Reviews (6)

Easy read for any techo....
Whitehead covers alot of the basics of team management. It shouldn't be difficult, and that what Whitehead explains through "questioned" title chapters. It works quite well because you can zero in on the question about leadership in your situation that may be plaguing your mind. The book is short and easy to read, so it can be read in about 3 days on a bus.

The author subscribes to making you aware of the qualities of good managers and how to handle common types of problems, like what to do when you don't have the technical knowledge about a problem, or how to handle difficult/disruptive team members. In summary, Whitehead helps you get into thinking like a ternary leader, that is you are part of a group, all working towards a common goal and you, (the teamleader/manager), should not dictate your "will and whim" to others.

The only criticism is that it is probably too light on the aspect of project management. There are issues about project management of people in terms of requirements, risk, scheduling that are not discussed. This book is about working with your colleagues not clients.... but overall a good read at a good price.

Really understands the project lead role
After reading this book, I would say for sure that Richard Whitehead understands the role of the project lead. I would buy this book for a new, or existing lead, if I wanted him to understand the challenges he might face. I really applaud this and would add that many books feel like they were written from the outside looking in (sure, everyone on the outside wants twice the functionality in half the time!). I would love to see an update that included more strategies for success however. A lot of the solutions seemed to be based on a specific set of circumstances and personalities. Perhaps adding some examples from others who faced similar challenges, and overcame them with different methods, would increase the impact of this book.

Advice that will reduce the very difficult to difficult
While the programmer in me has often railed at the managers of software development, generally with very good reason, but admittedly sometimes for reasons that were less than pure, I do readily admit that it is a very difficult job. Humans tend to have distinct sets of skills, some of which seem to have a fundamental incompatibility. Writers of good software seem to be predisposed to having limited social and managerial skills and in general one needs to be able to understand a great deal about software in order to be able to manage its' creation. Programmers are also known as being "somewhat difficult" to organize, so even the best managers can be challenged by what is oftentimes an unruly bunch of developers.
However, difficult does not mean impossible, I have yet to meet a quality programmer who did not have a "weakness", that properly exploited, will cause them to work intensely and log an enormous amount of keyboard time. Teams are built in many ways, and Whitehead quite properly notes that many (most) successful teams are made of people who respect and rely on each other's skills, but may not personally like each other. Some of the most successful sports teams of all times were made up of players who did not speak to each other outside the bounds of play. Arguing and bickering, as long as it is within clearly defined boundaries, should be considered normal and tolerated. Attempts to dictate that people like each other and engage in silly "teambuilding" exercises more often lead to failure rather than success. Other examples in the book show the same good sense, as Whitehead clearly has experience in making projects work.
The book is split into sections, which are

* The new leader.
* Project management.
* Leading people.
* Requirements capture.
* Stress and conflict management.
* Relationship with management.
* Making decisions.
* Analysis and design.
* Testing and project release.

Under these sections, there are a total of 40 different points, with a header and explanation of some of the rights, wrongs and different shades of gray inherent in the points. While forty is not large enough to cover all possible contingencies, I cannot find a reason to criticize those that were chosen.
Writing good software is hard, and managing hard people is difficult. However, from this book you can find some very sound advice that will improve your chances of managing a project to a successful conclusion.

Practical Guide
This is an excellent "how to" book. It describes in detail all the steps required to properly lead a software development team. It pays particular attention to conflict resolution including examples on how to handle difficult situatuions and people. I get the impression that in Richard Whitehead's limited project experience he has had significant exposure to conflict.
It would have been useful if he had fully explored some of the other paths during conflict resolution. He explains what to do in certain circumstances, but does not go the additional step; what if it doesn't get results, what then?

Solid book on managing software developers
"Leading a Software Development Team" is a great introduction to project management, especially for a software developer who is suddenly thrown into the driver's seat. I really liked how this book was organized into problem areas, each cross-referencing related problem sections. Think "design patterns for software managers." Software developers are quirky people and thus quirky employees. This book understands how they work and their motivations.

I felt the brief chapters on UML and object-oriented design patterns were unnecessary and a little out of place. There are plenty of other books on UML and design patterns. Not all of the information in this book is brand new, but it is well organized and lucidly written. This book is a great companion to Steve McConnell's far-less-approachable "Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A must read for practitioners
Knowledge Management is a handy easy to read book that compiles up-to-date research in the field. It highlights the challenges that data management brings to the contomporary executives, and lays out the solutions that have been developed by leading researchers in a fastly growing area of management.

Great book!
This is a great book! I highly recommend it!

Dr. Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change" ... Read more

Book Description

Verna Allee, whose groundbreaking book 'The Knowledge Evolution' helped usher in the exploding field of knowledge management, has brought her experience-tested insights into an exciting new synthesis, penetrating to the very heart of value creation. 'The Future of Knowledge' strips away traditional business thinking to reveal the new patterns of management thought and practice essential for success in a more complex world.

With a gift for making the complex simple and practical, Allee weaves together diverse threads such as business webs, communities of practice, knowledge technologies, intangibles, network analysis, and biology to show why organizations must be supported as living systems before their natural networked pattern of organization can emerge.

Embodying Allee's visionary approach, 'The Future of Knowledge' brings forward a practical view of new theories, frameworks, tools, and methods offering businesses a guide to managing the increasing levels of complexity within their organizations and in society at large.

'The Future of Knowledge' works on many levels:
* At the strategic level, the new tools are intangible scorecards and understanding value networks
* At the tactical level, the knowledge management tools for exchanging and applying knowledge are knowledge networks and communities of practice
* At the operational level, a wealth of new technologies is supporting the codification, storage and delivery of the knowledge people need to complete their routine tasks.

* Leading expert takes us to the next stage of
value creation in business
* Provides the next step in creating a framework and a tool to manage intangible assets to build high peroformance in the knowledge-based economy
* Author of the bestselling 'The Knowledge Evolution' ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Value Networks: Seeing the unseen value of intangibles
In today's crowded marketplace of business publications, it takes something that bit special to stand out and be noticed. A decade ago, Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline was widely regarded as one of the seminal business books of the 1990's, introducing to an appreciative and expanding audience the integrated concepts of systems thinking and the "learning organisation". This new book by fellow American author Verna Allee carries the potential to compete for similar accolades in this current decade.

