- Paperback: 356 pages
- Publisher: Profile Books; New edition edition (6 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1861975562
- ISBN-13: 978-1861975560
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,917,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
*The Director: "A must-read analysis of what the internet means in corporate policy terms". *The Times: "Frances Cairncross is one of the heavy-hitters in the business book world". *Financial Times: "Frances Cairncross has a sense of breadth, of scope, that is rare among business writers...[her] book is rigorous but readable; bold but with an acute sense of history". *Sunday Times: "a clearly written, straightforward analysis of the current corporate organisation viewed against the background of change instigated by the internet".
Business Voice (CBI), March 2002
"Where Cairncross really excels is in her chapter on `communities and corporate culture'."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Frances Cairncross's book is very interesting. She's no IT expert but her book is a fascinating look at tomorrow's companies. The book contains lots of sensible advice about how contemporary companies should organise and prepare for the future. But this isn't a book for IT Managers - it's a book for *every* manager since it's not a book about IT - it's about future management techniques.
If I had a criticism of the book it would be that the first half is great but the book sort of runs out of steam and starts to repeat itself a bit. But there's enough good stuff in this book for me to highly recommend it - to everyone.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Books about how the Internet, IT and collaborative techniques will revolutionise companies generally have the open-mouthed, uncritical vacancy of an infomercial. But Frances Cairncross, author of The Death of Distance, has avoided the mistakes of her predecessors, and in her latest offering, The Company of the Future, she has produced a useful primer for CEOs wanting to know how IT can enhance an organisation instead of burn holes in its coffers.
In theory, at least, collaborative commerce promises to revolutionise how companies conduct business - both within and without. It does so by enabling companies to exchange data and integrate applications without having to resort to data conversion or human intervention; it enables companies to work together on projects from disparate geographic locations; it also promises to reduce the costs of working and improve the calibre of company intelligence. But just as enterprise resource planning, data warehousing, intranets and other innovations have seen their stars wane as the 'vision' has been replaced by practicalities, so collaborative commerce is already coming up against the harsh problems of reality.
To Cairncross's credit, she has not taken the easy path trod by so many CEOs and VPs who have put their company's cheerleading chants into books. Instead, she has produced a thoughtful look at the pros and cons of the technology, the changes in business processes necessary to use it successfully, and the risks involved in adopting it. She shows scepticism towards claims and practices that do not withstand scrutiny - for example, Californian companies that baffle British staff with suggestions they nominate people who need to "take a chill pill" are shown to lack the understanding of cultural differences needed to make collaboration work globally. However, Cairncross still manages to remain relatively upbeat about the decline in the IT market since the dot-com bubble burst and September 11.
The chapter on supply chain management is particularly good, showing where collaborative commerce possibly offers the biggest benefits for large corporations, and detailing how they can change their business processes accordingly.
The book is at its weakest when it strays from business practice and possibilities and tries to explain the technology. Cairncross's understanding of Linux is particularly weak, while her belief that privacy advocates are "curmudgeons" and her references to "Doom" as the illegal game of choice in corporations, show she is clearly more at home dealing with CEO issues than the shop-floor level of implementation.
For those who want to understand collaborative technology's possibilities and who do not want to wade through a PR exercise disguised as a book, The Company of the Future is an excellent read.
Format:Hardcover
This book is a great demonstration of how management theory holds together. Take all the modern-day commentators on the theory of corporate structure and add a mix of great examples and foresight and you have this book. Cairncross has produced a very useable title that sticks mainly to the practical application of company strategy and is very readable.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent business thinking
Frances Cairncross should be in the running for Europe's top cyber-guru position. Unlike most cyber-gurus she knows what she is talking about and is able to communicate it,... Read more
Published on 9 July 2002 by S MCCLELLAND
10 Essential Rules for Survival for Today's Managers
This book provides a very useful roadmap for managers who want to steer successfully through these uncertain and insecure times by describing ways to seize the potential of today's... Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2002
FIRST RATE BOOK ON THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET
I read Frances Cairncross' last book, The Death of Distance, which was a brilliant examination of the communications revolution. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2002
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