Wired for Innovation: How Information Technology Is Reshaping the Economy [Hardcover]

Erik Brynjolfsson (Author), Adam Saunders (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262013665 | ISBN-13: 978-0262013666 | Publication Date: September 11, 2009

Two experts on the information economy explore the true economic value of technology and innovation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brynjolfsson and Saunders have written an important roadmap for future technology innovation. Anyone interested in the business and economics of information technology should read this book."--Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief, Wired Magazine, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price

Erik Brynjolfsson is Schussel Family Professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management and Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business. He is the coeditor of Understanding the Digital Economy: Data, Tools, and Research (MIT Press). Adam Saunders is a PhD. candidate in the Information Technologies Group at the Sloan School."If e-business had an oracle, Erik Brynjolfsson would be anointed."--Business Week

"If you want to read just one book on digital economy, Wired for Innovation should be it. This easy-to-read, yet comprehensive and analytical handbook provides essential insights for understanding how and why information technology is transforming business and the economy. Anyone reading this book will come away understanding just how important and transformative the IT revolution has been, and will be in the future."--Robert D. Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, author of The Past and Future of America's Economy

(Robert D. Atkinson )

"This is the answer CIOs have been waiting for, scientific proof of the productivity and competitive advantage gained by investments in IT."--Leo Apotheker, CEO, SAP

(Leo Apotheker )

"If e-business had an oracle, Erik Brynjolfsson would be anointed." -- BusinessWeek

"If you want to read just one book on digital economy, Wired for Innovation should be it. This easy-to-read, yet comprehensive and analytical handbook provides essential insights for understanding how and why information technology is transforming business and the economy. Anyone reading this book will come away understanding just how important and transformative the IT revolution has been, and will be in the future." Robert D. Atkinson , President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, author of The Past and Future of America's Economy

About the Author

Starting in 1995, productivity growth took off in the U.S. economy. In Wired for Innovation, Erik Brynjolfsson and Adam Saunders describe how information technology directly or indirectly created the lion's share of this productivity surge, reversing decades of slow growth. They argue that the turnaround in productivity reflects the delayed effects of the massive investments in business processes accompanying the large technology investments since the late 1990s. Companies with the highest level of returns to their technology investment did more than just buy technology: they invested in organizational capital to become digital organizations. Brynjolfsson and Saunders examine the real sources of value in the emerging information economy, including intangible inputs and outputs that have defied traditional metrics. For instance, intangible organizational capital is not directly observable on a balance sheet but amounts to trillions of dollars of value. Similarly, such nonmarket transactions of information goods as Google searches or Wikipedia edits are an increasingly large share of the economy yet virtually invisible in the GDP statistics. The authors, drawing on work done at MIT and elsewhere, show how to better measure the value of technology in the economy. They describe new methods that don't treat technology as just another type of ordinary capital investment but also measure complementary investments--including training and consulting--and the value of product quality, timeliness, variety, convenience, and new products.Innovation continues through booms and busts; this book provides a crucial guide for policy makers and economists who need to understand how information technology is transforming the economy and where it will create value in the coming decade.

"This is the scientific IT productivity research that CIOs have been waiting for." Leo Apotheker , CEO, SAP

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (September 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262013665
• ISBN-13: 978-0262013666
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wired for Innovation is more wired for academics and not innovation, January 30, 2010

By 

Mark P. McDonald (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wired for Innovation: How Information Technology Is Reshaping the Economy (Hardcover)

Erik Brynjolfsson and Adam Saunders tackle the issue of information technology's impact on the economy in this book. The book's title is misleading, as this book is NOT about innovation, so people looking to read up on the subject should give this book a pass. Instead this book is intended to "provide a guide for policy makers and economics who want to understand how information technology is transforming the economy ..." page 11.

Information and IT in the economy is a complex and difficult subject and the authors provide a comprehensive view of the issue and where it stands from the perspective of academic research. This book is a good at covering the history of academic research on the topics of IT's contribution to the economy, measuring information in the economy, organizational capital and the like.

Recommended for readers who are comfortable reading academic research on macroeconomics, as I believe this is the intended audience. The 128 pages are well written and I was able to read the book on two short haul airline flights. As a book looking to straddle the economic and business world, the authors do a good job. The book centers on a `study of studies' than offering a new hypothesis and supporting research.

As a study of studies, the book seems comprehensive and does a good job of bringing in a range of research publications. There are a few things missing, for example David Teece's work on Dynamic Capabilities. One weakeness is that the book relies on 16 articles authored by Erik Brynjolfsson, by far the most commonly cited author.

As a business or strategy book, Wired for Innovation has some significant shortcomings. First the title is misleading; the book does not talk about innovation and cannot be recommended as an innovation book. The book is concerned with macro economic issues such as measuring IT, information and intangible goods in calculating GDP rather than focusing on individual firms. This requires the reader look hard between the lines to begin to draw information and ideas that would be applicable to any one company.

The book does contain some thought provoking data and the description of economic issues is clear, but I found myself glad I had a background in economics while reading the book. Non-economists will get value from the book, but they will often have to step back and translate the author's intend into their experience and knowledge to have it make sense.

In the end this is a good book that bridges the academic and macro business community. There are other policy oriented books that offer more insight and impact such as Zitrain's "The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It" or Beckler's "The Wealth of Networks"

Four stars as an academic/economic book, three stars as a business oriented book and three stars overall. I am glad I read the book and I have many notes in the margin, but that is more from taking an economic outlook rather than one as a business executive looking to understand the role and value of information and IT in their firm and the economy.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating -- shows where the "dark matter" of Productivity comes from, November 25, 2009

By 

William Yarberry "Bill Yarberry" (kingwood, tx United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wired for Innovation: How Information Technology Is Reshaping the Economy (Hardcover)

Brynjolfsson and Saunders have written a short, easy to read but cogent explanation of the mysterious productivity increase arising from IT. The book was intended to illuminate strategy and it did just that. They discuss at length how the IT revolution had to be merged with equivalent business processes before the value could be realized. Both IT and procedural changes are necessary. Organizational capital, not shown on the balance sheet, accounts for a great deal of productivity. I particularly liked the "seven pillars of the digital organization." Some firms get extraordinary value out of IT; others, spending just as much money, do not. Another point stressed is that a dollar of IT assets, with appropriate training, support and organizational change, can provide far more value than a dollar spent on plant and equipment. The author's assertions are backed up by copious hard dollar examples as well as references in the literature. If you are a fast reader, you can cover the material in 3-5 hours. This is a real contribution to the IT and business literature. Bill Yarberry, Houston Texas

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wired for Innovation an important read!, September 22, 2009

By 

Michael LoBue (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wired for Innovation: How Information Technology Is Reshaping the Economy (Hardcover)

Brynjolfsson and Saunders did a masterful job of synthesizing a vast amount of material from a broad range of subject areas to produce a highly readable book on issues central to the economic challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Unlike so many business books today, the authors are not trying to pass along advice, which is refreshing. Rather, they provide a framework for understanding why productivity is vital and how information technology has contributed to innovation that drives productivity. This is one of those books worth tossing in the brief case as a travel companion on the next business trip.