The idea that there should be any enthusiasm about another book on knowledge would normally be questionable, given the number of books published on knowledge management in recent years, and the attendant hype accompanying such new challenges to business thinking. What makes Allee's contribution special is the elegant manner in which she takes a living systems approach to connect knowledge and value in a profound yet pragmatic way.

The focus on value is particularly appropriate for business given that profitability, the lifeblood of any commercial enterprise, depends on the discovery and creation of value. With the new era of the "extended enterprise" model of the organisation, in that any company competes in a supply chain and wider business ecosystem of customers, suppliers, joint venture partners and other stakeholders, the value network approach is a potentially powerful one in helping to identify, investigate and, ultimately exploit key relationships within the network.

Where Allee perhaps scores highest with her approach is in her treatment of intangible deliverables within value networks, and the introduction of a simple, practical set of tools to assist with the mapping of both intangible and tangible relationships. Because value networks take a living systems perspective, it deals with real people - either individuals, small groups or teams, business units, organisations, industry groups, communities or nation states - dealing with value exchanges flowing between participants in the network, linked by arrows showing the transactions and deliverables of value exchanges.

The power of value networks lies in its simplicity and practicality. As well as providing a structured framework for dealing with intangibles, it also raises interesting questions and challenges assumptions about the real nature of networks in action and the value being created (or destroyed) within these networks.

If business leaders aspire to understand the deeper dynamics of value creation in their extended enterprise networks, The Future of Knowledge will provide them with the philosophy, the roadmap and the tools to guide them.

A refreshing new look at established concepts
In this book Allee considers the changing nature, structure and identity of organizations, and the larger patterns of change that are currently unfolding in society. Taking the view that businesses are evolving into 'networked patterns of living systems', Allee observes that we require a different mindset and management tools to respond to these changes. This new mindset includes thinking of organizations as living systems, understanding the principles of networks and how they operate, taking a 'whole-system' view of the organization, understanding how intangibles go to market, and the significance of value networks, people and relationships.

Overall, the book offers a fresh, thought-provoking look at what have become already become well-worn concepts in the knowledge management field. Allee has synthesized a diverse array of ideas and concepts and theories from multiple disciplines to this work.

Part I tends to be a little abstract and theoretical and some of the ideas here about the new knowledge economy and intangible assets will not be new to anyone familiar with knowledge management. However, it does provide a useful context for subsequent chapters. At the end of chapter 5, the checklist of 'where we are now in the learning journey or knowledge continuum' is a useful summary of current thinking. Allee takes an organic view of knowledge networks and communities, such that rather than trying to create them in organizations, it is better to simply find those that already exist and make them visible to themselves and the rest of the organization.
The discussion on how intangibles 'go to market' challenges the notion that we can create value from them in the same way that we do from tangible assets. But perhaps the most interesting section of the book is that which discusses mapping value networks, and the practical examples that are provided. It is here that Allee brings together the concepts discussed in Part I and we begin to see the whole picture that she is building. These chapters will be of particular interest to practitioners who are attempting to grapple with creating value from knowledge in their own, or their client's organizations, and identifying where to focus their attention.
Allee has the capacity to discuss complex issues in a simple and straightforward way without allowing us to feel that we've been shortchanged. Essentially, each chapter offers a simple message. In her discussion of communities of practice, there is a clear message is that knowledge cannot be separated from the human networks that create it, use it and transform it. Similarly, in Chapter 6, she argues that the best technology infrastructure does not guarantee knowledge sharing - organizational intelligence is not a technology question, it is a human question.
At one point, Allee refers to the ancient saying that one cannot step into the same river twice (pp. 143) because the water is never the same water. This is analogous to what Allee has done with in this book - although the concepts, and ideas may seem familiar and have certainly been discussed previously in the plethora of books and articles currently available, she has presented them in a refreshing new way and brought together diverse ideas to challenge our assumptions. It is well worth reading.

Accounting for Intangibles
Verna's work makes it clear that the future belongs to those that can manage traditional assets and intangibles alike.
It is time to expand our accounting to reflect this reality.
Increasingly people choose to patron a company not as much by its numbers but how genuine and pleasant its people are.

A must read!
This book again shows Verna Allee's great gift for making the complex simple and practical. In this book she builds and explores the metaphor of enterprise as a living network, successfully weaving together such diverse threads as value network analysis, communities of practice, social network analysis and biology. She shows us what to focus on now and, as always, provides a glimpse of the future. If you want to know what's coming next in this rapidly evolving field, read this book ... Read more

Book Description

Best practices for using the Internet for marketing, communications, and fundraising success

This how-to guide offers every charitable organization the opportunity to analyze its options and select the appropriate strategy to integrate traditional marketing, communications, and fundraising practices with its online efforts. Written in nontechnical language, Nonprofit Internet Strategies features in-depth coverage prepared by dozens of experts in the field based on real-life experiences and case studies.

Ted Hart (Washington, DC) is founder and President of the international ePhilanthropy Foundation. James M. Greenfield, ACFRE, FAHP (Newport Beach, CA), retired from Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in 2001 after 14 years as senior vice president, Resource Development, and executive director of the Hoag Hospital Foundation. Michael Johnston (Toronto, Canada) is an expert in fundraising and the use of the Internet by nonprofit agencies. ... Read more

Book Description

This book illustrates how organizations can make better, faster decisions about their customers, partners, and operations by turning mountains of data into valuable business information that's at the fingertips of decision makers. It describes what's involved in using business intelligence to bring together information, people, and technology to create successful business strategies-and how to execute those strategies with confidence. Real-life case studies show how world leaders in finance, manufacturing, and retail have successfully implemented business intelligence solutions and detail the benefits they have reaped. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Concise, Practical and Inspiring Advice
Techies will enjoy learning from real world examples of business intelligence technologies. Business leaders will appreciate how complex technical and business topics are tackled from various perspectives - what is BI, how BI will help your organization, and the most helpful chapter, how to actually identify, start and implement a BI solution.

