that the output is very one-sided). But in business, there's a lot of gray, and true understanding is often about the nuances.
Nevertheless, the book is strong where it's about unconventional approaches and makes good, albeit sometimes light, reading.

How wide is yours?
With few exceptions, the most valuable business books are those in which their authors share the results of efforts to answer especially important questions. That is certainly true of this book. As Pfeffer and Sutton explain, "We wrote this book because we wanted to understand why so managers know so much about organizational performance, say so many smart things about how to achieve performance, and work so hard, yet are trapped in firms that do so many things they know will undermine performance." Obviously, knowing what to do is not enough. Inorder to identify the causes of what they refer to as the "knowing-doing gap," Pfeffer and Sutton embarked on a four-year research project.

What they learned is shared in this exceptionally informative and thus invaluable book. They organize their material within eight chapters, followed by an appendix in which they provide "The Knowing-Doing Survey." This survey of restaurant managers all by itself is worth far more than the cost of the book. The items to which participants respond can easily be modified to accommodate any other kind of business. Moreover, even in small privately-owned companies, it will enable decision-makers to measure the nature and extent of their own "knowing-doing gap."

Pfeffer and Sutton correctly point out that knowing (in italics) about that gap is different from doing (in italics) something about it. "Understanding causes is helpful because such understanding can guide action. But by itself, this knowing is insufficient -- action must occur." Most executives may not be able to eliminate the gap entirely but, guided and informed by what Prefer and Sutton reveal in this book, they can at least reduce the gap. Moreover, those with supervisory responsibilities will also be able to help reduce the gap for each of those for whom they are responsible.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Sydney Finkelstein's Why Smart Executives Fail...and What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes as well as Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done.

Turn knowledge and talk into action.
Pfeffer and Sutton caught my interest immediately in The Knowing-Doing Gap by telling the story of a major U.S. Bank who had hired 5 consulting firms in six years who made the same recommendation based on the same data. But, the recommendations had never been implemented. With billions spent on consulting, and countless M.B.A.'s in the workforce, it is amazing how much we know as compared to what we actually deliver.

As an HR person, I often struggle to find out why some people and organizations are able to get things done while others simply talk about things and cannot deliver results. It is often our role to lead the leaders and to help build the capability of our people. The authors examine the reasons why we often fail to do what we know needs to be done. We substitute talk for action, we rely on imitation or memory of the past as a substitution for new thinking, an atmosphere of fear prevents acting on what we know, we rely too heavily on measurement systems that obstruct judgment and common sense, and we compete internally instead of externally.

Several examples of companies who have demonstrated the ability to turn knowledge into action are described including British Petroleum, Barclays Global Investors, and the New Zealand Post.

After establishing that the knowing-doing gap is an important problem that must be overcome, the authors give eight guidelines for action:

1. Why before How: Philosophy is Important.
2. Knowing Comes from Doing and Teaching Others How.
3. Action Counts More Than Elegant Plans and Concepts.
4. There is No Doing without Mistakes. What is the company's Response?
5. Fear Fosters Knowing-Doing Gaps, So Drive Out Fear.
6. Beware of False Analogies: Fight the Competition, Not Each Other.
7. Measure What Matters and What Can Help Turn Knowledge into Action.
8. What Leaders Do, How They Spend their Time and How they Allocate Resources, Matters.

An easier read than Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution, The Knowing-Doing Gap gives us a better understanding of organizational processes that stand in the way of real results. The solution relies on actually turning knowledge into action. Each chapter gives solid advice which if followed will yield actionble results.

While written for the general business reader, Human resources professionals will find many ways to assist our business partners in overcoming lots of talk and no action or results. There are suggestions for overcoming obstacles, communication, leadership behavior, driving a productive corporate culture, and overcoming past behavior that is counter productive. ... Read more

Book Description

* Concepts are presented in clear, non-technical jargon.
* Presents proven strategies for integrating IT with business strategies to create competitive advantages for organizations.
* Current readings and Web links bring basic issues up to date with examples of how successful managers implement IT. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good Choice
I chose to recommend this book to my undergraduate students taking my "Managing Information Technology" course. My colleagues and I have found that most MIS books focus more on the components of information systems or on their strategic use - and they miss the middle (management) ground entirely.

