Book Description

Managing Information Technology for Business Value is Martin Curley's call for IT and business managers to reformulate the way they manage IT. Traditionally, IT success has been measured in terms of IT parameters such as up time, capacity, and processing speed.

It is Curley's contention that if IT is to deliver business value, then IT should be measured in core business terms such as customer satisfaction, revenue growth, and profitability.

Managing Information Technology for Business Value is a practitioner's handbook for evaluating IT investments, aligning IT with corporate strategy and using IT as a competitive weapon.

Synthesizing leading academic research and industry best practices Curley introduces principles and strategies for managing for optimum IT Business value, managing the IT budget and managing the IT organization and capability.

In a time when IT spending is reduced and IT organizations are often perceived as cost centers, Martin Curley’s Managing Information Technology for Business Value provides a necessary and timely counterbalance. Curley makes an argument using evidence from his work at Intel and with other leading enterprises, that IT investments can and should be linked directly to enterprise business indicators. IT spending ought to improve corporate profitability and the relationship between IT initiatives and business indicators should be explicit and empirical.

Curley organizes his views of IT by developing a capability maturity model approach (CMM) for each important facet of IT planning. Curley's collection of models provides a blueprint for analyzing and improving the performance of IT organizations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting topics, poor analysis
The topics presented in this book are very interesting. Areas such as IT value chain are not well explored by IT practitioners and academics. The author attempts to answer burning IT management issues, but fails to present any significant analysis or solution. ... Read more

Book Description

Information Security and Ethics: Social and Organizational Issues brings together examples of the latest research from a number of international scholars addressing a wide range of issues significant to this important and growing field of study. These issues are relevant to the wider society, as well as to the individual, citizen, educator, student and industry professional. With individual chapters focusing on areas including: web accessibility, the digital divide, youth protection and surveillance, this book provides an invaluable resource for students, scholars and professionals currently working in Information Technology related areas. ... Read more

Book Description

This practical 'how-to'book describes all the key operations of ARIS Toolset - the market leading Business Process Modelling Tool. Using lots of screen shots and plenty of practical examples, Rob Davis shows how ARIS can be used to model 'your' business processes.Based on his experience of using ARIS in British Telecommunications plc, the author describes practical ways of using ARIS Toolset:- Explaining the models and techniques that will enable new users to start modelling quickly and effectively.- Introducing tips and short cuts which make using the tool much easier.- Giving insights into the ARIS concepts.- Explaining the rationale behind alternative ways of using the tool, their benefits and the trade-offs involved.- Tackling issues found in real projects (e.g. complex model structures, handling variety, etc), as opposed to the simple examples given in many books.In addition to describing how to use the tool, Rob Davis discusses how to create standards for using ARIS as well as giving guidance on how to use ARIS for process capture and design.Business Process Modelling with ARIS is a 'must have'for every user of ARIS. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent reference for ARIS
This is an excellent reference book on ARIS. It is really a "must have" for anyone learning and using ARIS. It is well written and well structured. The only reason I've rated it at 4 stars is because it is based on Release 5 of ARIS. An updated edition would be great.

Best book written about Aris
This book explains quite good how to use Aris in practice. However it's quite heavy to read through. There could be more pictures and charts to get things clearer and easier to understand. But still absolutely the best book about Aris. ... Read more

Book Description

In today's global economy the customer has more and better choices than ever before, bringing on one of the biggest challenges the business community faces today - customer loyalty and retention.

To thrive in today's customer-driven economy a company needs to give customers what they really want. They don't just want the best prices, selection, and service; they want a relationship. CRM (customer relationship management) technology is designed to collect, store, and analyze data about customers, optimizing marketing, sales, customer service, back-office operations, and new product development. Yet, technology can't do it alone. In practice, CRM is a business strategy that evokes a corporate culture in which the customer is the center of the corporate universe and CRM technology is what enables that business strategy.

While CRM may start out as a means of linking different customer-facing functions, it must end up changing the way the entire company thinks about customers: who they are, what they want, and how they can be better served.

This book explores how to:
* Develop and use a CRM strategy to integrate all channels and media of customer contact from the Internet through field sales into one system.
* Know the customers and focus on their needs to better deploy resources and achieve lower costs, higher revenue, and increased customer loyalty.
* Use CRM tools to increase profitability.
* Link CRM tools with sales partners both up and down the value chain.
* Choose the right customer-focused strategies and the right CRM systems.
* Implement and deploy CRM for the best results. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A hearty Recommendation
The author has clearly explained CRM, its premise, it application within the workplace, and its components, processes and technical underpinnings. The book provides the reader with a coherent definition and then backs it up with a CRM action plan that provides a distinct link to business essentials within the scope of a concise understanding of the broad range of processes that it takes to implement CRM. The author does a great job of explaining the necessity of bringing together the business, its processes and technology and does so in a very down to earth manner (no technospeak). The book then provides the reader with a very clear diagram of what is needed to bring a specific CRM application to fruition.

This book provides a very balanced picture of CRM. So if you need to understand CRM, its value, how it relates to business processes and what it takes to implement it, this book is for you. The checklists are invaluable and it gives you basically everything needed for a successful CRM implementation.

There are Many Reasons to Buy this Book
The book should be on the reference shelf of any manager or executive contemplating, implementing or working with CRM since it does a wonderful job of covering the business issues and technical parameters and requirements of CRM. For example, the author goes into considerable detail about how and why CRM is important to meeting business requirements and devotes many pages to the vendor and partner selection process. Furthermore, the book covers CRM from not only the IT viewpoint, but also from the departmental manager and executive office's perspective. I think it would be hard to find a book with a more comprehensive road map to CRM. Yet, the book is an easy read.

Should be on every Business Executive's Reading List
If you're involved in CRM, or are in a company that is considering CRM then this book should be your CRM Bible. It provides a thorough, well-organized treatise on all aspects of CRM. The author not only provides a full explanation of what CRM is and what CRM IS NOT, she also walks the reader through planning a business case, dealing with the human element, planning stages, project management and finally implementation. Every section is thoroughly covered, from RFP to vendor selection to outsourcing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Metanational" is the term that Jose Santos, Peter Williamson, and YvesL. Doz--management and technology professors at the international INSEADgraduate school of business--coined to describe a new type of globalcorporation. It refers, they explain in From Global to Metanational, to"a company that builds a new kind of competitive advantage by discovering,accessing, mobilizing, and leveraging knowledge from many locations around theworld." And as they unveil and dissect the concept, it becomes apparent that itmay indeed be an apt description for those worldwide enterprises most likely tosucceed in our rapidly changing times. Based on interviews with 36 companiesfrom America, Asia, and Europe (including long-established firms like 3M andToyota and newcomers like Acer and Shiseido), the authors describe innovativeways to efficiently tap into "pockets of technology, market intelligence and ...specialist knowledge scattered around the world," rather than relying solely oninput from a home nation or a few select locales. They explore how trailblazersare identifying this information wherever they find it, parlaying it into newproducts, services and processes, and merging the result with all sales,distribution, and marketing efforts. Anyone involved in multinational businessshould find this both provocative and potentially useful. --HowardRothman ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The new small world
I was delighted to grab a better understanding on global competitiveness and the new productive opportunities provided by the Metanationals.