Only wish the authors had spent a little more time identifying pitfalls, but that is why you hire experts to help you out. ... Read more

Book Description

Many organizations are now realizing that their competitive edge lies mostly in the brainpower-the intellectual capital-of their employees and management. To stay ahead of the pack, companies must leverage their knowledge, internally and externally. But it is not enough to develop lessons-learned databases. Experts now believe the current savior of organizations is knowledge management-the conceptualization, review, consolidation, and action phases of creating, securing, combining, coordinating, and retrieving knowledge-in short, the process of creating value from an organization's intangible assets.Jay Liebowitz, one of the leading knowledge management and expert systems authorities in the world, brings together over thirty articles contributed by the top researchers and practitioners to produce what seems destined to become the key reference for this emerging field. With it you will find:"How to create a knowledge-sharing environment"How senior executives can show tangible benefits using methods that value the intellectual capital-especially the "human capital" within the organization"How knowledge management is not the same as information management"How senior management commitment and involvement are essential to the success of a knowledge management system ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Knowledge Management - Here, Now and Here's How
This book is truly a great resource regarding Knowledge Management. It is a compendium of information concerning knowledge and the management thereof. This Handbook is divided into five sections of high level information: Strategy, People and Measures, Elements, Knowledge Technologies, and Applications. Within each section real world experts provide sound foundations of the methodologies, techniques, and practices in this field. Many concepts discussed throughout this handbook are presented in an bulletized manner for easy assimilation. I found the numerous figures and diagrams in this text-like book complex but full of valuable information as to the relationship of Knowledge Management definitions, concepts and issues.

Knowledge Management is about the "brainware' or "human capital" that exists in a corporation. Today a corporation must invest in their human capital through certification programs, training and education courses, forums and knowledge sharing sessions to maintain and keep their competitive edge. Some believe that 70 to 80% of what's learned is through informal means versus formal methods like reading books, brochures and documents. None the less, all knowledge must be captured and managed effectively and efficiently.

Outstanding review of KM and all of its related components.
I am currently using this book as a reference for completion of my dissertation in the area of knowledge management. The book takes a no nonsense and factual look at this new and exciting area. Organizations who do not understand these concepts will soon loose their competitive edge. This book will provide all of the necessary insight to begin a knowledge management program within your organization. ... Read more

Book Description

The "father of data warehousing" incorporates the latest technologies into his blueprint for integrated decision support systems

Today's corporate IT and data warehouse managers are required to make a small army of technologies work together to ensure fast and accurate information for business managers. Bill Inmon created the Corporate Information Factory to solve the needs of these managers. Since the First Edition, the design of the factory has grown and changed dramatically. This Second Edition, revised and expanded by 40% with five new chapters, incorporates these changes. This step-by-step guide will enable readers to connect their legacy systems with the data warehouse and deal with a host of new and changing technologies, including Web access mechanisms, e-commerce systems, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. The book also looks closely at exploration and data mining servers for analyzing customer behavior and departmental data marts for finance, sales, and marketing. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Inacurate and pompous, with little substance
I approached this book with an open mind, but after I stumbled upon a couple of obviously wrong and some nonsensical statements, I started reading it much more skeptically, and finding more and more problems with it. (However, it did provide more fun ;))

The book has a good premise, trying to explain information system with the factory metaphor. Although authors give some good insight in the way IS should or could be thought of and modeled, there are many instances in the text where you read something and say to yourself "what where these good people thinking". This then undermines your confidence in their vision and full understanding of the matter. And although I think this is a matter of personal preference, authors sometimes seem to be in love with their style, producing some beautiful nonsense like this: "The legacy environment is only a very small vestige of its former invincible self." (pg. 42)

Let me give you some more examples of what I'm talking about:
Authors create metaphors of user classes, calling them "tourist, farmer, explorer and miner", which in itself is not a bad idea, but then they go on to say "...farmers found at the ODS environment are quite different from the farmers found at the data mart". So why did you create the single metaphor then?

Also, check this out: "A miner will typically look over many, many rows of data...". As opposed to what, just a "many rows of data"? Whence some people might need "not so many rows of data"? Like I'm reading a book for my eight-year-old, for goodness sakes!

Then there is this graph showing the directional flow of data, but then it reads: by the way, in all this streams, data can sometimes ("in 1-5% of the cases" - authors never say how they got these numbers, it is all a slight of hand) flow in the opposite direction!!?(Pg. 24) And they go about giving 5 examples, 4 of which are wrong - there is no data flow in them at all!
Example:"...sales dept. notes that loans are slowing down. The decision is made to reduce home loan rates by 1/2 percent."
This is not the back flow of data, as authors assert, it is an information feedback loop that involves people (management), and their decisions. Data (loan rates) is not coming back from Data Mart. User is somehow entering it into Operational system (application). His decision is influenced by data analysis, but it does not reverse the data flow. The fundamental issue here is that authors ignored the fact that information processes in the company involve people as well as the data and systems, and should be modeled as such. To use their metaphor, users should be a part of the information ecosystem. Hence it is not true that, as the book claims, corporate information factory embodies the information ecosystem. (Pg.7)

"...'event' date ...reflects the moment in time when the data in the record was accurate". (Pg. 96) This is incorrect. 'event' date is just recording the time of that single event. Record is always accurate after that, it does not 'age' with time.

At pg. 191 it is asserted that Data Warehouse provides "depth" to the data. That is true only if it is built (modeled) with "depth" requirements in mind. Before I can get "deep" information from the DW, I must build it with my questions in mind, otherwise, it will not give me data. An abstractly deep DW does not exist. It is always an answer to a particular question, or number of questions.

"The Dimension of History" (pg. 193-194) is just plain good old nonsense, with example (life stages of an individual) being completely off the mark. Reminds me of the student who does not know the correct answer to the question so he tries to invent some plausible response, letting his imagination fly ... Sad.

And so on, and so on...

I saved the best ones for the end:
"...the external world is full of normal occurrences and normal events. The very ordinary nature of the external world makes us take it for granted." (Pg. 49) Very philosophically deep, indeed ;)
"The emergence of the integrated applications comes slowly and, in many cases, imperceptibly" (pg.42) Yeah, it just creeps on you when you're not looking... ;)
".. the back flow of the data is minuscule to the point that in some cases it is so small as to be unmeasurable". (Pg. 23) :0 Beg your pardon? This is not quantum physics, guys, this is computer science. Anything can be observed, perceived and measured to the level of a single bit. Or are we talking bit-quarks here? Informational principle of uncertainty?

