Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business [Hardcover]

Don Tapscott (Author, Editor), Alex Lowy (Editor), David Ticoll (Editor), Natalie Klym (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 1998

Building on the message of Don Tapscott's highly successful The Digital Economy, Blueprint to the Digital Economy offers breakthrough insights -- plus the strategies necessary to thrive and compete in the emerging digital business environment. The book presents provocative examples by executives from 30 world-class corporations who reveal how to turn digital promise into reality. They discuss their firms' goals for the future, and detail the networking and multimedia technologies that are helping to achieve them.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In addition to writing bestselling books (The Digital Economy, Growing Up Digital, and Paradigm Shift), Don Tapscott is chairman of the Alliance for Converging Technologies, an organization with a "focus on competitive advantage in the digital economy," whose members include companies such as the Bank of Montreal Canada, Federal Express, General Motors, and Xerox. For Blueprint to the Digital Economy, Tapscott puts on an editor's hat and, along with Alex Lowy and David Ticoll, presents a collection of 20 articles that speak to all aspects of doing business in the digital age. The articles, written by members of the alliance, cover a wide range of topics from business design at GM and the role of banking in the digital economy to creating communities in cyberspace and the role of government in the networked world. The real strength of books in this genre is not their writing and presentation, which tend to be uneven, but rather the breadth of experience and perspective they communicate. And experience and perspective is something that this book has in spades. If you're at all interested in how business today is positioning itself for tomorrow, then Blueprint to the Digital Economy is definitely worth a look. --Harry C. Edwards

Review

"Tapscott's Blueprint to the Digital Economy is a "must read" for all organizations jockeying for position within the fabric of the new economy. As we continue to face the challenges of the changing landscape of competition, industry and infrastructure, Blueprint provides the most insightful examination of today's -- and tomorrow's market realities I've read yet." -- George T. Shaheen, Managing Partner & CEO Andersen Consulting

"Tapscott's editing team takes the reader along the path described in his earlier book, The Digital Economy. This collection of firsthand experiences from those most affected by digital convergence, is captivating reading. Blueprint provides concrete illustrations of how technology is creating a truly new economy. -- Dr. Klaus Schwab, President, World Economic Forum

If you want to know what's really required to play the digital game, you'll find genuine value in this book. Digital technology has streamlined the handling of virtually all content - numbers, words, sounds, pictures. The possibilities seem infinite. But turning concepts into profits demands rigorous thought and arduous work. By asking hard questions of the smartest people around, Don Tapscott has compiled blueprints that are already transforming products, markets, lives. -- George M.C. Fisher, Chairman and CEO, Eastman Kodak Company

Smart Web architects study effective business models. But where to look among the sea of competing case studies? Don Tapscott, the bestselling author of The Digital Economy, has asked members of the Alliance for Converging Technologies to separate the wheat from the chaff.

In a series of articles authored by ACT members, Blueprint to the Digital Economy lays out the rules of the new economic landscape, examines how industries have changed as a result of the digital revolution and explores the ramifications of Internet-enabled enterprise. Unlike Michael Wolff_s Burn Rate, which chronicles one company_s misfortune, Blueprint offers an action-oriented, insider look into companies that have hit upon successful business formulas.

It_s also a chance for corporate bigwigs to recount their battles and look into their crystal balls. Some senior execs seem keen on touting their savvy business moves and altruism (Raymond J. Lane, president and COO of Oracle boasts that his company wired George Washington Carver Middle School in South Central Los Angeles), but the authors mostly offer useful case studies. GeoPartners_ James Moore recounts how Eric Schmidt and John Herr leveraged the capabilities of the Internet to effectively market Java, which had begun as a research tool. Two Bell execs explain how empowering the customer can benefit the company, Carl E. Gustin shares Kodak_s strategies for accommodating new technologies and Lloyd Darlington discusses how Bank of Montreal has adapted to e-business. And just about everyone describes a vision of the next killer app.

While the book has a predominantly optimistic tone, some of the contributors mix in a healthy dose of skepticism. Lane thinks we_ll enter an information age only when access to information is simple and low-cost – probably in the new millennium. And Internet architect Vint Cerf warns that the Net is not a utopia but a reflection of the real world. He suggests ways to develop national and international security policies to prevent widespread Internet fraud.

We are bombarded by information these days, but knowledge remains an elusive commodity. Blueprint offers lessons from the likes of GM, IBM and HP, but as the authors imply, it_s up to you to navigate the landscape of the emerging _Internetworked Economy._

– Diane Anderson -- From The Industry Standard

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 410 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1ST edition (May 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070633495
• ISBN-13: 978-0071353199
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,188,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Tapscott is chief executive of New Paradigm, a think tank that focuses on business innovation. He is the author of ten books about business strategy and technology, including the bestsellers Paradigm Shift, Growing Up Digital, and The Naked Corporation. He lectures around the world and serves as an adjunct professor of management at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don Tapscott "Blueprint", February 3, 2000

By 

Ben P. Meredith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business (Hardcover)

Not since the transformation into the Industrial Age has western society undergone as fundamental a change as it is now experiencing. The ongoing transition into a new economy, new social order and new political interaction is bringing about fear, discontent, and confusion. Tapscott's "Blueprint to the Digital Economy" is a wonderful primer for those unfamiliar with these changes.

This anthology ties together several social, economic and political themes into clearly organized, concisely written articles that both the futurist and the neo-Luddite will find engaging. Of particular value and interest was Tapscott's courage to tackle the issue of the changing seats of political power. While many change writers are eager to address the issues of the economy and social divides the Information Age will produce (spending more time on the issues of who will lose rather than how many will gain by this alteration), few writers have examined the meaning of information freedom to the power distribution of the Agrarian/Industrial political structure. No longer being able to control information, the underpinnings of Rousseau's direct democracy are suddenly within reach. Reversibly, while more information and democratization is possible with the increased connectivity of information systems, threats to privacy and individuality increase also. While the Information Age connectivity allows for greater globalization, it increases the likelihood and ease of regionalization and tribalization.

For businesses interested in understanding their roles and the markets of the Information Age and for those seeking a blueprint on how to adjust to the new era, this book's title is misleading. Tapscott does a fair job at bringing together a fundamental vision of the effects and potential of globalization, but this section is quickly becoming dated and will require work in an update of the book. Still, for those who have no background in the new business paradigms this book is a good starting point.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great reference book for managers, September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. As a senior executive who is new to the networked economy (aren't we all?), I found this book enlightening and informative. Developing Internet strategy is like learning about a whole new culture. Blueprint gives valuable insights into the new rules and the language of the Net. It helps clarify some of the implications and huge potential of e-commerce. With contributions from the world's top companies, I reference Blueprint on a regular basis.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent cases on basis of The Digital Economy, August 23, 1998

By 

C. M. Mackenbach "[e-mail]" (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blueprint to the Digital Economy: Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business (Hardcover)

The book The Digital Economy coined the term. It realized the paradigm shift itself. This book is essential for those who want to learn the new rules of the game of converging industries. Based on the multiclient studies the Alliance for Converging Technologies and its members brings the information to you at almost no costs. A lot of value for very little money.