You don't know about it yet?? God, your business is under great danger...

nothing new here
Just a recap of ideas about globalization. They didn't even coin the term metanational, they probably read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) and stole it from him. Furthermore, the book doesn't even begin to deal with the issue of democracy in global corporations. These so-called "virtual states" are feudal by design, and fundamentally backwards. They may make money for their CEOs and boardmembers, and "stimulate the economy" (which really means helping other CEOs and boards make money), but where does all that money come from? Ultimately globalization just centralizes power and money, putting us back in the dark ages.

Finding knowledge in unlikely places
What does a large company need to concentrate on for sustained success in a globalized world? Doz and his colleagues claim that it is to become metanational and to become good at innovating from a platform of bringing together knowledge from many different parts of the world. Metanationals differ from globalized companies in that they recognise that new ideas, products or directions may originate somewhere other than the corporate centre.

The focus of the authors is on innovation and they argue that this requires that the organization becomes good at :
• identifying where good ideas and special competencies are;
• mobilizing the often scattered capabilities and opportunities (they use the term 'becoming a magnet' for such capabilities); and
• optimising the size and configuration of operations for efficiency, flexibility and financial discipline.

This is a book that makes an important point about success in a globalized world, but presents one factor in success as if it was the whole. As with a number of books, I had an uncomfortable feeling that the content of a very good article was expanded into an only moderately good book.

The core message is important and useful. Organizations that operate on a global scale need to move beyond the extension of a unitary culture into new localities and recognise that new knowledge is found in unlikely places. They need to become excellent at recognising that knowledge, becoming an attractor for it, mobilizing it to provide a superior stream of innovations and operationalizing production, distribution and marketing into diverse markets.

The weakness is that the book is written at a fairly high conceptual level - for all the detailed example - that fails to get to grips with how to manage multiple cultures or the detail of innovation, or the issues of governance across countries. It also has surprisingly little on the major changes that are occurring in world consumer markets.

The book also falls into the 'one size fits all' trap. Issues of being effective globally are very different for a consumer fashion business, a high tech product or service industry and a major commodity business, but this is not recognised explicitly in the book.

Must reading for international business
This is one of the most refreshing books about managing multinationals that I have read. It goes one step beyond the idea of a transnational, proposing a new model of how a company can succeed by prospecting the world for new knowledge about technologies and customer behaviour and using this to innovate. It won't be easy to implement, but the last three chapters provide a good starting point about how to make it happen. I was convinced that if we didn't try and build a metanational we would simply be left behind.

Nostalgia for Globalization
The first two chapters tell you the picture and that is it. The kernel is summarized in a table at page 83 (end of chapter 3). Make a copy of this page, file it for later reference, and you are done. At best, this book reviews the vaunted wisdom of globalization, which many companies have been living at and dealing for years. At worst, it recites the squabbles between the global platform (the standardization) and regional initiatives (the deviations and the sensing ends). No specific solution or action is advised for the first & most obvious problem - how to transcend the intracompany transaction, which more than often bogs down companies attempting to quickly profit from the global learning. ... Read more

Book Description

Now available in two versions rather than three, this introduction to computers book is one that users will engage with -- maintaining the encyclopedic approach in the popular magazine style. It is refreshing, accurate, and easy to learn from-written to today's reader. The Eighth Edition moves the emphasis to connectivity and includes loads of new research to ensure that the statistics in the book are current. This edition emphasizes emerging technologies while de-emphasizing older technologies. The Introductory version is chapters 1-9 (with a Spotlight following each of chapters 1-7). Covers such topics as: Computers & Ethics, Internet/Web, E-commerce, Wired and Wireless Communications, Home Networks, System Software, File Management, Application Software, Microsoft Office, Inside the System Unit, Buying and Upgrading, Input, Output, and Storage, Multimedia Devices, Networks, and Privacy and Security. For anyone wanting a basic knowledge of computers to apply to their jobs or lives. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

New perspective on the realities of software development
Eric Keller really hits home with both facts and anecdotal evidence supporting his claims that there is a shift happening in the IT industry. HIs claim is that through a combination of outsourcing, project and asset management companies both on the buying and selling sides of the IT fence will spend less to get more.

The book is organized as you would expect. The first few chapters cover current problems in the industry with quality and project failures. Though the outlook is gloomy most chapters end with a 'survival guide' which gives some pragmatic advice to avoid the pitfalls and problems mentioned in the chapter.

The second part of the book lays out a set of IT spending and management paths. The path he would have you go on is the 'path to profits' which reduces and optimizes spending through outsourcing and intelligent use of local resources and assets.

The book is definitely in the same league as The Mythical Man Month, The Decline and Fall of the American Programmer, and the Rise and Resurrection of the American Programmer. I can't say if it's better or worse, but I'm not sure it's relevant. If you enjoyed any of these source works you will enjoy and learn from this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This new book approaches knowledge management (KM) from several perspectives: it spans electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, information systems, and business. Comprehensive yet clearly and concisely written, Knowledge Management is simultaneously strong in managerial, technical, and systemic aspects of KM, providing readers with the right combination of theory, technology, and solutions.Organized coherently into four sections, Knowledge Management covers the principles, technologies, capture systems, sharing systems, and application systems of KM.An excellent handbook for business executives, especially chief information officers, IT directors, and chief knowledge officers. ... Read more

Book Description

This book was designed to spark reader interest by covering practical concepts that they want to learn (such as setting up a wireless network in their home) while giving background information (such as how networks function) for those interested in exploring topics deeper. This book covers the parts of the computer, tips on using the Internet, application software, system software, networking and security, and mobile computing. For anyone who uses a computer in his or her personal or professional life.

Amazon.com

Does the Information Age predate computers? Does it, in fact, predate the Industrial Age? Though this thesis isn't explicitly examined in A Nation Transformed by Information: How Information Has Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to the Present, the reader can't help but think about it throughout. Editors Alfred D. Chandler Jr. and James W. Cortada assembled a healthy mix of historians and management consultants to write the history of information services in America, and the very mild pro-business bias is more than balanced by the deeper insight into the companies and corporations that did much to spur technological change.

