Most corporate leaders recognize that today’s increasingly wired world is dramatically changing the way they conduct business. Only a precious few grasp exactly what this means to their own operations, however, and fewer still have implemented appropriate strategies that put them ahead of the curve.
Creating Value in the Network Economy is a collection of 12 essays that originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review and that address this continuing revolution and its potential long-term impacts. Edited by Don Tapscott–whose previous, well-received books include The Digital Economy and Growing Up Digital–it assembles a series of provocative and pragmatic thoughts on the subject by such visionaries as John Hagel, Stan Davis, James Moore, and Charles Handy. Divided into three sections, the resultant works address fundamentals as they relate to the shifting nature of corporate value, the evolution of the corporation itself, and the effect all this will have on tomorrow’s consumer. “Questions still outnumber answers,” Tapscott cautions. “But the evidence is growing. Firms that don’t reinvent their business models around the Net will be bypassed and fail.” –Howard Rothman
Customer Reviews
An Excellent Guide - For Today and Tomorrow:
This collection of articles provides an excellent overview of the key changes occuring in the network economy.
Tapscott’s introduction alone is worth the price of the book, as he succinctly and insightfully overviews and integrates the primary issues affecting today’s businesses in the new economy.
The selected articles explore critical issues, including the changes in what consumers value and the implications for new and existing busineses; the disaggreagtion of firms and the creation of digital networks; and the shift in power from suppliers to buyers and the imperatives for businesses if they are to gain buyers’ long-term trust and loyalty.
Some of the articles may be “old” as measured by publication date, but the concepts contained in them certainly are not. This book is definitely worth reading if you’re trying to build a lasting corporation in the network economy.
(on the other hand, for those looking to just get rick quick, there’s always “Daytrading Success Secrets”)
Seminial is never ‘old’:
Here’s a book that I will keep within my grasp for years to come. Tapscott has pulled together in one easy read the seminal works of some of the greatest management thinkers of this and any other year. To call this work dated is to consider any great piece of thinking old as soon as it’s out of the box. That’s exactly the mindset we need to get away from.
I recommend this book to anyone looking to the future by drawing from current, as well as proven, ideas.
Fabulous book!:
Where have you guys (below) been? Most of the articles in this book are insightful. Real classics which 99 percent of business managers could learn from. Tapscott has done a great job selecting them and his introduction is worth the price of the book alone.
a cheaper way to get 12 essential HBR reprints + intro:
Despite the publication dates 1993-1998, the issues addressed in these articles are not those with short shelf life: trust as an asset, virtual organization management versus traditional ‘command and control’ styles, etc.
Much of what is said here is obvious in 1999, sure, to you who already buy books on Amazon.com… but to your neolithic bosses and managers?
I read most of these articles when they came out, but even so I found Don Tapscott’s introduction summarized them very well and added some real value. So don’t be put off by the reprint status.
Too little new insight..:
Most of the articles are too old. There have been so many new developments in the past few ..months…. couple years may be–while many articles were written before 1998!
