Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy (Hardcover)

by Carl Shapiro (Author), Hal R. Varian (Author) "As the century closed, the world became smaller..." (more)
Key Phrases: total switching costs, collective switching costs, future switching costs, United States, Bell Atlantic, Internet Explorer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Chapter 1 of Information Rules begins with a description of the change brought on by technology at the close of the century--but the century described is not this one, it's the late 1800s. One hundred years ago, it was an emerging telephone and electrical network that was transforming business. Today it's the Internet. The point? While the circumstances of a particular era may be unique, the underlying principles that describe the exchange of goods in a free-market economy are the same. And the authors, Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian, should know. Shapiro is Professor of Business Strategy at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has also served as chief economist at the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. Varian is the Dean of the School of Information Management and Systems at UC Berkeley. Together they offer a deep knowledge of how economic systems work coupled with first-hand experience of today's network economy. They write:

Sure, today's business world is different in a myriad of ways from that of a century ago. But many of today's managers are so focused on the trees of technological change that they fail to see the forest: the underlying economic forces that determine success and failure.

Shapiro and Varian go to great lengths to purge this book of the technobabble and forecasting of an electronic woo-woo land that's typical in books of this genre. Instead, with their feet on the ground, they consider how to market and distribute goods in the network economy, citing examples from industries as diverse as airlines, software, entertainment, and communications. The authors cover issues such as pricing, intellectual property, versioning, lock-in, compatibility, and standards. Clearly written and presented, Information Rules belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who has an interest in today's network economy--entrepreneurs, managers, investors, students. If there was ever a textbook written on how to do business in the information age, this book is it. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

From Booklist
In this day and information age, it is all about those who are able to utilize the information they have to maximize potential, and these two University of California, Berkeley, professors have assembled the guide to do just that. The nuts-and-bolts approach to finding ways to differentiate one's product from all the others, and a how-to guide to simplify and improve customer interface, are both helpful, and the idea of managing intellectual properties to maximize value is infinitely superior to just protecting them from competitors. Some of the information delves into building positive feedback for the product, and every businessperson probably needs to know some of the legal ins and outs of building alliances and the ramifications of competition. Shapiro and Varian seem to be targeting the hard-core student of business here (not the casual browser); their approach is extremely thorough, and there is much practical information for those willing to wade through the information rules. Joe Collins

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Press; 1st edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087584863X
• ISBN-13: 978-0875848631
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prescient rules for winning in the Internet economy, December 21, 1998

By	hypermark (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian takes a look at the emerging Internet economy, and argues compellingly that traditional economics still apply in evaluating the Yahoos of our generation. In fact, history provides a pretty good guide for evaluating network-centric businesses. One only has to look at the evolution of the railroad, telephone and television networks. The book reaches some interesting conclusions, summarized here:

1.Information is costly to produce but inexpensive to reproduce (i.e., has a high fixed cost but a low marginal cost). This translates to a lot of latitude, challenges and opportunities in coming up with pricing models and corresponding versions of a product to create both the maximum revenue opportunities and establish the largest number of members of the product's network of users. Also, given the low cost of reproduction, it stands to reason that protecting intellectual property is a key determinant of information good's economic success. 2.Information is an "Experience Good," which is to say that customers must use and experience the product to put value on it. One only has to think about Netscape's initial success giving away the browser to see the value of leveraging the "experience" factor. 3.Products that can achieve "lock-in" will benefit from the "switching costs" that preclude customers from switching-over to competing (even superior) solutions. In other words, products that get a user to commit time, knowledge and/or resources to them are likely to continue to be used even in the face of superior products given the cost of switching to alternative products. An interesting point the book makes is to look at lock-in and switching costs not only in terms of your product, but your collaborators and complementors as well. 4.Fundamental to success is leveraging the power of positive feedback, or network effects. What this means is that the value of your product is a function of the total number of vendors, partners and endusers participating in its "network."