Fascinating nuggets of post-McLuhan media history lie within this sober analysis; it's startling to read of the antebellum U.S. Post Office refusing to deliver abolitionist materials to slave states, for example. These help to contextualize the information architecture we take for granted, as well as the innovations made possible by this architecture--imagine 50-story buildings without telephones. Though the editors profess no gift of prophecy for themselves or their authors, A Nation Transformed by Information will still give canny readers something to think about as they make their way through the Information Age. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good subject, but poor editing
I bought this book because my work is in information reporting and I thought it would provide an interesting perspective. It did succeed at that. Because I come from a technical background, I had a little trouble getting started with the book, until I released it was written from a sociology background. Once I got past that I enjoyed the book except for the ...

extremely poor editing. There were numerous grammatical and sentence structure errors, contradicting statements misspellings and general redundancy that really detracted from the information being presented.

Poor editing
This book was interesting, but the editing was so poor that I started to mistrust what I was reading. For instance the famous first telegraph message "What hath God wrought" was printed as "What God hath wrought." The book is full of typos.

An exciting history of information media.
This book is a collection of essays on the movement of information, and how it has transformed the United States from its colonial beginnings to today. At the very beginning, the founders of the country subsidized the transportation of newspapers through the postal system; this allowed the free flow of information between cities and states, across the entire continent. As technology increased, it inevitably speeded and expanded the amount of information flowing throughout the country--from the railroad, through the telegraph, telephone, radio, motion pictures, television, and on into computers.

This book is an exciting history of information media. Though written by no less than seven contributors, it pulls together into seamless whole, almost as if written by one author. The depth of information is breathtaking, and the conclusions reached are fascinating. Indeed, I think that they admirably proved their contention that there was continuity in the development of information media, and I myself repeatedly saw history repeat itself through their narrative, right up to today.

This is a fascinating book, and one that I recommend without reservation. ... Read more

Book Description

'Learning through Knowledge Management' provides an insightful overview of the main issues integrating learning and Knowledge Management.It offers a rich resource of case examples that highlight Knowledge Management in practice.



The text explores and defines learning and Knowledge Management concepts, and deals with the elements that play an important part in determining implementation success in the organization. The chapters present a managerially oriented discussion of the following key areas:

* The role of processes in managing knowledge
* The behavioural side of Knowledge Management
* Leadership reflexes for knowledge management success
* The key features of Information Technology required for Knowledge Management
* The future of Knowledge Management as part of organization management.

There are many case studies which include:
British Airways
BP Amoco
Ford
Hewlett Packard
Xerox
Swedish Police
IBM

The case studies encompass a diverse and broad range of sectors, maturity of practice, problems and approaches to Knowledge Management.

Unique in explicitly drawing together the related thinking in the popular areas of Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning, and using this as the focal point
Includes original case studies to back up theory
Gives a single author overview of what can be a specialist field, making it a good introduction to the behavioural side of the subject ... Read more

Book Description

Strategic Planning for Information Systems explores the impact that information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) have on business performance and the contribution that they make to the strategic options of organisations. It describes tools, techniques and management frameworks to both align strategies for IS and IT with business strategy, as well as seek out new opportunities through innovative deployment of technology.

This book demonstrates why strategic planning for information systems is essential to organisational success, especially in times of increasingly rapid change. Over the long term any organisation will get the information systems it deserves, according to the approach adopted to the use and management of IS/IT. To obtain the whole range of benefits available from IS/IT and avoid the potential pitfalls, every organisation must establish the means to manage IS/IT as an integral part of its approach to strategic management.

In the six years since the second edition of Strategic Planning for Information Systems, much has changed in the way business is organised and in the importance of IS for competitive strategies. However, the essence of the book remains the same - it is a practical and comprehensive book written in a clear and straightforward way. The new edition introduces more approaches and techniques to aid in developing and implementing strategies - to enable management and IS/IT professionals to identify what needs to be done and how best to do it.

... Read more

Reviews (6)

A business led approach to Information Systems Planning
The latest edition of Strategic Planning for Information Systems provides vital guidance for anyone working in this area - in business or in academia. There are no easy answers and the authors provide readers with the concepts and tools they need to tackle the key challenges and develop an IS Strategy for their organisation.

The introduction of a section on Benefits Managment is particularly useful.

Poorly written.
The text is poorly written and rife with grammatical errors. It reads like the author(s) were producing a thesis and were being graded on word-count. They refer to their own research to justify their position. Other statements have no citations to refer to. I doubt if many organizations utilize even a forth of the practices the text suggest. What organization has the time and/or resources to expend on these ideas? I would rather read CIO magazine as it reads better and gets to the point.

If I could, I would get my money back because it is definitely not worth $100+. At best, $20.

Apply business consulting technique to IS/IT
Run IS/IT as a service business? Then you need this book which apply popular business consulting world technique to IS/IT. Value chain by M. Porter and 2x2 portfolio adapted from BCG are the two most important techniques to explore.

And you need to know where you are now and where you are going to in order to obtain a really useful strategy. The 3-era-5-stage reference model introduced here is a very powerful tool to position yourself right.

The authors also explored 4 important strategy subject areas for IS/IT: information, application, technology and resource. Which provide useful insight for us.

Rich resource for experienced strategic planners
In one respect this book is a classic because it is frequently referenced in the body of literature on IS/IT management and IS/IT strategic planning. Out of the past 50 or so articles on the topic (including corporate and city/state/Federal government strategic plans, PHd dissertations and white papers) over 75% have cited this book.

This is not, however, a "how-to" book that describes a coherent strategic planning process. It's a collection of standalone chapters on each key element of strategic planning. The material is presented in sequential order, but no single chapter depends on another. Moreover, there is no smooth continuity between the chapters or a master chapter that ties it all together. That said, this book is valuable from two perspectives:

(1) Each chapter is highly focused and contains a wealth of information on its topic.

(2) Used as a collection of mature techniques this book could be used to support an effective strategic planning process.

The main value is the fact that each element of strategic planning is thoroughly covered. I frequently use this book as a catalog of procedures and techniques for numerous projects, including strategic planning, assessment, process improvement and IS/IT organizational improvement.

If you are seeking a book that shows step-by-step how to perform IS/IT strategic planning you may not like this book. However, if you are an experienced practitioner this book is a wonderful resource to which you'll find yourself frequently referring.

Excellent Reference
I've just finished using this as a text book in my Bsc final year. It is somewhat difficult to read as the writing is not in a flowing manner but it is an axcellent reference with a multitude of tables, charts, lists and diagrams which describe the essentials of strategic IS/IT planning.

Each chapter brings a succinct set of guidelines for the strategic planning novice. A lot of work has gone into compiling this book, it is a work which I will reference again and again.

Buy it if you're into this stuff at all, you won't regret it. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

DECENT EXPOSE OF KNOWLEDGE CHARACTERISTICS
Suited to deeper thinking operations managers and KM
practitioners. Geared to globalised players who have
the resources.

Until we can grasp the nature of knowledge we are foolish
to think we can setup systems to leverage it. The McKinsey
book is one of the very few in KM to specialise in
identifying and measuring the knowledge characteristics
in companies('...the six characteristics that distinguish
it from other assets..'p.21). It is the only one to my
extensive knowledge that provides scientific results from
their survey ('We found a strong correlation between a
company's knowledge index and ...'P.19). Both are worthy
contributions to the literature.

