Couched as an us-vs.-them guide for corporations in the realm of technology innovation, this perceptive book shows how big companies can defeat the nimble upstarts through the strategic use of resources, the implementation of three principles and the following of eight rules.
Mui (co-author Unleashing the Killer App, 2000) and former Wall Street Journal reporter and editor Carroll’s (co-author Billion Dollar Lessons, 2008) latest joint work builds on the idea that, to beat startups, large companies must leverage their greater assets (e.g., people, resources, branding, supply chains, distribution networks, customer relations, and market and customer data) in the context of six key technological innovations: mobile devices, cameras, sensors, social media, the cloud and “emergent knowledge.” Three principles guide the approach: first, “Think Big,” the initial phase in redesigning a business, which calls for starting fresh, embracing the context of the business environment and considering potential worst-case scenarios; second, “Start Small,” as in make sure everyone in the company is on the same page, and don’t rush to let financial projections limit or run the company, since those numbers can be inaccurate; and third, “Learn Fast” regarding rules about the value of showing versus telling and welcoming a devil’s advocate into strategy planning. The clear, engaging prose is highlighted by plenty of anecdotes and four case studies. Additionally, many readers will find the afterword—“Moving from Innovation to Invention”—well worth their time, especially if they wish to create their own technological earthquakes instead of merely using disruptive technologies to their advantage. The partisan pro–big-business stance shouldn’t prevent the other side—e.g., startups, entrepreneurs, small-business owners—from taking advantage of these insights to see what their savvy, outsize competitors will soon be up to. The sagacious, well-rounded guide will also appeal to investors, teachers, students, journalists and historians, all of whom might have a vested interest in the future of the tech industry and the next big thing.
An erudite anthem for large companies reshaping themselves to innovate and compete with agile startups.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9892420-1-1
Page Count: 189
Publisher: Cornerloft Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Noted jazz and pop record producer Thiele offers a chatty autobiography. Aided by record-business colleague Golden, Thiele traces his career from his start as a ``pubescent, novice jazz record producer'' in the 1940s through the '50s, when he headed Coral, Dot, and Roulette Records, and the '60s, when he worked for ABC and ran the famous Impulse! jazz label. At Coral, Thiele championed the work of ``hillbilly'' singer Buddy Holly, although the only sessions he produced with Holly were marred by saccharine strings. The producer specialized in more mainstream popsters like the irrepressibly perky Teresa Brewer (who later became his fourth wife) and the bubble-machine muzak-meister Lawrence Welk. At Dot, Thiele was instrumental in recording Jack Kerouac's famous beat- generation ramblings to jazz accompaniment (recordings that Dot's president found ``pornographic''), while also overseeing a steady stream of pop hits. He then moved to the Mafia-controlled Roulette label, where he observed the ``silk-suited, pinky-ringed'' entourage who frequented the label's offices. Incredibly, however, Thiele remembers the famously hard-nosed Morris Levy, who ran the label and was eventually convicted of extortion, as ``one of the kindest, most warm-hearted, and classiest music men I have ever known.'' At ABC/Impulse!, Thiele oversaw the classic recordings of John Coltrane, although he is the first to admit that Coltrane essentially produced his own sessions. Like many producers of the day, Thiele participated in the ownership of publishing rights to some of the songs he recorded; he makes no apology for this practice, which he calls ``entirely appropriate and without any ethical conflicts.'' A pleasant, if not exactly riveting, memoir that will be of most interest to those with a thirst for cocktail-hour stories of the record biz. (25 halftones, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-508629-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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