It is disappointing to have this book co-authored by the "father of the data warehouse".

To the (prospective) readers: This is a fun book if you are an experienced data architect, bad if you wish to use it as a blueprint for your work, and dangerous if you are an IT manager and impose it on your staff.

To the authors: Give us a break, please go back and re-make a decent book around the good basic idea. Less poetic style would also be appreciated. Forget about quantum physics. And give it to some unbiased reviewers first. Remember, only the real friends will tell you the unpopular truth.

a book obsessed with technologies
The very idea that all the technologies serve the purpose of businesses gets lost here in this book.

If one wants to look for help for their work, look somewhere else.
If one wants to learn some jargons to impress his/her date, this one is the ideal one.

It Depends!
Evaluating "overview" books such as these is difficult. If this is a new subject to you or you are a manager needing an overview, you'll probably find it a good introduction to the Inmon-style Data Warehouse (the other being Kimball-style). But after giving the book a "once-over", that's it. Nothing is handled in enough detail to make this any kind of reference or guide. So from the novice perspective this is a "must read" and as good an introduction to CIF as you will get, from the people that define the standards - give it 4 stars (why not 5 stars will be discussed later). If you have worked on Data Warehousing projects in the past but your environment was not particularly designed with much forethought, then by all means whiz through this book and you'll see that all the pieces can be part of a cohesive strategy - 3 stars. If you are experienced then you'll probably see this as a waste of time, too high level. You can get everything in here from various web sites, whitepapers or other books - 1 star. Regardless of where you're coming from though this is one of the few books that actually use pictures in a way that is detrimental to clarity. Some are repeated so many times, so inane or so large that you have to surmise that they are mostly there to thicken the book. The appendix, CIF Architecture Guidelines, is also the largest section of the book yet I have no idea what the point is. I think it would be more appropriately titled - Incomplete Ruminations on Random Topics.

Excellent starting point in data warehousing
What a number of previous reviewers did not realise is that this book is about data warehouses, and not enterprise architecture, even though it is named to seem that way.

This book is an excellent high level overview of data warehouses and should be read by anyone who is going to be building a data warehouse from scratch or needs a starting place to learn about data warehouses. It explains all the concepts that are involved in building a data warehouse and explains what things can cause problems when implementing one.

It will not, however, describe the technical details on how to implement the data warehouse or many of the structures within it. That kind of information is readily available in many other books.

This is a perfect starting point for learning about data warehouses and especially good since it is a quick read and will not waste your time with a lot of wordiness.

50,000 ft-level architectural overview
I saw Ms. Imhoff give a talk, so I was motivated to buy her book. I was expecting more detail and more depth, but I was satisfied anyway. As a new comer to the data warehousing/OLAP field, I found it helpful to have a book that showed me the "forest"; many other books are available to show me the "trees."

The book is a very high-level architectural overview of the components of a "corporate information factory", including the data warehouse, data mart, and operational data store. It describes the components and their relationships. It describes the motivations and reasons these components are organized the way they are. It describes some of the important engineering tradeoffs in alternate designs.

The book is a quick and simple read. I got a few very important concepts and ideas from it, but I must definitely read several other books for greater depth and focus. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Chapter 1 of Information Rules begins with a description of the change brought on by technology at the close of the century--but the century described is not this one, it's the late 1800s. One hundred years ago, it was an emerging telephone and electrical network that was transforming business. Today it's the Internet. The point? While the circumstances of a particular era may be unique, the underlying principles that describe the exchange of goods in a free-market economy are the same. And the authors, Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian, should know. Shapiro is Professor of Business Strategy at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has also served as chief economist at the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. Varian is the Dean of the School of Information Management and Systems at UC Berkeley. Together they offer a deep knowledge of how economic systems work coupled with first-hand experience of today's network economy. They write:

Sure, today's business world is different in a myriad of ways from that of a century ago. But many of today's managers are so focused on the trees of technological change that they fail to see the forest: the underlying economic forces that determine success and failure.

Reviews (62)

Monarch of the Early-21st Century
Those in need of a strategic guide to the network economy will find a wealth of valuable material in Information Rules, co-authored by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian and published by Harvard Business School Press. The titles of its ten chapters suggest the nature and extent of subjects covered: The Information Economy, Pricing Information, Versioning Information, Rights Management, Recognizing Lock-In, Managing Lock-In, Networks and Positive Feedback, Cooperation and Compatibility, Waging a Standards War, and Information Policy. In effect, Information Rules combines all of the benefits of an operations manual with the counsel of two renowned experts who accompany the reader, step by step, through the manual.

According to the authors, the thesis of their book is that "durable economic principles can guide you through today's frenetic business environment. Technology changes. Economic laws do not. If you are struggling to comprehend what the Internet means for you and your business, you can learn a great deal from the advent of the telephone system a hundred years ago." That's true. The interdependence of information (software) and infrastructure (hardware) will always be important, indeed imperative. Therefore, interconnection battles are won only if, for example, local telephone companies in 1900 were interconnected with Bell to provide long-distance service and, 100 years later, browsers are interconnected with operating systems.

The authors "use the term information very broadly. Essentially, anything that can be digitized -- encoded as a stream of bits -- is information." However, Information Rules focuses on models, not trends; concepts, not vocabulary; and analysis, not analogies. Recall the previous reference to "durable economic principles." Trends come and go, as do vocabularies; therefore, today's brilliant analogies may well make no sense tomorrow, or even later today. Hence the necessity of durable principles, principles which continue to guide efforts to anticipate and then manage what Peter Drucker has called "the consequences of what has yet to occur."

The Chinese character for "crisis" has two different meanings: peril and opportunity. The title of Information Rules can also be interpreted in two different ways: rules of principle and rules of dominance. In a Darwinian sense, those who dominate the Information Age will be those who apply the right principles. What do Shapiro and Varian suggest?