"Managing and Using IS" covers the basics only in brief. It then devotes itself to key, mid-level, management issues most important for understanding the IS organization, its components, and associated issues. This book goes into greater detail than other MIS books.

This is a basic book and quite an asset to students struggling to learn about IS organizations and their management. Unfortunately, it is grossly overpriced. At this writing, I am tempted to simply modify the book's topic outline and allow my students to conduct their own research into these issues. Such an approach would foster some really interesting classroom discussions, build valuable research skills...

If you'd rather spend the money and have the static information handed to you, then this book will not disappoint. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Information Governance
Jane Carbone provides a practical guide to implementing Enterprise Architecture. The book is drawn from Jane's extensive experience of developing enterprise and data architectures.

It defines a best practice Enterprise Architecture approach using the Zachman Framework. The book is organised to describe:

1. A business framework for collecting and analysing key enterprise business information. This entails defining current and target business states and, identifying gaps and opportunities.

2. An IT framework for translating business opportunities into plans. This entails defining principles, models, listing key IT resources and standards.

3. An implementation framework for delivering Enterprise Architecture projects. This entails identifying, selecting and prioritising projects.

4. Key implementation activities including defining and establishing metrics, gaining buy-in from executives and IT staff and, detailing governance processes for enabling compliance.

5. Key architecture processes, roles and human resource policies.

6. Enterprise Architecture deliverables. This includes: the IT plan (updated at least annually); an annual financial plan for IT; a project architecture assessment; a quarterly update and presentations.

This book is an asset to anyone who is grappling with the implementation of an Enterprise Architecture capability within a large organisation. It provides a holistic view of information governance centred around data. It is particularly relevant for people engaging in regulatory and compliance initiatives such as Sarbannes Oxley and Basel II.

Lastly, Jane has written a handbook for practitioners, it is written in a clear and concise manner. It exudes the experience of someone who has learnt Enterprise Architecture the hard way!

Practical, Achievable Enterprise Architecture
Finally - a book about Enterprise Architecture that steers clear of theoretical discourse and provides a practical, useable and clearly achievable approach! The components of the Toolkit are formidable and pragmatic - the guidelines and advice on Architecture Models (chapter 7) and Project Implementation (chapter 10) alone are worth the price of the book. And I was delighted to see data given equal time with functions and platform - this is an area that so many IT architecture plans either totally miss or grossly underestimate. But it's the lessons learned (provided throughout the book) that really drive the points home.

Ms Carbone's conversational style makes the approach seem more credible and the examples more resonant - it's the literary equivalent of standing around the water cooler and discussing the latest IT strategy, warts and all! This is ultimately a good thing, because it's presented in a constructive fashion - it makes the reader assess not only how they approach IT architecture, but also the pre-conceived notions they have about it, and provides realistic solutions to typical roadblocks. Ultimately, this book should be required reading for both IT architects and their business clients, because it provides a common understanding of IT Architecture's purpose and the important role that each group plays.

Enterprise Architectre planning made easy
This book is the first that succinctly get to the heart of enterprise architecture, the benefits, the reason to take the time to plan. This book is perfect for both the business side of the house and the IT community to come together and realize the benefits of doing it right the first time. This book will never leave your desk and will serve as the model for everyone to use and follow.

Pragmatic addition to body of knowledge
I've used a number of approaches to architecture, including the Zachman Framework, the RUP 4+1, SEI's ATAM, and a plethora of others. I was skeptical that this book was going to add anything of value to the art and practice of architecture. I was wrong. This book gives a realistic approach to architecture. Better, with minor tailoring it can be applied to any of the more mainstream methodologies, and does so because it is a toolkit of methods more than a formal methodology. Of course, if you are not using one of the plethora of architecture methodologies, this book's approach will also serve nicely as a standalone methodology as well.

The approach is based on "Infomajic Enterprise Architecture Toolkit", which was developed by the author's company (Infomajic). In some ways the approach is a scaled down version of the Zachman Framework - indeed, there is a fairly detailed comparison between the two starting on page 11.

There are three main stages to the architecture toolkit, (1) connecting the architecture to business, (2) developing the architecture itself, and (3) implementation strategies. The latter is what sets this book apart from many which focus on 'fun' stuff and gloss over the gory details associated with implementation. Each step within these three stages are thoroughly discussed in great detail, yet the author's brisk writing style makes even the most mundane aspects highly readable.