Example of typical chapter :
Chapter 4 is about
'Subjectivity: Reading From The Same Page.'

Breakdown:
Six sub-sections of Strategies to minimise(!)subjectivity.
- major issue.

Sub-Section 1. Build Common Experiences -
-identifiable issues,
-case1-'An automotive company.. (1 page)
-summary
Sub-Section 2. Generate an Open Knowledge Flow Across
Hierachies -
-identifiable issues,
-case2- 'A European capital goods..(3/4ths page)
-case3- '..an automotive supplier..(1/2 page)
-summary
Sub-Section 3. Break the Status Barrier
-identifiable issues,
-case4- 'One global automotive..' (1/2 page)
-case5- 'At Oticon, a Danish...' (1/2 page)
-case6- Full study on Oticon (1 1/2 pages)
-summary
Sub-Section 4. Get the Experts Together
-identifiable issues,
-case7- 'One US investment goods...' (1/2 page)
-case8- 'To expand the Oticon example..'(1/3 page)
-strategies explanations (2pages)
-survey findings/summary
Sub-Section 5. Synchronize High-Level Goals
-identifiable issues
-case9- '..an international conglomerate..' (3/4 page)
-strategies explanations (1/4page)
-case10- 'At an international telecoms equipment..' (1/2page)
Sub-Section 6. Chapter summary (1 page)
Survey Results Pertaining to Subjectivity.
In addition, a chapter explaining First Steps...
preliminary KM questionnaire.

Formatting & Writing Style: No diagrams but survey bar graphs.
Page font and spacing- generous and readable.Almost no bullet
points in the entire book, making it difficult to isolate key
points ! Nice sub-headings, good analogies, illustrations and
loads of mini-case studies spread out with a dozen lengthier
case studies.

Conclusion : Holistic, deeper thinkers will see this as a
valuable resource to develop a company KM framework.

Spiro Raftopoulos

A practical and illustrative guide to operationalising KM
While knowledge has always been an important factor of production (in addition to land, labour and capital), it is becoming a key differentiator as the other three factors are becoming abundant and accessible. 'While the importance of knowledge is, at the very least, widely acknowledged, we are still missing a comprehensive approach to managing knowledge in order to maximize returns,' according to consultants Jurgen Kluge, Wolfram Stein and Thomas Licht.

'Understanding how knowledge works throughout your organization therefore allows you to reap the highest rewards from KM: the ability to adapt successfully through constant reinvention and optimization, to tap into new market opportunities, to jump on the latest trend earlier and more decisively than others, and to innovate,' the authors begin.

The material is based on a two-year survey conduced by the consultancy, encompassing 40 manufacturing companies in the US, Europe and Japan. At least eight interviews were conducted in each of these companies, to assess their deployment of upto 139 KM techniques culled from KM literature. Techniques included incentive schemes and use of IT infrastructure; the degree of application of these techniques was rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Companies were also classified on a performance spectrum (based on financial and process indicators) and divided into categories like less successful and more successful companies. This combination of scores provides a very powerful framework for assessing the differentiating 'knowledge contribution' or 'KM index' of a company, which is one of the very useful contributions of this book.

The authors define knowledge as the 'understanding of relations and causalities' and management as 'conscious and systematic decision making.' Though knowledge can be slippery and nebulous as a subject, it is important not to get distracted by imperfect definitions. Dedicated techniques need to be designed, applied, coordinated and aligned to ensure a successful KM practice.

There are six key attributes of knowledge which must be factored into KM practices:

1. Subjectivity (context and individual background shape the interpretation of knowledge)
2. Transferability (knowledge can be extracted and transferred to other contexts)
3. Embeddedness (knowledge is often in a static and buried form that makes it difficult to extract or reformulate)
4. Self-reinforcement (the value of knowledge increases and not decreases when shared)
5. Perishability (knowledge can become outdated)
6. Spontaneity (knowledge can develop unpredictably in a process)

More successful companies deal with the challenges of subjectivity by ensuring agreement on general rules and values, cross-functional collaboration in product development and order generation, and increased face-to-face communication. For instance, Danish hearing aid manufacturer Oticon ensures that team membership is constantly shifting, as experts shuttle between teams.

Transferability of knowledge can be facilitated by internal and external benchmarking, market research, external alliances, and competitor analysis. Lateral thinking is needed to bring knowledge into entirely new contexts and even from entirely new industries. Japanese auto component company Aisin AW draws lessons actively from the consumer electronics industry mecca Akihibara. A European engine company actively participates in a variety of public research projects where it partners with universities and even competitors.

Best-practice KM techniques for dealing with embedded knowledge include knowledge databases, corporate yellow pages, job rotation, teamwork with suppliers, and co-location of product development staff. Finnish metal group Outokumpu has a solid IT infrastructure to make it easier to find knowledge among its staff. Apprenticeships and collocation with suppliers can help in the automotive sector.

Self-reinforcement knowledge networking practices for jump-starting the knowledge value chain include online training, formal networks with retailers, joint problem-solving, alignment with partner IT systems, and easy access for service data. Amazon.com links book purchases with past customer book preferences; an international conglomerate gets all its employees to write year-end reports containing their successes and outlook for the next year. SAP opened SAP University in 1999; it offers blended e-learning courses, and employees can set up their own sites and present a skill set.

Coping with perishability of knowledge involves continuous training related to standards and design rules, development optimization, FAQs, and clear division of responsibilities. Intel speeds chip development via a 'Copy EXACTLY!' initiative to avoid overdoing customization and ensure that best practices can be precisely replicated across its global chip plants; chip-turnaround time has been cut from 7 years to 2 years. It is important to balance standards with creativity, of course.

Based on the analysis of more successful companies along these six knowledge parameters, the authors have devised a six-dimensional 'KM scanner' audit metric, and have come up with several recommendations for successful KM.

Be precise in your KM objectives and link them to business targets. Leverage push as well as pull factors to holistically grow and share knowledge. Create the right cultural context which nurtures reciprocal trust, openness and cooperation. Employees must be enthused with a desire for world-class performance and lust for knowledge, from within and outside the company. Financial and non-financial incentives should be devised. Avoid micro-management and encourage self-steering mechanisms.

'You must instill in your company a sense of caring for knowledge so that it becomes part of everyday life, rather than something that ebbs and flows as the mood suits. Soon, every worker will become a knowledge worker,' according to the authors.

'Working with knowledge is much more creative, gives a higher sense of doing value-added work and, simply put, is much more fun. Just as no company will probably survive without taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet, soon no worker will survive without actively using knowledge as a tool of their trade, whatever trade that is, and no company will succeed without tapping into the great potential of their employees' knowledge,' the authors conclude.