With regard to the pricing of information, the subject of Chapter 2, they suggest two strategies: don't be greedy and play tough. The "lessons" to be learned are to personalize your product and personalize your service, "know thy customer", differentiate your prices when possible, and use promotions to measure demand. Indeed, at the end of each chapter, they summarize "lessons" to be learned after having suggested specific strategies to apply them. In the "Further Reading" "Bibliography" sections which conclude Information Rules, Shapiro and Varian direct the reader to various sources to which they referred previously.

Who will gain the greatest value from this book? Owners/CEOs of small-to-midsize companies which are struggling to decide what to do...and what not to do...with opportunities created by the Internet and, more specifically, the WWW. Also, senior-level executives of much larger organizations (both for-profit and not-for-profit) who must formulate long-term strategies to achieve sustainable prudent growth. For thousands of years, there has never been a shortage of available information but until the printing press, access to it was severely limited. Since then, a variety of media have broadened and deepened that access and, indeed, the volume of available information has increased exponentially.

According to Shapiro and Varian, the challenge today is not one of access; rather, the challenge is to follow certain "certain durable principles" on which effective strategies are based. No one knows precisely how and to what extent the network economy will change in years to come. Principles which endure are those which accommodate change, whenever it occurs, whatever it proves to be. Shapiro and Varian suggest what those principles should be.

Information Rules is a stunning achievement.

Prescient rules for winning in the Internet economy
Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian takes a look at the emerging Internet economy, and argues compellingly that traditional economics still apply in evaluating the Yahoos of our generation. In fact, history provides a pretty good guide for evaluating network-centric businesses. One only has to look at the evolution of the railroad, telephone and television networks. The book reaches some interesting conclusions, summarized here:

1.Information is costly to produce but inexpensive to reproduce (i.e., has a high fixed cost but a low marginal cost). This translates to a lot of latitude, challenges and opportunities in coming up with pricing models and corresponding versions of a product to create both the maximum revenue opportunities and establish the largest number of members of the product's network of users. Also, given the low cost of reproduction, it stands to reason that protecting intellectual property is a key determinant of information good's economic success. 2.Information is an "Experience Good," which is to say that customers must use and experience the product to put value on it. One only has to think about Netscape's initial success giving away the browser to see the value of leveraging the "experience" factor. 3.Products that can achieve "lock-in" will benefit from the "switching costs" that preclude customers from switching-over to competing (even superior) solutions. In other words, products that get a user to commit time, knowledge and/or resources to them are likely to continue to be used even in the face of superior products given the cost of switching to alternative products. An interesting point the book makes is to look at lock-in and switching costs not only in terms of your product, but your collaborators and complementors as well. 4.Fundamental to success is leveraging the power of positive feedback, or network effects. What this means is that the value of your product is a function of the total number of vendors, partners and endusers participating in its "network."

Some specific strategic considerations:

1.Versioning: create different versions of your products tailored to the need of different groups of customers. This allows customers to select the version that best meets their needs and enables you to pick up as wide a base of customers as possible (e.g., Quicken, Quicken Deluxe, QuickBooks). Specific mechanisms for accomplishing same are: delay, user interface, convenience, image resolution, speed of operation, flexibility of use, capability, features and functions, comprehensiveness, annoyance, support. 2.The total cost of switching = cost the customer bears + costs the new supplier bears. Types of lock-in: contractual commitments, durable purchases, brand-specific training, information and databases, specialized suppliers, search costs, loyalty programs. 3.The lock-in cycle: brand selection, product sampling, entrenchment, lock-in. Needless to say, the more successful you are at getting customers more locked-in to your products (e.g., taking advantage of proprietary features), the more successful you will be in keeping customers at peak prices. 4.Leveraging your installed base: focus on selling complimentary products (Micorsoft), selling access to your installed base (Yahoo), setting differential prices to achieve lock-in (Adobe's Photo Deluxe for beginners is a low-end product that is often bundled with scanners and gets users hooked on product. Many ultimately upgrade to full version of product, Adobe Photoshop), exploiting first-mover advantages (Ticketnmaster locks customers into long-term contracts). 5.Market adoption dynamics in positive feedback markets tend to evolve along the lines of an S-curve, with the initial adoption period being flat (while the market winner is in doubt). Once an apparent market winner emerges, the adoption rates takes off dramatically continuing until market saturation. In other words, popularity in positive feedback markets is the ultimate metric of success. Hence, perception becomes reality in these markets. Those expected to win in the market do win because second place or third place is tantamount to last place (i.e., having to bear the switching cost of moving to the winning vendor in the market). This is a zero-sum game, where both vendors must proclaim themselves the ultimate winner, and the success of getting out the message is as important as the technical attributes of the product. 6.Evolution vs. Revolution: there are two paths for unseating an incumbent. One is evolution, which is akin to providing an adapter to a legacy technology. The other is revolution, which disregards legacy in favor of improved design (CDs as a replacement for records). Both paths have technical, creative, systemic, performance and legal considerations. 7.Openness vs. Control: This is a key tightrope in the age of open standards. The more open your solution, the lower the bar to positive feedback. With control comes a hedge against commoditization and low margin pricing. Four key vectors are represented: Controlled Migration (Windows 98), Performance Play (Iomega Zip), Open Migration (fax machines), Discontinuity (records to CDs). 8.How standards change the game: Expanded network effects, reduced uncertainty, reduced consumer lock-in, competition for the market vs. competition in the market, competition on price vs. features, competition to offer proprietary extensions, component vs. systems competition. 9.Tactics in formal standard setting: If you can follow a control strategy, you are better off organizing an alliance outside of the formal standards bodies. Search carefully for blocking patents of competitors in the standard definition. Consider building an installed base pre-emptively. 10.Waging a standards war -The key assets in such a battle are: 1. Control of an installed base, 2. Intellectual property rights, 3. Ability to innovate, 4. First mover advantages, 5. Manufacturing abilities, 6. Presence in complimentary products, and 7. Brand name and reputation. Example: Netscape vs. Explorer: Netscape had a huge first-mover advantage over Microsoft that Microsoft was able to neutralize by preempting new users through a number of strategies, including bundling on OS, signing deals with OEMs, bundling content with the browser and giving links to ISPs for making Explorer the preferred browser supported. Both vendors used penetration pricing to set a low bar to using their products. Both vendors also leveraged the expectations management and alliances trump cards to win their places in the market.

