Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy

by Bill Gates

Overview

In his new book, Microsoft chairman and CEO Bill Gates discusses how technology can help run businesses better today and how it will transform the nature of business in the near future. Gates stresses the need for managers to view technology not as overhead but as a strategic asset, and offers detailed examples from Microsoft, GM, Dell, and many other successful companies. Companion Web site.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446525688
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.25(d)
Age Range:	13 Years

About the Author

BILL GATES is the chairman and chief executive officer at Microsoft Corporation. His vision and commitment regarding personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and in the advancement of software technology. He lives with his wife, Melinda, and daughter, Jennifer, in the Seattle area.

COLLINS HEMINGWAY is director of executive communications at Microsoft Corporation. He had been involved with Microsoft's systems products since 1987 and from 1994 to 1996 was director of international and partner marketing for the Personal and Business Systems Division.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	xiii
I	Information Flow is Your Lifeblood
1	Manage with the Force of Facts	3
2	Can Your Digital Nervous System Do This?	22
3	Create a Paperless Office	39
II	Commerce: The Internet Changes Everything
4	Ride the Inflection Rocket	63
5	The Middleman Must Add Value	72
6	Touch Your Customers	91
7	Adopt the Web Lifestyle	114
8	Change the Boundaries of Business	133
9	Get to Market First	141
III	Manage Knowledge to Improve Strategic Thought
10	Bad News Must Travel Fast	159
11	Convert Bad News to Good	184
12	Know Your Numbers	201
13	Shift People into Thinking Work	222
14	Raise Your Corporate IQ	236
15	Big Wins Require Big Risks	262
IV	Bring Insight to Business Operations
16	Develop Processes That Empower People	281
17	Information Technology Enables Reengineering	295
18	Treat IT as a Strategic Resource	317
V	Special Enterprises
19	No Health Care System Is an Island	333
20	Take Government to the People	357
21	When Reflex Is a Matter of Life and Death	372
22	Create Connected Learning Communities	387
VI	Expect the Unexpected
23	Prepare for the Digital Future	407
Appendix	Build Digital Processes on Standards	417
	Glossary	441
	Customer Acknowledgments	453
	Index	457

Editorial Reviews

This book lays out a road map for managers trying to build their own businesses into an era where information flows as fast as light through a fiberoptic cable.

USA Today

For CEOs and other executives, it is a clear, richly detailed guide to the fast-emerging E-business Age.

BusinessWeek