Key aspects of this book that I particularly like include copious real world examples, width and depth of the content, and outstanding use of charts and tables to convey information. In addition to the detailed approach in the body of the book, the nine appendices are invaluable aids, ranging from interview outlines, to estimating work effort guidelines, to sample job descriptions and architecture assessment workshop outlines.

Regardless of which architecture methodology you are using (or are committed to using), you'll gain many useful ideas from this book. If you are searching for a viable methodology, this one is complete and has been proven in the real world.

Practical Approach
This book offers a straightforward approach to IT architecture and a very practical framework for implementation. ... Read more

Book Description

A quick and reliable way to build proven databases for core business functions
Industry experts raved about The Data Model Resource Book when it was first published in March 1997 because it provided a simple, cost-effective way to design databases for core business functions. Len Silverston has now revised and updated the hugely successful First Edition, while adding a companion volume to take care of more specific requirements of different businesses. Each volume is accompanied by a CD-ROM, which is sold separately. Each CD-ROM provides powerful design templates discussed in the books in a ready-to-use electronic format, allowing companies and individuals to develop the databases they need at a fraction of the cost and a third of the time it would take to build them from scratch.
With each business function boasting its own directory, this CD-ROM provides a variety of data models for specific implementations in such areas as financial services, insurance, retail, healthcare, universities, and telecom. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Also buy Volume 2!
This is an excellent companion to Volume 1 and well worth the cost for not only the book, but also the industry specific CDs. There is a separate CD for each industry specific data model, however it wouldn't take long for a person to buy just the book and end up spending more in man-hours trying to create the data model from the book, which isn't a very good use of your time. Buy the CD also.

My organization found this book a tremendous help on one of our projects. The time saved on just one project will more than pay for the book and CD.

This is not a how-to for data modeling, however I believe it should be purchased along with your how-to book if you are interested in learning

I know there are other universal data models available. However the others I've seen are either very simple, don't have a CD, and don't have near the content as these models, or they are unbelievably expensive.

The Next Step for the Hardcore Database Developer
Universal data models (such as those in Silverston's Data Model Resource Book (Volume 1)) provide a head start when developing applications.

Translating these models from abstract concepts to real-world applications hasn't always been easy. In this book, Silverston has taken the first step by publishing industry-specific versions of his models.

This volume has specific models for Manufacturing, TeleCommunications, Heath Care, Insurance, Financial Services, Professional Services, Travel and E-Commerce. Each model has a detailed discussion of how the universal model was adapted for the industry.

It's easier to edit an existing model than create one from scratch. I don't get paid by the hour, so I expect that my copy of this book will become well-worn and dog-eared.

Excellent, best practice industry data models!
This book provides an extremely comprehensive and useful set of industry data models. They have been a tremendous value to us by allowing us to reference best-practice designs on our projects as well as being able to save a great deal of time by not having to re-invent the wheel for standard data modeling structures. The models are extremely well thought out and offer insight into both effective ways of modeling as well as pitfalls to be careful of. The author shows extensive knowledge and expertise in the various industries that are provided. We have used many of the models from the health care, insurance, professional services and e-commerce models to give us a kick-start on data modeling projects as well as to double check our designs and make sure we didn't overlook anything important and we did end up modifying and improving many of our data models based upon ideas from this book.

The books offers an optional electronic download of the SQL for each industry for $400 but this is not at all necessary to benefit from the templates offered in the book because the book provides detailed data model constructs showing everything necessary to implement the models including primary and foreign key structures, attributes, relationship and attribute optionality, cardinalities of relationships, full explanations of the rationale behind each model, and even data examples for most of the models and attributes. We licensed the electronic download also and it saved us some time instead of having to manually enter the models from the book, however, the book without the electronic downloads is complete in and of itself, and it is amazing that one can buy an extensive library of industry data models for the cost of this book!

What a time saver and valuable resource!
My copy of both volume 1 and volume 2 have been referenced so many times that they are tattered and worn, but such a valuable resource on all my projects. Whenever I contemplate a design, I first look at this book and, more often than not, I get ideas and best practices on ways to model the construct. I have successfully re-used designs from both volume 1 and 2 and have applied models from both of these books towards the modeling of many industries including distribution, manufacturing, telecommunications, health care, financial services and professional services.