Really?
The book starts by proclaiming that neo-classical economics is adequate for explaining the information economy. This claim is not backed up in the book. First, textbook neo-clasical equilibrium theory contains neither money nor 'information'. Second, the book merely discusses qualitatively and nonsystematically ideas like positive feedback and increasing returns that were better presented by Brian Arthur. Third, even asymmetric information is not discussed (Ackerlof and Stiglitz are not even mentioned). Fourth (or zeroth), there is not a single empirical graph in the entire book, and nothing of modern ideas of network theory. So I would say that the book is more or less on the same level as Kelly's (pre-bubble-bust) "New Rules for the New Economy". All of these books implicitly hype the unregulated free market, in the face of both qualitative and empirical evidence that unregulated markets are not only unstable but are detrimental to human health and well-being.

The Best Among Analysis of Network Economy
It was astounded by what descriped in the opening of the book: at first, the events seem to be at the current, but then they were happened at the last turn of century!

It is still the best anlaysis of network economy among 5 books that I read about, though 2 of which are also from Harvard. This book just touches the heart of network economy, and it gives me a lot to further analyze the continuous economics events happening in the globe.

Fascinating
I read this for an information-age econ class I'm taking, and I really liked it. The authors refute the idea that traditional economic rules don't apply to the age of computers, information trading and cyber sales. They make a convincing case that it's all the same econ, just a new application, and I learned a great deal from it about both the traditional models and the economics of selling information. I really recommend it for anyone. It's very readable, accessible and cogent. ... Read more

Book Description

In recent years, Supply Chain Management (SCM) has become one of the most widely discussed issues on top management`s agenda. One essential precondition for the implementation of SCM concepts are powerful information systems. Many manufacturing companies deploy the logistics modules of the SAP R/3 system. In 1997 SAP enlarged its focus beyond Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and started an SCM initiative, which resulted in the Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO) system. Today, APO has become one of the main components of the mySAP.com solutions. This book describes the principles and methods of intra- and inter-company SCM with reference to Release 4.6 of the SAP R/3 and to Release 3.0 of the SAP APO system. It also discusses potential future developments of these widely used software systems. The final chapter of the book contains an annotated overview of the most valuable online resources dealing with SCM. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Absolutely Recommended !!
As leader of a customer dervice dept. in a company who just implemented SAP, I can only recommend this book. Not only because its relevance to SAP users, but also because it is a very easy to read and excellent written introduction to modern supply chain management and it's basic functions and challenges. No matter if you use SAP or not, you will like this book if you are beginning to deal with supply chain improvements from a basic level. Read this before any other supply chain book and then compare. I am sure you will come back to this publication over and over again. ... Read more

Book Description

This unique and comprehensive book presents a unifying paradigm for understanding operations, based in the belief that a large part of operations management is the design and management of business processes. The overall objective of the book is to demonstrate how managers can control process structure and process drivers to achieve desired business process performance. This framework is applied to understand which levels managers have to control: cycle time, capacity, inventory, and quality.Providing a conceptual and logically rigorous approach, Managing Business Process Flows discusses the subject in three steps:model and understand the process and its flows; study causal relationships between process structure and certain performance metrics; and formulate implications for managerial actions by filtering out managerial levers ("process drivers") and theirimpact on process performance. The book also identifies managerial levers, and establishes a connection between operational and financial measurements.An essential resource for all management professionals, especially Management Consultants specializing in operations and supply chains, Managers and VPs overseeing supply chains, and Plant Managers. ÿ ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A concise and useful text to study this aspect of Operations
We used this book as one of the texts in the core Operations Management course I took as part of getting my MBA from the University of Michigan Business School. I think it is a good textbook. It has several virtues. It is concise, it develops its ideas as the book goes along, the chapter problems help the student think about the principles being developed, and it covers the topic pretty well for a one term introductory course.

There are also many helpful illustrations and examples. The book also includes a CD with some tools to help the student work some of the more complex problems. A companion website is also available.

The one problem a person wanting to simply dive into a specific topic would have comes from the book continually developing its ideas from the beginning to the end. The examples usually involve a fictional garage door manufacturing firm and if you haven't worked the earlier problems it can be difficult to have the data on hand to work the later examples or to even understand what they are talking about.

But in a classroom setting with a skilled and enthusiastic professor, as I had, this is a very useful book and I recommend it.

Confusing and poorly written
I suffered through an MBA course taught using this book. While the subject and material are interesting, the book is horrible. The style is choppy and confusing. The problems are useful, but the questions are written poorly and contain errors.

A good introductory Operations Management book
I enjoyed teaching MBA core course using this book. It fits therequirements of the introductory Operations Management course, is easyto use ( and it is also relatively cheap ). Lots of explanatoryexamples. ... Read more

Book Description

Post and Anderson's Management Information Systems, 3/e focuses on how managers can apply knowledge of IT tools to solve management problems and find new opportunities to improve their organizations. This revised edition addresses these challenges and continues to illustrate how information technology supports managers in their operational and decision-making tasks performed each day. Post/Anderson is fundamentally different from other MIS texts in the following ways:

1) Strength of Chapter 6-Database Management, emphasizes that databases are crucial to any business application;2) Chapter 7 shows the importance of data integration and how ERP software meets that need;3) Industry-specific cases;4) Rolling Thunder Bicycle Company database;5) Application appendices. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

management information systems
It is really help to msolve business problems ... Read more

Book Description

This introduction to computers is noted for its lucid explanations of computing concepts, practical applications of technology theory, and emphasis on the historical and societal impacts of technological innovations. It features integrated coverage of management information systems, networking, email, and the Internet.Other coverage of cutting-edge topics includes Microsoft Office 2003, ethics, e-commerce, crime and security, privacy, communications trends and infrastructure, multimedia, buying and upgrading your computer system, and file management.For individuals seeking an introduction to computers. ... Read more

Book Description

Data Mining and Business Intelligence: A Guide to Productivity provides an overview of data mining technology and how it is applied in a business environment. It describes the corresponding data mining methodologies that are used to solve a variety of business problems, which enhance firm-level efficiency in a less technical, more managerial style. The book incorporates the data mining process into the spectrum of complementary technologies that together comprise corporate information systems that promote business intelligence. Business intelligence involves the proliferation of value-added information throughout a given enterprise through the use of various applications that promotes efficiency for the firm. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

This is the one.
Everything you need to know to start using the potential of progressive data mining resources that computer technology has made possible is in this book. Using these techniques, our firm was able to quickly recognize wasted effort and eliminate it, and then to zero in on where financial rewards were most likely. The result has been better profits, and a happier, less frustrated organization. I strongly recommend this book to business decision makers of all kinds. It will change the way you look at your operation. to quote the Beatles: Messrs K & H assure the public a splendid time is guaranteed to all.