>>>>>>>>>>

Madanmohan Rao is the author of 'The Asia Pacific Internet Handbookï... ... Read more

Book Description

Forecasting is one of the most important activities that form the basis for strategic, tactical, and operational decisions in all business organizations. Recently, neural networks have emerged as an important tool for business forecasting. There are considerable interests and applications in forecasting using neural networks. Neural Networks in Business Forecasting provides for researchers and practitioners some recent advances in applying neural networks to business forecasting. A number of case studies demonstrating the innovative or successful applications of neural networks to many areas of business as well as methods to improve neural network forecasting performance are presented. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Philip Evans and Thomas S. Wurster think that the Internet can blow away practically any business, and in Blown to Bits, they examine how the new economy is "deconstructing" industries such as newspapers, auto retailing, and banking while creating new opportunities for others. They write that the "glue that holds today's value chains and supply chains together" is melting, and that even "the most stable of industries, the most focused of business models and the strongest of brands can be blown to bits by new information technology."

Evans and Wurster, both executives of the Boston Consulting Group, argue that the Internet demands new business strategies because it provides companies tremendous "reach" for customers without sacrificing "richness," or the quality of the information about products and services. The book shows how some businesses--Microsoft and Intuit in personal finance, Dell Computer in retailing, and the Automotive Network Exchange in manufacturing supply--are thriving amid a rapid expansion of connectivity and the widespread acceptance of new technical standards on the World Wide Web. Clearly written and tough-minded, Blown to Bits is required reading for business leaders, entrepreneurs, strategists, and others concerned about the new economics of the information age. --Dan Ring ... Read more

Reviews (64)

Good discussion of eCommerce Dynamics
Blown to bits provides a good review of the fundamental issue in eCommerce, what are you going to be when you go virtual. The premise, that you compete on reach or richeness, provides a way of distinguishing the various paths through eC as well as the impact of eCommerce on business models and market structures. Overall, the book is worth the read, however, the authors rely too heavily on the richness/reach framework so it shows some wear-n-tear latter on in the book. This is a strategy/economics type work, so if you are looking for implementation guidance this is not the book for you. If you are looking for something that will help explain what eCommerce may be doing to your company and markets its as good as anything out there and better than most.

Interesting Insight into the New Economics of Information
Richness or reach? The trade-off used to be simple but absolute: your business strategy either could be focus on "rich" information-customized products and services tailored to a niche audience-or could reach out to a larger market, but with watered-down information that sacrificed richness in favour of a broad, general appeal. Much of business strategy as we know it today rests on this fundamental dilemma.

Now, say Evans and Wurster, the new economics of information is eliminating the trade off between richness and reach, blowing apart the foundations of traditional business strategy. Blown to Bits reveals how the spread of connectivity and common standards is redefining the information channels that link businesses with their customers, suppliers, and employees. Increasingly, your customers will have rich access to a universe of alternatives, your suppliers will exploit direct access to your customers, and your competitors will pick off the most profitable parts of your value chain. Your competitive advantage is up for grabs.

To prepare corporate executives and entrepreneurs alike for a fundamental change in business competition, Evans and Wurster expand and illuminate groundbreaking concepts first explored in their award-winning Harvard Business Review article "Strategy and the New Economics of Information", and present a practical guide for applying them.

Examples span the spectrum of industries-from financial services to health care, from consumer to industrial goods, and from media to retailing. Blown to Bits shows how to build new strategies that reflect a world in which richness and reach go hand in hand and how to make the most of the new forces shaping competitive advantage.

Philip Evans is a Senior Vice President of The Boston Consulting Group. Thomas S. Wurster is a Vice President of The Boston Consulting Group in Los Angeles. The authors are co-leaders of The Boston Consulting Group's Media and Convergence Practice.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly Business Development Manager with KPMG, Azlan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School in London.

Internet Hype
The authors must be embarrassed. But they are probably too busy on their next bogus book full of more mananagement consulting buzzspeak and claptrap.
"Blown to Bits"?--perhaps they were referring to the bursting of the Internet bubble??

Blown to Bits
BLOWN TO BITS
How the new Economics of Information transforms Strategy
Authored by Philip Evans & Thomas S. Wurster

By Mike Jones
Management Information Systems
05/27/03

This book is about how the new age of technology dealing with the way information has changed the business environment forever. It starts out with the example of Encyclopedia Britanica and how they were leaders in their field in the late eighties and early nineties. Though they were very pricey the sales force targeted families with young children and the parents had to have this source of valuable information for their children. Sales were very high and there was no competition for the Encyclopedia icon. Everything was great until the computer age took hold and all of a sudden you could get that same information on a little round disk known as a CD-ROM for a fraction of the cost. That disk was even being given away with the purchase of a microcomputer that people could use for other things as well. This goes to show us that even the strongest business can be blind sided when they least expect it. Moral to be learned here is that "even the most venerable can be the most vulnerable".
All businesses are information businesses and the information is the main glue that holds any business together. The business of information is different than the business of things. When something is sold, the seller no longer owns it but when a piece of information is sold, the seller still has access to that information and can sell it again. Although the two are different they are still very much linked together as all things consist of some kind of information.
One of the most fundamental issues of the information business in the beginning was the dilemma of Richness and Reach. It was nearly impossible to have both Richness and Reach in information but the rise of the computer industry and the Internet has changed that forever. There are six aspects that come into play when talking about Richness of information and they are Bandwidth, interactivity, reliability, security, currency and the degree to which the information can be customized. This has all changed with the computer. This change is melting the informational glue, as we know it. It "deconstructs" value chains, supply chains, franchises and organizations. The definition of deconstruction is the reformulation of traditional business structures. The newspaper industry and retail banking is just a couple of businesses that have been deconstructed. You used to have to go to the bank to do your banking and newspapers were either delivered or you had to go get them. Now both can be done via the personal computer at nearly no cost and in a fraction of the time. Deconstruction does a lot of damage at first and hits where a company can least afford it and if a company is willing to accept the change it can make it through tough times.
Intermediaries exist because of the trade off between richness and reach. The deconstruction of the old intermediaries is known as disinter mediation and the creation of the new intermediaries is known as navigation. Disinter mediation used to be about substituting reach for richness but now it is about transforming them both. This will happen where a company can least afford it. The new navigators compete against each other on richness, reach and affiliation. The key is reach but reach is clutter without navigation. We need navigation to find what we want. Navigators are not consumer oriented even though consumers use them. They are supplier oriented because the supplier needs to get their product to the consumer. Reach has developed faster than navigation but we are slowly catching up.
Navigators affiliate mostly with suppliers but are starting to lean toward affiliating themselves with the consumer. This is surprising that this is only happening now and hasn't happened in the past. Navigation is worth more than the supplier business due to the need for navigation because without navigation the products and services would not get to the consumer.
Adding richness is the most powerful way to put off deconstruction due to the fact that if your giving people what they want you will stay in business. You need to be giving them something they don't already have which makes the consumer your biggest competitor. Richness goes up as reach increases. As richness and reach escalate so does the competitive advantage and intensity at all levels of the supply chain.
In closing I would like to say one thing and that is business has changed forever with the desktop workstations and microcomputers and the Internet. People are touching out to one another unlike they have ever done before. Networks are connected to networks all over the world. A message can get across the globe with the touch of a keyboard. Business is ever changing and will continue to change for a long time to come. We will either keep up and make the changes necessary or we will be left behind and fail. As it said in the book "The winner is not the player who understands the endgame. There is no endgame. The winner is the player who sees just one or two moves further ahead than the competitors".

