By the mid-1980s, IBM's leadership in computers was under siege, and in fact one of its most respected sites, IBM Rochester (in Minnesota), was in deep trouble. The birthplace of the IBM System/3 and many other profitable mid-range computers, Rochester had become dazzled by its own technological prowess, producing one sophisticated, elegant machine after another. But then it lost touch with its market. The result was disastrous. Rochester's market share of mid-range computers plummeted. But rather than lay down and die, Rochester initiated the most radical cultural change in IBM's history, switching from a product-driven to a market-driven approach to doing business, and set up the Silverlake Project to create a new mid-range computer, the AS/400. It turned out to be a remarkable success. In two short years, the AS/400 was developed, tested, manufactured and launched--an amazing feat in itself--and then it sold more than 25,000 machines worldwide in the first four months on the market. It was the most successful start of any product in the company's history, and continues to be a worldwide success after three years. Now, in The Silverlake Project, three of the major figures behind the AS/400--Roy Bauer, Emilio Collar, and Victor Tang--recount the entire history of Silverlake and the AS/400, a key project that would help win the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for the Rochester Plant. They describe how engineer and programmer Pete Hansen set up the skunk works that would develop the AS/400, how Tom Furey, an outsider from the East Coast, took charge of the development lab and fashioned IBM Rochester into the corporate exemplar of a market-driven enterprise. But most important, the authors outline twelve marketing principles behind this remarkable success. They discuss how to bring customers in at the very beginning, how to select strategic alliances, how to target markets, how to prioritize a strategic decision, how to launch a new product creatively and effectively, and how to keep the momentum going after the launch. The emphasis throughout is on a non-hierarchical, bottom-up idea flow that lets employees and customers influence product development; in light of this, the authors also discuss how others can make their case with corporate headquarters. All twelve principles drawn from the AS/400 experience can be applied to any product in any market. Together, they provide a revolutionary way to approach business, one which will be of value to executives no matter how large or small their corporation may be. This powerful narrative, as told by Patrick Houston, former Business Week writer, gives the inside story of one of the most successful computers in IBM history. For anyone curious about skunk works, product development, organizational transformation, the computer industry, or IBM, The Silverlake Project will be revealing.

The Silverlake Project: Transformation at IBM

Business & Money

Wind, Jerry

Tang, Victor

Bauer, Roy A.

Collar, Emilio

Houston, Patrick R.

Economics

Oxford University Press

Driving Change: How the Best Companies Are Preparing for the 21st Century

A scholar at America's top business school describes a framework, based on six years of world-wide research, for a company to become and stay successful in the twenty-first-century global economy created by rapid advances in information technologies. 20,000 first printing.

Main, Jeremy

Management & Leadership

Free Press

Japan's current shift from a manufacturing to a consumer economy is creating unprecedented opportunities for any company with the savvy to exploit this, the world's second largest market. Certainly, as the Japanese economy continues to rebound, more and more companies will continue to stake and build their presence there and use it as a springboard to enter other growing Asian markets. In Leveraging Japan, three leading authorities on market strategy and Japan present the new rules of Japanese marketing and discuss the evolution of other emerging Asian markets. These experts then share the same strategies that they've used to help American Express, Avon, Levi Strauss, and KFC, among other multinational companies, successfully establish a presence in Japan and leverage that presence to enter other Asian markets. To read the first chapter from this book, click here.

Leveraging Japan: Marketing to the New Asia

GUNTHER, Robert E.

Fields, George

Katahira, Hotaka

Jossey-Bass

Digital networks are changing all the rules of business. New, scalable, digitally networked business models, like those of Amazon, Google, Uber, and Airbnb, are affecting growth, scale, and profit potential for companies in every industry. But this seismic shift isn’t unique to digital start-ups and tech superstars. Digital transformation is affecting every business sector, and as investor capital, top talent, and customers shift toward network-centric organizations, the performance gap between early and late adopters is widening. So the question isn’t whether your organization needs to change, but when and how much. The Network Imperative is a call to action for managers and executives to embrace network-based business models. The benefits are indisputable: companies that leverage digital platforms to co-create and share value with networks of employees, customers, and suppliers are fast outpacing the market. These companies, or network orchestrators, grow faster, scale with lower marginal cost, and generate the highest revenue multipliers. Supported by research that covers fifteen hundred companies, authors Barry Libert, Megan Beck, and Jerry Wind guide leaders and investors through the ten principles that all organizations can use to grow and profit regardless of their industry. They also share a five-step process for pivoting an organization toward a more scalable and profitable business model. The Network Imperative, brimming with compelling case studies and actionable advice, provides managers with what they really need: new tools and frameworks to generate unprecedented value in a rapidly changing age.

The Network Imperative: How to Survive and Grow in the Age of Digital Business Models

Libert, Barry

Beck, Megan

Harvard Business Review Press

Throughout the centuries, art has documented the atrocities of wars, participated in propaganda campaigns, and served as an advocate for peace and social justice around the world. The aim of this project is to explore how art can assist in creating dialogue and bridges across cultures. Over 100 leading and emerging architects, artists, curators, choreographers, composers, and directors of art institutions around the globe explore the potentially constructive role of the arts in resolving conflicts or building bridges among opposing groups.

Can Art Aid in Resolving Conflicts?: 100 Perspectives

Arts & Photography

Lemelshtrich Latar, Noam

Lev-er, Ornat

Architecture

Frame Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wind, Jerry. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wind, Jerry