Some specific strategic considerations:

1.Versioning: create different versions of your products tailored to the need of different groups of customers. This allows customers to select the version that best meets their needs and enables you to pick up as wide a base of customers as possible (e.g., Quicken, Quicken Deluxe, QuickBooks). Specific mechanisms for accomplishing same are: delay, user interface, convenience, image resolution, speed of operation, flexibility of use, capability, features and functions, comprehensiveness, annoyance, support. 2.The total cost of switching = cost the customer bears + costs the new supplier bears. Types of lock-in: contractual commitments, durable purchases, brand-specific training, information and databases, specialized suppliers, search costs, loyalty programs. 3.The lock-in cycle: brand selection, product sampling, entrenchment, lock-in. Needless to say, the more successful you are at getting customers more locked-in to your products (e.g., taking advantage of proprietary features), the more successful you will be in keeping customers at peak prices. 4.Leveraging your installed base: focus on selling complimentary products (Micorsoft), selling access to your installed base (Yahoo), setting differential prices to achieve lock-in (Adobe's Photo Deluxe for beginners is a low-end product that is often bundled with scanners and gets users hooked on product. Many ultimately upgrade to full version of product, Adobe Photoshop), exploiting first-mover advantages (Ticketnmaster locks customers into long-term contracts). 5.Market adoption dynamics in positive feedback markets tend to evolve along the lines of an S-curve, with the initial adoption period being flat (while the market winner is in doubt). Once an apparent market winner emerges, the adoption rates takes off dramatically continuing until market saturation. In other words, popularity in positive feedback markets is the ultimate metric of success. Hence, perception becomes reality in these markets. Those expected to win in the market do win because second place or third place is tantamount to last place (i.e., having to bear the switching cost of moving to the winning vendor in the market). This is a zero-sum game, where both vendors must proclaim themselves the ultimate winner, and the success of getting out the message is as important as the technical attributes of the product. 6.Evolution vs. Revolution: there are two paths for unseating an incumbent. One is evolution, which is akin to providing an adapter to a legacy technology. The other is revolution, which disregards legacy in favor of improved design (CDs as a replacement for records). Both paths have technical, creative, systemic, performance and legal considerations. 7.Openness vs. Control: This is a key tightrope in the age of open standards. The more open your solution, the lower the bar to positive feedback. With control comes a hedge against commoditization and low margin pricing. Four key vectors are represented: Controlled Migration (Windows 98), Performance Play (Iomega Zip), Open Migration (fax machines), Discontinuity (records to CDs). 8.How standards change the game: Expanded network effects, reduced uncertainty, reduced consumer lock-in, competition for the market vs. competition in the market, competition on price vs. features, competition to offer proprietary extensions, component vs. systems competition. 9.Tactics in formal standard setting: If you can follow a control strategy, you are better off organizing an alliance outside of the formal standards bodies. Search carefully for blocking patents of competitors in the standard definition. Consider building an installed base pre-emptively. 10.Waging a standards war -The key assets in such a battle are: 1. Control of an installed base, 2. Intellectual property rights, 3. Ability to innovate, 4. First mover advantages, 5. Manufacturing abilities, 6. Presence in complimentary products, and 7. Brand name and reputation. Example: Netscape vs. Explorer: Netscape had a huge first-mover advantage over Microsoft that Microsoft was able to neutralize by preempting new users through a number of strategies, including bundling on OS, signing deals with OEMs, bundling content with the browser and giving links to ISPs for making Explorer the preferred browser supported. Both vendors used penetration pricing to set a low bar to using their products. Both vendors also leveraged the expectations management and alliances trump cards to win their places in the market.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book but make sure you read the article as well, March 8, 2000

By	Amrit Tiwana "www.bus.iastate.edu/tiwana" (Decatur, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I used this book in an undergraduate business school course and all forty-five of us (me and my students) LOVED it. This book is one of those business classics that comes along once every five years. Unlike hyped marketers with ideas but no evidence, this book is grounded in solid research. If you read this one, make sure you also read the authors' article in the November 1998 Harvard Business Review. The book is highly original, fresh, and very very readable. In conclusion, this book is worth *every* penny.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The rules are the same, April 29, 2002

By	yongqin (Honolulu, USA) - See all my reviews

"Information Rules" is a hand book for economic layman to understand emerging Internet economy, to help reader to apply feasible strategies into network business. As author mentioned in the beginning of this book, this book is seeking models, concepts, and analysis, which will provide reader with a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles in today's high-tech industries, and enable reader to craft winning strategies for tomorrow's network economy.