How information economy is going to blow your business?
It is common sense to say that industrial age businesses will have to change to enter in the new Information economy, but the reasons to change are not often clearly explained. Philip Evans and Thomas S. Wurster are giving some sound answers in their book: "Blown to Bits".

In fact industrial age businesses are historically built on two compromises: Information bound with things and a trade-off between richness and reach. Information is embedded in things to reach through physical channels the final consumer, who have some difficulties to get complete unbiased information on things he buys. On the other hand, physical constraints and costs are creating a need to find balance between richness (depth and detail of information) and reach (access and connection). A salesman is able to bring richness to chosen customers when advertising is reaching more people with less richness in information. The management of Information non-transparency and asymmetry is often the base for a competitive advantage.

What is happening if Information can travel separately from things and if it is possible to offer richness and reach at a same time? In that case the industrial age compromises are blowing up and competitive advantages based on asymmetric Information are disappearing putting many businesses in danger. This is what is happening with the development of computers networks using common standards to communicate in the Internet world where geography and time constraints are disappearing. Information can be unbundled from things and richness, at zero marginal cost, can be supplied with extended reach. The competition battlefield is moving from profitable cross-linked activities constituting a typical industrial age organization to individual profitable activities: "blown to bits." To compete there is no need to attack on all fronts for destabilizing a traditional company. Just concentrate on the more profitable activities-classified ads for newspapers, best customers for banks-makes it possible to "deconstruct" a business. Offering richness and reach together-deeper information on a larger range of products than retailers-makes it is possible to "desintermediate".

It's real hard time for traditional organizations, which have no other alternative than to "deconstruct" and "desintermediate" themselves their own business, before somebody else is doing it. But this task is not easy against the "navigators" as Yahoo!, Intuit, but also Amazon. These one are helping consumers to find their way in the Internet marketspace. They supply reach, richness and create a link with consumers by affiliation. They concentrate more on consumers' needs than on suppliers' one and have the objective to gain a critical mass giving them an added value. Traditional companies, often too closed to their physical offer, have lower reach than "navigators" and have difficulties to gain affiliation from customers who are suspecting them to promote their own products before liberating an impartial Information. However, they can build on a slight advantage in product richness, when products are changing rapidly.

To really compete, traditional companies need to go out from their own boundaries, and collaborate with their suppliers, but also with their competitors when needed. Supply chains and organizations are "deconstructed" as value chains are. Hierarchically leadership becomes obsolete to give place to a new leadership creating a culture and shaping a strategy, which will be the "glue" for a new corporation, a purposeful community.

"Blown to Bits" gives many other keys as enhancing "brands as experience", creating "new intermediaries" towards a fascinating "New Economy" and I can only recommend to every executive to read this book to make sure to be aboard the train going to our common digital future. ... Read more

Book Description

"The Valuation of Technology is a timely and thoughtful book on a critical issue in the global business arena. Peter Boer's insights constitute important reading for leaders in all fields."—Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean, Yale School of Management

"The Valuation of Technology fills a critical void for those executives who wish to upgrade technology decision making from an art to a more definable science."—George B. Rathmann, Chairman and CEO, ICOS Corporation

Technology valuation has replaced risk management as the management approach to analyzing the profitability of current and future technology projects. The Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in R&D explores the link between research and development and shareholder value in a comprehensive way, providing mathematical models for the valuation of R&D projects and answering critical questions on how to analyze technology initiatives and forecast their future value. This professional reference creates a common language for understanding the financial issues relating to R&D and provides analytical tools that businesspeople, scientists, and engineers can use to assess new technologies, R&D projects, and R&D budgets—thereby facilitating communication and producing more enlightened decisions. It also identifies several common fallacies in performing valuation of technology-based properties, including adding together enterprises with different time horizons and failing to recognize the value of risk-minimization strategies.

Among the many remarkable features of The Valuation of Technology:

• Offers quick, easy models for technology valuation that readers can use immediately
• Includes a method for the quantitative valuation of technology projects and shows readers how to build a project spreadsheet and assign value to research projects
• Comes with a disk containing templates for a selection of mathematical models provided in the book

Reviews (3)

Great book, but...
This is generally a great read. However, I find the quantitative examples in Chapter 6 very confusing to follow. In addition, as a financial analyst, I feel very insulted for being called "bean counter" numerous times in the book. The author should be more aware of this demeaning attitude he carelessly imbedded in this otherwise great book.

Critical Resource for Maximizing Value From Innovation, R&D
F. Peter Boer's Valuation of Technology is mandatory reading for every CEO, Head of R&D, and key investor who has heard it all when it comes to the importance of "innovating". But who despairs about the absence of fundamental tools for extracting new value from research-driven efforts in all parts of the corporation.

No longer- this is the missing corporate value creation toolset. Valuation of Technology fills the critical gap between value formulas and project-focused research management, in a way that makes a convincing case for future evolution of R&D as a total corporation value resource, not just another functional department.

A former top executive with W. R. Grace and now a professor at Yale (in addition to running his own corporation, Tiger Scientific, Inc.), Professor Boer combines a senior executive's sense of the right measures and analyses with an entrepreneur's enthusiasm and pragmatic curiosity. The author's impressive body of work also reflects his sensitivity to the key people and organizational issues that often spell the difference between exceptional new value creation and disappointment.

This a must read for all senior executives in technology
This is a great book, that for the first time, not only brings together the technology management and financial disciplines, but also highlights that often misunderstood cultural differences between these two disciplines that need to work together.

I liked the book so much, I bought 10 copies and distributed them throughout my organization. This is a well conceived book, that covers not only the nuances of technology and scientific discovery and management, and/or the rudimentary aspects of time value of money, but also covers more advanced concepts such as the optionality of R&D investments. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

If you like to keep on top of what's going on in the world but find it difficult to get through more than a section or two of the Sunday New York Times, take heart. Were you to actually plow through the whole thing, even just once, you'd be taking in more factual information than was gathered in all the written material available to a reader in the 15th century. And that's just a Sunday paper; what about all the e-mail, voice mail, meetings, Web pages (2 billion or so of them), and publications (more than 60,000 new books and 18,000 magazines published annually in the U.S. alone) vying for your attention? According to Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck, we live in an age of information overload, where attention has become the most valuable business currency.Welcome to The Attention Economy.