Give it a shot, you won't regret it!
The market is saturated with IT/business books and often times it's hard to spot something that in fact might be useful. This book seems to be one of those few picks. Without going into a 300 page narrative, the authors manage to clearly address their points and fill in the bottomless gap between sophisticated IT and business solutions. Data Mining became a hot topic only a few years ago, but it has a great future. The earlier you get a handle on it, the better chance you have to stay on the cutting edge of business tomorrow. "Data Mining & Business Intelligence: A Guide to Productivity" gives you basic guidelines for a smarter way to manage data in your organization. It explains what tools you can use and teaches you the actual methods for data management. It's a great source of information for busy people who want to make a change in their organizations as well as for students, who by reading this book, can better see the needs of today's business world.

K & H have hit the nail on the head with this book!
The managers handbook for information analysis and interpretation in todays electronic world! Kudyba and Hoptroff have demonstrated one of the true 'value added' benefits to this electronic world we live in: technology enhanced business intelligence. As technology aids the processing of information, Data Mining continues to play a large role in delivering information and analysis to enhance productivity. K & H have hit the nail on the head with this book!

Jeff Nicola, Business Strategy Consultant
This book, following a conversational yet didactic format, touches upon the critical issues surrounding the effective use and implementation of business intelligence tools / concepts. Kudyba and Hoptroff have distilled the salient features of complex data preparation, analysis, and presentation methodologies with the average business user in mind. It was refreshing to finally find a book that attempts to "put all the BI - instead of the BS - together" for the enterprise. This is a must read for those just getting into advanced analytical applications; yet, it also serves as a good refresher for those already entrenched in CRM and BI implementation.

Data Mining and Business Intelligence
Finally, a practical book that discusses the use of data mining technologies from the position of "adding value" to the business, and tied to fundamental proven economic methods.

The focus of the book is on connecting information technologies and tools to the "business drivers." Data mining technologies frequently are misunderstood, inappropriately planned and deployed, and typically left to the mathematicians instead of putting the tools in the hands of those who could use it best; the business analysts and executives who "know" the business.

Concentrating on the process of adding value within an integrated business intelligence architecture, the authors discuss such topics as Six Sigma, Market Basket analysis and other practical uses of data mining as a strategic competitive weapon.

If you have or are considering how data mining technologies fit in with business intelligence or decision support systems, then read this book. It will also comfortably fit into your briefcase, unlike the typical book-size tombs normally written on data mining. ... Read more

Book Description

The manager's guide to building a business-orientedinformation systems architecture.Written for IS andcorporate management, CIOs, and consultants. Provides a practical, easy-to-useframework for developing and implementing an enterprise informationarchitecture aligned with business requirements. Learn to eliminate redundancy,control costs, and deploy new technology in an orderly way. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A reader-friendly text on the utility of IS architectures
My high endorsement for this publication reflects both the importance of the subject matter and the author's approach to presenting it. Cook takes the academically high-brow subject of information systems architectural planning and relates the major concepts in terms that any business user, manager or exective should appreciate. The first three chapters of this book are a must-read for EVERY business executive and manager who relies on information systems to help manage their enterprise.

Business-Focused and pragmatic - highly recommended
Ms. Cook takes a no-nonsense approach to building an enterprise architecture that puts business requirements first.

She starts this excellent book with a quick history, setting information architecture into a context. This is followed by addressing the hard part of architecture: overcoming political resistance and tackling the thorny problems of aligning systems to what the business needs. She pulls no punches.

The next part of the book, chapter 3, introduces the Zachman Framework, which I personally believe is one of the best foundations for an architecture that aligns IT to business.

Chapters 4 through 7 thoroughly delves into the layers of the Zachman Framework, and provides a coherent and comprehensive description of all of the "moving parts" from both an IT and a business perspective.

The theoretical underpinnings are translated into an actionable plan in chapter 8, titled, "Making It Happen". This chapter is pragmatic and gives a detailed roadmap to implementing an enterprise information architecture that will truly align information technology to business requirements.

Here are the key things I like about this book: (1) It focuses on the business, subordinating technology to a supporting role. This is refreshing. (2) It provides one of the best descriptions of the Zachman Framework I have ever read. (3) Political realities and organizational resistance are taken into account, and some excellent advice for overcoming these barriers is given. (4) Ms. Cook's approach to implementation is straightforward, and if followed, will greatly improve your chances for a successful implementation of an enterprise information architecture. Make no mistake, such an implementation is a daunting task with opportunities to fail lurking in many places. She has obviously encountered a good many implementation problems and gives some great advice on how to overcome them.

Ms. Cook has made a significant contribution to the body of knowledge of information architecture, and a strong case for the Zachman Framework in this book. She also reinforces the need for a well thought out approach to implementation, and provides clear advice on how to successfully accomplish this.

Focusing on the Business Layers of Enterprise Architecture
Melissa has produced an excellent, non technical book which outlines:
- the reasons for taking a business led approach to the development of Enterprise Architecture
- the potential benefits to business of investing in an Enterprise Architecture approach
- practical steps for doing it and overcoming common roadblocks

Some readers will no doubt have wanted Melissa to move on to discussing the technical layers, but I feel this would have diluted one of the key messages of her book - that Enterprise Architecture is primarily a business issue focused on the company's core data and fundamental processes. Technology comes a distant second.

If I have any criticisms, it would be on the suggested representations of the data and process models in the business layers of the architecture framework. My experience working with CEO's and business executives is that they automatically associate the look of these models as being "IT" and mentally switch off.