I have found that the models provided are very relevant, re-usable, and of very high quality. They also provide all the details necessary to create physical database designs. They include entities, keys (primary and foreign), relationships (named), attributes, and the appendices include a complete listing and cross referencing of the entities and attributes, which entities are used in which diagrams (in volume 2), and domains that specify the data type and suggested lengths for each attribute. The book provides clear explanations as to why the models are modeled a certain way as well as includes data examples showing the specific instances of data that could be stored in these models.

The data models offered are at what I would consider a mid level of abstraction. Therefore, they offer a good level of flexibility without being overly abstract. The author will use very useful abstractions such as a "party", "product", "agreement" and "work effort" (with many specific subtypes of these entities as they apply to the various industries) but he does not go overboard by including overly generic concepts like "item" "activity", or "thing" entities. What I really like is that the author will often show multiple ways of modeling the same construct and show the pros and cons of the different ways to model a construct. Sometimes specific data modeling constructs are shown and sometimes more abstract entity models are shown.

Both the volume 1 common models and volume 2 industry models have not only saved me time by being able to re-use the constructs, but they have offered some perspectives that did not occur to me and have literally been a life saver to me on many a project. I could not ask for a better reference on data modeling templates and re-usable data modeling examples!

Invaluable
The comprehensive industry data models and data warehouse designs in this book have been invaluable to our organization. These models are extremely well thought out and complete with Primary Keys, Foreign Keys and rational behind the data modeling choices. This book helped us deliver much higher quality solutions and saved us a tremendous amount of time. This book is worth many times its cost and we highly recommend it to any data modeler. We believe its an essential part of any data modelers toolkit. ... Read more

Book Description

Updated with increased focus on the effects of globalization, this text presents the timeless principles of information systems in an understandable and memorable context. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Good for college students wanting background
Excellent book for college students wanting background on Management Information Systems. Well annotated with practical examples and exercises. Prescribed for Freshman students at most South African Universities.

A cure for insomnia!
This book is seriously a cure for insomnia. Now note that I am an information systems major at James Madison University, and I do find the material interesting, but the way this book is written, it will put you to sleep. Better have other textbooks handy if you are planning to read this in order to switch to them to wake up before continuing. It is VERY dry reading. Otherwise, it's a good text, and does convey the point.

Stair & Reynolds take the middle road
Having both studied and taught IS, I'll make two separate sets of comments - one for professors and one for students.

Students first... There is a well-done website that accompanies the book, which includes outlines, sample tests & quizzes, and related study materials. The text is about average in terms of readability in comparison to other texts on the subject (IS texts tend to read a little on the dry side). Unless your professor insists on the latest edition, you may be able to get by with a previous edition, since the chapter structures & content haven't been re-arranged much for the last two editions. You must be advised on the issue of using previous editions, though, since Stair and Reynolds do a fair job of keeping the material up-to-date.

For professors... In my experience, IS texts seem to fall into either a highly technical or highly managerial category. Stair and Reynolds do a fair job of plotting a course between the two, although I have found that the "technical" chapters seem to be a little too much for undergraduate business students in their standard "MIS" course (I've never taught engineering students, but the same may hold true for the "managerial" chapters on the other side of the fence). The text is accompanied with ample instructor resources, including a CD and a website with slideshows, notes, outlines, and various other pedagogical tools. The testbank is easy to use, but can be somewhat challenging for an undergraduate business student, adequate for an undergraduate MIS student, and contains enough "difficult" questions that you should be able to use it for a MBA students as well. I would pick something else for a graduate MS/ MIS curriculum. Stair and Reynolds have also done a fair job of keeping the material up-to-date, which has resulted, after six editions, in a pretty decent proiduct. For me, the instructor resources make Stair and Reynolds a good choice by comparison to other IS texts.

Scary that they allow some of this nonsense to be published!
Although this book must be commended on the variety of topics and sub topics covered, it is very badly researched. Some sections I doubt were even researched at all, it seemed as if the author is just giving his opinion on how he "thinks" things are, and in the majority of these cases, he is at best only half r