If yesterday was the age of information, today is the age of trying to attract or employ people's attention. Indeed, leaders and managers in the business world face this two-fold problem daily, constantly seeking the attention of their customers and employees while managing their own limited supply.Declaring that "understanding and managing attention is now the single most important determinant of business success," the authors examine what attention is, how it can be measured, how it's being technologically constructed and protected, and where and how attention is being most effectively exploited.

Predictably, nowhere are these economics more important than in the realm of e-commerce. In the chapter entitled "Eyeballs and Cyber Malls," the authors discuss the strategies needed to gain and maintain attention "stickiness." The book contains numerous suggestions on how leaders can manage their own attention and that of their employees more effectively (and how to avoid and treat info-stress), but always with an eye on the ultimate goal: affecting the type and amount of attention your customers give you. Already, more money is often spent on attracting attention to a product than spent on the product itself (we're reminded of The Blair Witch Project, which cost a mere $350,000 to make and $11 million to market). And as our information environment gets increasingly saturated, holding a person's attention becomes an ever more difficult proposition; as the authors suggest, actually paying for someone to receive your information is a realistic prospect in the not-too-distant future. Indeed, the book's final chapter is devoted to what the authors predict will affect attention in the future, and how attention can and will be acquired, monitored, and distributed.

The Attention Economy is peppered with anecdotal pull-outs and "overheard" comments; though intriguing in as random factoids and zippy, little quotes, this sideline information doesn't always tie in with the authors' points and often seems distracting. The book is well written, though, and the authors, both of whom work at the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change, take an informed and well-balanced look at what is perhaps our society's most priceless, ephemeral commodity. --S. Ketchum ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Fascinating!
This book is a delightfully interesting combination of academic and general audience writing that makes it quite readable and holds your attention page after page. The content is nicely woven into twelve chapters that explain more aspects of attention, gaining attention, and holding attention than you could imagine. You'll learn a lot from these pages. An abundance of footnotes will give you more resources to pursue to expand your learning even further.

I turned down more pages than usual in this volume. I marked all sorts of things to share with others and to go back to. I even wrote notes on some of the pages, which I don't usually do when reading a book like this. The authors explain that "attention is the real currency of business and individuals...In post-industrial societies, attention has become a more valuable currency than the kind you store in bank accounts."

The official definition: "Attention is focused mental engagement on a particular item of information. Items come into our awareness, we attend to a particular item, and then we decide whether to act." There's more, but I don't want to spoil this delicious read for you. You'll gain valuable insight into the role of attention in all aspects of our lives, how the ability to manage our attention is all-powerful . . . and how we struggle with our own personal challenge of managing the tremendous volume of information and other stimulants that bombard our senses. Part of the attention process is filtering and sorting, which is difficult for some people and can be overwhelming. There is so much in this book that I have no hesitation in giving it very high marks. Have your highlighter ready!

The one negative-if it even is a negative-is the quotes and illustrative comments that appear in smaller type at the bottom of many of the pages. They distracted my attention from the flow of the text, making the book consciously a bit more difficult to read. Ah! The authors have made their point! Recommended for people in all walks of life; this is a book about us, not just an economy or business treatise.

Good Summary of Latest Research and Measurement Model
Professor Thomas H. Davenport is well known for his superb summaries of best practices in knowledge management. In The Attention Economy, he and co-author, Professor John C. Beck, outline the work that others are doing in measuring how attention is gained, and provide a prototype measurement device for attention. The book modestly advances our knowledge of this subject. The book's weakness is that it misdefines the key issue, which should be "What Should We Be Paying Attention to in Business?"

The authors feel that the most pressing problem today is "not enough attention to meet the information demands of business and society." They argue that everything except human attention is plentiful and cheap. They think of attention as "human bandwidth." As a result, they suggest that like all scarce resources, attention is a "currency." In support of these observations, the authors note that 71 percent of white collar workers feel "info stress." They also argue that companies have "organizational ADD."

The most interesting part of the book is the proposed measurement model. There are three continuums involved: one is from aversive to attractive, a second is from captive to voluntary, and a third is from front-of-mind to back-of-mind. The authors provide some examples of how to use this as a measurement tool, and prescribe some potential solutions for what they find in the examples. I thought that the weakness of this approach is that without experimental experience and testing, one will probably be wrong in prescribing from a new measurement tool. In that sense, the writing here exceeds the scope of the research the authors have done. However, I am glad they are sharing their prototype.

Of existing research, you will get a quick look at psychobiology, the impact of technology on solving or making the problem worse, lessons from advertising, Web issues (especially e-mail, which they mention incessantly), leadership effects, strategy effects, and organizational structure as it affects attention.

Basically, their argument is that less is more in most situations. Their goal is to create a world where technology enhances attention, you have control over sending and receiving information, you can escape information, and institutions (like companies and schools) make information more relevant for you. In so doing, they would like to see information providers focus on quality, not quantity.

"In the end, the greatest prize for being able to capture attention will be the freedom to avoid it."

Being familiar with the literature in this area, I found only the measurement model to be new. If you have read widely, you can focus on just that part of the book.

My own sense is that measuring attention is less important than measuring what people use information for. Are they working on the right things, with the right people and tools, and in the best possible way? I also suspect that attention does need to be somewhat open. You do not know what you do not know, nor do I. Openness is clearly valuable to creativity and innovation. Hopefully, it will remain so.

I was also struck that not enough attention was paid to giving people more tools for handling information that would already work. But this is a theoretical book, rather than a practical one. If you want to know more about how to turn information into influence, I suggest you read Robert Cialdini's classic, Influence.

Basically, this subject is only of interest because voice mail and e-mail are being overused. That source of stress is fairly unimportant though, because little of importance comes from either source. They just happen to waste time. Good manners and more consideration would solve most of those problems. For most companies, a little attention to suggesting what should be done in both areas would solve much of the stress described here.

I think we do need to do more work on helping people to appreciate their perceptual weaknesses. Like many management books, this one focuses more on "doing things to people" rather than helping people do things for themselves better. I hope that future work in this area will be more practical for the individual.

My experience has been is that if people have good information, almost everyone decides and acts in the same way. The poorest sources of such information are regular financial reports in companies. As a result, Professor Kaplan's work with the Balanced Scorecard, as described lately in The Strategy-Focused Organization, is a area to focus on if you are concerned about organizational ADD.

The relatively new book, Simplicity, by Bill Jensen is also a good source of ideas for how to overcome many of these issues.

After you think about this issue, I suggest that you focus your organization on what are the three things you need to do better than anyone else. Then be sure that everyone understands what information needs to be addressed. Give them lots of freedom to wallow in the information anyway they like. A regimented approach will help with execution, but limit your choices.