In order to effectively market Enterprise Architecture and obtain the executive sponsorship necessary to drive it forward, some other ways of representing this information must be found. Representations that the executive team automatically regard as being in the business domain rather than in IT's. This varies from industry to industry and between organisations, but one example that has wide acceptance is the value chain model. Portraying the ballpark view process classes as a value chain does not corrupt the message and can help achieve the buy-in that is so essential.

As Melissa rightfully stresses, a successful Architecture strategy requires the business executive taking ownership and ongoing control of these layers of the architecture framework.

Excellent Book!
The author's writing style and ability to explain concepts is outstanding! I would love to see her author a more current edition of the book, including additions/modifications made to the Zachman model since this edition. Would also like to see more discussion/explanation about the technology views of the model. The book is excellent reading .. would recommend it for executives, managers, and technical folks alike.

Keeping IT people/projects under management control
Melissa's book, although "ancient" in web-time (1996), is bang up to date, stressing the importance of good management-led architectural design. In the current (summer 2000) snowball of interest in everything surrounding XML, her book deserves to be read by anyone interested in serious XML deployment, as it covers the "upstream" issues notoriously overlooked or sidestepped in the rush to early technology deployment. She rightly laments the lack of central authorities taking a lead hand in IT design and project management but offers a way forward using the Zackman Framework and some clearly mapped out targets and milestones. Having been hooked by the strength of her arguments for "why?", I felt a little shortchanged on the "how?" but sufficiently keyed up to look further afield, largely thanks to a very comprehensive bibliography. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Philosophical (Textbook) exposition of InfoSec
If you're looking to get down into the nitty-gritty of infosec, for ways and methods of securing networks and systems, then this probably isn't the book you need. This is a textbook and so it overs a fairly high level viewpoint, even philosophical approach, to infosec. The granualarity just isn't there for the practising person to gain much from this in a substantive way.

That said, the book does provide a readable and useful overview of all aspects of the infosec planning and administration process. Each chapter has questions yet no answers. Chapters include:

Introduction to the management of info sec
Planning for infosec
Planning for contingencies
Information security policy
Developing the security program
Security Management models and practices
Risk Management: identifying and assessning risk
RIsk Management: Assessing and controlling risk
Protectiion Mechanisms
Personnel and security
Law and Ethics
Information Security Project management (the weakest chapter in the book...meant as an introduction)

While the authors won't tell you how to configure a firewall for example, they will teach you who, how and why this must be done and what must be done to guide and support decisions like this in an organizational environment. This book is about top down security management. It teaches you to use policy, procedures, people, programs, projects and planning in a three dimenional security matrix: confidentiality, integrity, availability, security, transmission, processing, policy, technology and education/training with regard to people, data, hardware, software and procedures, all within the methodology of the secSDLC. So it is a philsophical journey thorugh the heart of the matter written by two guys who obviously know and enjoy their subject.

This books is well written and has a number inserts highlighting differrent things like different types of attacks, concepts like human firewalls and such that enhance the readability while leading a connection to reality that threatens to become a little tenuous when dealing with much abstraction.

SO, a good textbook. I used it for a subject I took and found it useful. WHile it may be a little dry at times, due to the technical nature of the material, if you are serious about learning information security then the need to be consistently entertained is probably just a little alien to your nature anyway. This book will give you an excellent grounding in the things you should be condisering and doing when planning, analyzing, designing, implementing and managing and maintaining infosec.

An excellent addition and support for the material presented in the book- as referred by the authors- is bunch of free materials published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, found at the computer security resource center. These include papers such as SP 800-12, SP 800-14, and so forth. The website is http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/ It is important to check this out if you are serious about infosec. This book is a good starting point for deliving deeper into that world. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Creative and innovative advanced book
An excellent framework for learning about how to balance (organizational) mission, vision, business, strategy, organizational learning, processes, and culture. Truly visionary book that elucidates concepts concerning processes, learning, knowledge, human, and strategies. I found the book to be an excellent framework for understanding the world of organizations.
I think that almost all MBA and graduate business students will deepen their knowledge and skills by thouroughly exploring this book. Even, Mintzburg has applied some of these authors concepts!

Looking foward to using this book
I am a graduate MIS student who hadc to buy this book for my course in Organizational Design. I started reading this book and found it to be very rich and innovative in terms of what an organization is and how to design the organization using an organization modeling (OM) framework. I could not believe what
vision and insight the authors had into the world of organizations. Some of the fascinating and useful ideas that they have invented are about the organizational knowledgeworld, how to balance vision, mission, business, strategy, tools, organiational molecules which can be used ot represent the formal and creative aspects of organizational domains, (early and late) knowledge binding (when, where and by whom is knowledge applied to a process, etc. This book is concept rich, deep, purposeful, and relative to my future as an oganizatinal strategist. Numerous good tables, diagrams, and illustrations of their ideas and practical applications.
Truly a pioneering book. Good job Stevens profs.

Exceptional book for advanced management students!
The research that I undertook using this book led me to discover the other chapters of this book. I also discovered that all the chapters are very interlinked (i.e., the book is systematic). At the same time I discovered a certain surprise that the complex work of modeling can become an easier task by utilizing the concepts and tools found in this book. Organisation Modeling : Innovative Architecture for the 21th Century is a book I warmly recommend to those whose ane interested in the modeling of organizations and information technology. I hope that the research that was undertaken by my class will be useful for other students who are interested in this domain especially in the approach taken in this book.

not really helpful
I thought I had hit a goldmine but not so.
It's too abstract, too boring, I miss examples.

Models should be helpful, not a goal into itself. Maybe this has some illusionary appeal to managerial types.

I gladly refer to Dilbert's comics, if you want something helpful.

Revolutionary guide to architecting your entire organization
Our book is about organizational architecture and design. The intended audience includes managers and IT professionals, and graduate students of management and MIS. In addition, this book may serve as a reference for research topics - it has become popular as a resource for Master's and Ph.D. students. One hundred years ago Frederick Winslow Taylor engineered work with engineering disciplines and thus created the 20th century design discipline of Scientific Management. In this book we architect work with modeling concepts and thus create the 21st century design practice of Organization Modeling. The analytical disciplines we choose to employ are those associated with the software engineering field: contracts and object-orientation. Our cen