Competing in the Third Wave: The Ten Key Management Issues of the Information Age [Hardcover]

Jeremy Hope (Author), Tony Hope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1997

So many gurus, so little time. In the third wave, innovative ideas and authoritative advice can come from anywhere and anyone at anytime - and many managers find themselves suffering from what the Tofflers called overchoice, an inevitable condition of the information age. What should managers really be doing these days? Jeremy and Tony Hope cut through the management fads, the media hype, and the data clutter to present the top ten issues facing managers of thirdwave organizations. Surveying and synthesizing both classic and cutting-edge management ideas, "Competing in the Third Wave" provides comprehensive guidelines and an integrated agenda for sparring with today's most agile, knowledge-driven, and techno-savvy firms. In the context of the new economy - and using real business stories from hundreds of companies all over the world - the authors discuss these critical success factors: strategy, customer value, knowledge management, business organization, market focus, management accounting, measurement and control, shareholder value, productivity and transformation. In the third wave, real players need best business practices more than ever. This book brings managers up to speed quickly so that they can apply their time-tested managerial tools to the all-new challenges of growth in the third wave.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The authors--management consultants and brothers--have written this book for executives, managers and students who want to know how to manage in a "third wave," or information, economy, dominated by service organizations in which "the intellect of the people is now the primary resource." To oversimplify, this book is as much about people as profit, about managing as a broader social activity, though the 10 management issues referred to in its subtitle provide practical jumping-off points. And the Hopes' exemplars of third-wave success are few but well known, among them Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, Toyota and British Airways. The Hopes imply that most businesses manage as though this were the end of the 1800s rather than the 1900s, emphasizing plans, hierarchical control, materials and optimization. Instead, the Hopes say, they should shift to observation, flattened structures, teamwork and continuous experimentation. -- Upside, Stephen E. DeLong

From the Back Cover

Competing in the Third Wave demonstrates how technology, globalization, and deregulation are the drivers of the new knowledge-based organization. Hope and Hope do an excellent job in surveying, synthesizing, and integrating new and classic management literature into the future organization. --Robert P. McNutt, Human Resources, DuPont Company

For several years, Tony and Jeremy Hope's ideas have provided the inspiration that has led us to manage our business differently--and the impact on the bottom line has been dramatic. Competing in the Third Wave extends those ideas even further and is essential reading for anyone who sees the business environment changing and needs to sharpen their skills accordingly. --Bill Russell, Vice-President and General Manager, Hewlett-Packard Company

Competing in the Third Wave is quite the most absorbing management book I have seen in some time. The name Hope has been synonymous with wit, style, and timing. In this informative and thought-provoking book, these qualities are alive and well in the most esoteric world of managing in the third wave. With their ten key issues, the Hopes are taking us down the Road to Successful Competition.' --Stuart Hetherington, Training & Development Manager, National Power PLC

Jeremy and Tony Hope have challenged themselves by giving managers a framework to combine the most important dimensions of management in the future: customer orientation, knowledge, financial performance, and leadership. Combining world-class concepts with insightful ways of application, Hope and Hope offer a very valuable compass for mastering the future of management. --Dr. Reinhold Rapp, Head of Management and Organizational Development, Lufthansa German Airlines

"Many managers will be uncomfortable with the issues that Hope and Hope raise, but Competing in the Third Wave is an excellent compilation of the winning strategies required in the twenty-first century. Those who succeeded in the past should read it in order to retool for the future--for they are the most vulnerable!" --Bill Baker, Texas Instruments, Benchmarking/Best Practices Champion

How do you win or maintain leadership in an era of instantly accessible global information? Competing in the Third Wave moves beyond commentary and synthesis of available material to provide a contemporary and practical agenda. Measurement is a central tenet. Hope and Hope propose crucially credible alternative measures, providing a fresh paradigm for those engaging the new reality--organizing around customers' processes and people. --Keith Dennis, Director of Personnel, Cadbury Ltd

This book is essential reading for those leading change within the third wave economy in what is currently the most exciting service industry--telecommunications. Hope and Hope's walk-through of the ten key management issues presents a useful test of your business' strategies and plans. --Phil Waring, Manager, Build the Internal Market Financial Infrastructure, BT plc

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 253 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875848079
• ISBN-13: 978-0875848075
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,869,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Examine the top ten issues facing 'third wave' companies ..., November 19, 1998

By 

Dr Jim Hamill ([e-mail]) (Scotland, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Competing in the Third Wave: The Ten Key Management Issues of the Information Age (Hardcover)

The two authors examine the top ten issues facing 'third wave' companies i.e. organisations of the information age and knowledge economy. In 'second wave' organisations (industrial economy), competitive advantage is built around efficient use of factors of production - land, labour, and capital. Third wave companies, on the other hand, compete firmly on the basis of knowledge deployment and the imaginative use of technology. According to the authors, 'second wave' managers and 'second wave' organisations (Editors note: and those teaching 'second wave' management principles and strategy) are at the crossroads. One road will lead to slow decline; the other to the prospect of long-term success. Achieving this success will require total organisational transformation in the areas of strategy; customer value; knowledge management; business organisation; market focus; management accounting; measurement and control; shareholder value; productivity and reward systems.

A good example of the main argument developed is in the area of customer value. 'Third wave' organisations are those who use information technology to understand the needs of customers and to match highly focused customer segments with their own core competencies thereby building long-term relationships. This emphasis on one-to-one relationships contrasts with the approach of 'second wave' companies who have an unbending faith in increasing scale and market share, despite a wealth of evidence showing that market share and net profits are not strongly correlated. While building market share has been the one of the primary driving forces of 'second wave' companies, 'third wave' managers will be more concerned with attracting the right customers; customers that represent a close strategic fit with the company or who have the potential to grow and therefore to be highly profitable. This has major implications for assessing company value. Traditional accounting statements show only results, but seldom tell how these results were achieved or how performance compares with competitors, and are a very poor guide to future performance because they give few clues to the changes in key processes and capabilities that determine business strength.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book one returns to, January 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Competing in the Third Wave: The Ten Key Management Issues of the Information Age (Hardcover)

This book focus on one issue, how to stay alive and prosper in the new network based competitive environment. The authors look at this issue from ten different perspectives, and contrary to many other "overwiev" books, they come to a coherent conclusion from all standpoints.

This book doesn't have all the answers (nobody does), but it does a very good jobb of explaining why some old truths ain't true anymore and it does point out the general directions where you should look for the new truths for the new era.

/Rasmus Larsson, Internet Business Strategist at W O G N U M

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book With Real Management Substance, January 28, 2000

By 

Dean Cowan (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Competing in the Third Wave: The Ten Key Management Issues of the Information Age (Hardcover)

One of the better books with thoughts on strategies and management concepts sustainable in the age of technological innovation and globalization. Certainly more substance than some of the .com and other e-commerce/customer-centric titles, with application across industries.