Expand your mind's control over what you focus on, to avoid the bad habits that stall progress!

Disappointingly fluffy
The book sets out in a bad direction, and never really recovers. There's some interesting survey material for those who are completely unfamiliar with the issues, but also many random unsubstantiated claims, much that's illogical or contradictory, and a ream of chapters later in the book with what seems to me to be vague management advice.

The initial bad direction comes in the form of a broken definition of attention: the authors claim attention is a narrowing of perception (sensory input), followed by an action decision. The latter part of this is completely bogus from a psychological perspective, and only there to support the marketing/advertising-oriented slant of the book. Yes, attention does involve a focus on a subset of sensory input, but no decision making needs to be attached. Think of watching a movie: it has your full attention; you're blocking out surrounding stimuli to some extent. But when the movie is effective, you're along for the ride, not making decisions. Furthermore, the authors *claim* that attention-management is different from time-management, but are very sloppy in distinguishing between attention, time, mind share, effort, persuasion, and a variety of other measures. It's maddening.

An example of the contradictory nature of the authors' advice is that they both advise managers to be creative in seeking their employees' attention (including multimedia messages, clowning in meetings, and other nonsense) AND advise that companies deploy "attention guards" to keep employees focused. Well, which is it? Distractions or focus? The sheer enthusiasm with which the authors endorse the arms race for attention (more and more baroque packaging of messages (ads) to get your attention) is disturbing.

The graphic design of the book makes a point and is amusing at first, but when you're trying to stick to the flow of the main text, the sidebars and tangential blurbs become very distracting. They becgome more distracting as the amount of real information in the main text decreases in later chapters.

I read this as a bookclub book to discuss it with a few (high-tech focused) friends, and we unanimously hated the book. I recommend taking a good look at it before spending your money.

Seminal - A Paradigm Changing Book
A book which is not only well paced and well written, but most importantly, has something to say which does not echo the 'me too' mantra of most recent management books.

A truly insightful book, I recommend you pause to listen to its message and judge its insight against your personal experience.

Davenport et al present a new paradigm, a new way of viewing the causality of corporate thinking, and for that he should be applauded.

It didn't hold my attention
I found this book disappointing. Attention (and lack thereof) is on a lot of peoples' minds these days. The book highlights the distinction between time and attention. It also does a reasonable job of describing the increasing prevalence of attention deficit among individuals and organizations.

I suspect however that anyone reading the book is already well aware of the problem and is looking for solutions. The book offers few that are particularly new or useful. The book itself looks new. It has a 'weby' feel in that chunks of text and 'factoids' are scattered around the pages. No doubt this was intended to be attention-getting but in book format I found it distracting.

Given the ever-increasing demand for our attention, it seems more important than ever to get to the point quickly and avoid tangents. This book violates that principle by squandering the readers' attention on ideas that are old (e.g.: Maslow's Hierarchy), of questionable relevance to this topic (e.g.: mergers and acquisitions) or dealt with more comprehensively elsewhere (e.g.: how to structure documents to maximize attention) ... Read more

Book Description

The business environment has changed. Sharper competition requires organizations to exhibit greater effectiveness in their operations and services and faster creation of new products and services-all hallmarks of the knowledge economy. Up until now, most of the knowledge management literature has focused on technology, systems, or culture. This book moves to the next stage, to focus on the people-the knowledge workers themselves. Noted expert Karl Wiig synthesizes recent research findings in cognitive science and related fields to describe how people actually work. He focuses on how people learn, remember, make decisions, solve problems and act-in general, how knowledge relates to work behavior. By understanding how people work, managers can improve effectiveness to gain competitive advantage.

ú First book to connect cognitive science with knowledge management
ú Karl Wiig has worldwide name recognition as thought leader
ú Clearly written for professionals with charts and checklists ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Second Edition better than First Edition
I first read version one last year and after SEI intro class I have been giving several copies to team members at work.

This second edition bring the book upto level with 1.1. Guess I'll have give away my first edition.

This by far the best book for both someone just looking for an overview on CMMI. I use the book every day on the job and have found no better book to explain the CMM process to project managers.

Best CMMI book
This is the best book I have found todate on CMMI. The book covers both models and goes into some history of the whole process improvement process.

If you know CMM and want to move to CMMI or if you do not know anything about CMM, this book is a great starter.

I have purchased several copies for my company and everyone that I have given a copy to loves the book.

Not perfect, but helpful
There is certainly a need for secondary literature to describe a complex standard such as the CMMI. This book does a reasonable job to accomplish this. As it has been stated there are certainly weaknesses. For example the ratio between actual content and number of pages is in some areas pretty bad. One citation an the start of a chapter is nice, two is an over load. In order to gain a fair understanding of the CMMI standard is not sufficient and neither is this book. However, "CMMI Distilled" gets you a step closer.

this book is for the authors not for users
. . .

Why?

Rehash of process improvement. That belongs in a PI book. Folks reading about CMMI know PI and should know CMM -- they need to know how to move to CMMI.

Work of the CMMI Project. Who needs the history of CMMI? These folks may want to rehash the past but we need how to do cmmi for the future.

Authors guidance. Are these the top experts you should listen to? You can get better info from SPC or by reading the various SEI web documents. Everyone know how to choose a model. The only model rational folks will use is the continuous in spite of the SEI preference for staged. Tailoring the cmmi might be useful *IF* any of teh assessors would allow it. Too many CMM assessors demanded you do the whole nine yards or you wouldn't pass. Will the cmmi assessors be more realistic?

Thoughts on the future. Totally irrelevant. This may stroke the authors egos but we do not need this

This book should have concentrated on how to do a continuous cmmi level 3,4,5 from a cmm level 3 (4,5) and left out all the padding.

Download the CMMI from SEI and read the other documents there. Then wait for a good book on doing cmmi to come out.

. .

GREAT overview-awful editing & proofreading
As previous reviewers have commented, this is a very good overview of the CMMI. The authors work in the industry, and have done an admirable job presenting the nuts-and-bolts of this enormous topic in a straightforward fashion. But if you intend to use it as a tool, like you would Paulk's book on the SW-CMM (SM), DON'T BUY IT YET. The editing in Appendix B renders this book useless to me (I need it as a tool). When I compare the constituents of the Process Areas in Appendix B to the CMMI (CMU/SEI-2000-TR-018), there is erroneous duplication. E.g., "Commitment" in PMC reads exactly like "Commitment" in Requirements Management PA (it shouldn't !). Ditto for Co in SAM, Co in MA, and the subsequent Maturity Level 2 Process Area commitments. The same erroneous cut-and-paste was made for the Abilities, DI, etc. The Level 3 PAs have the similar problem, erroneous cut-and-pastes from the RD template. I cannot use this book as I'd intended because of these errors, so I have to lug around the large heavy SEI tech reports instead. ... Read more