Technology changes, economic laws do not. This is the thesis of this book. Shapiro & Varian do a great job of explaining how the fundamental principles of economics are still relevant, even in the new network economy. On the other hand, the technology increases the pace of economic game and requires greater speed and agility to keep playing. Thus, it's necessary to adopt new strategies based on fundamental economic principles.

Shapiro & Varian develop this thesis into ten chapters: The Information Economy, Pricing Information, Versioning Information, Rights Management, Recognizing Lock-In, Managing Lock-In, Networks and Positive Feedback, Cooperation and Compatibility, Waging a Standards War, and Information Policy. Specific strategies are suggested in each chapter. At the end of each chapter, "lessons" are summarized to for readers to outline the main ideas efficiently.

Following are some feature points and strategies this book has reached to enable myself to the network economy.

Point 1: Information is costly to produce but inexpensive to reproduce.
The competition between Britannica Encyclopedia and Microsoft's Funk & Wagnalls brings reader into this topic. The cost change of information products is coming up with the shifting of pricing models and corresponding versions of a product to create both the maximum revenue opportunities and establish the largest number of members of the product's network of users.
Strategy: Personalize your product and your prices
There are three ways to pricing information: personalized pricing, group pricing and versioning. Let's analogize those strategies to the modern fashion industry, a fashion designer can tailor dresses specifically for the need of one customer (personalized pricing) or a group of customer (group pricing). At the same time, he/she also designs different styles (different versions of your products) which are hanged in the window of shopping center. This allows customers to select the styles (versions) that best meets their needs and enables you to pick up as wide a base of customers as possible. There are variety of dimensions along which you can version your products: delay, user interface, convenience, image resolution, speed of operation, flexibility of use, capability, features and functions, comprehensiveness, annoyance, support.

Point 2: Switching costs and lock-in
The total cost of switching = cost the customer bears + costs the new supplier bears. In companies' stance, products that can achieve "lock-in" will benefit from the "switching costs" that preclude customers from switching-over to competing solutions. The more successful you are at getting customers more locked-in to your products, the more successful you will be in keeping customers at peak prices.
Strategy:
1.Invest to build an installed base. 2.Cultivate influential buyers and buyers with high switching costs. 3.Get your customers to invest in your technology, thereby raising their own switching costs. 4.Sell complementary products and access to your installed base

Point 3: Positive feedback
The value of your product to new users depends on the total number of other users there are (externalities). As the base of users grows, more and more users add in. In information economy, the companies that have been propelled forward by positive feedback will become the biggest winners. So, it is the ultimate metric of success that each company pursues.
Strategy:
There are four generic strategies in network markets for igniting positive feedback, Controlled Migration (Windows 98), Performance Play (Iomega Zip), Open Migration (fax machines), Discontinuity (records to CDs).

Point 4: Standardization
The key assets in winning standards battle are: 1. Control of an installed base, 2. Intellectual property rights, 3. Ability to innovate, 4. First mover advantages, 5. Manufacturing abilities, 6. Presence in complimentary products, and 7. Brand name and reputation. Preemption and expectations management are two basic marketplace tactics that companies will need to employ.

Point 5: Intellectual property
Given the low cost of reproduction and quick, cheap and invisible distribution, protecting and managing intellectual property are more difficult. Although authors believe that the technological advance offer new opportunities which are far outweigh this rights problem, the solutions recommended here are relatively weak and difficult to carry out.
Strategy:
Take advantage of the lower distribution costs by promoting your products more effectively. Such as giving away free samples to sell the content, selling complementary products, choosing the terms and conditions that maximize the value of your property.

Besides those core points and strategies the book reaches, examples which integrate those points make whole book more readable. Authors use examples not only happened recently, but also 100 years ago. Such as interconnection battles were already existed in 1900 when local telephone companies were interconnected with Bell to provide long-distance service. 100 years later, browsers are interconnected with operating systems. History provided a pretty good guide for evaluating network-centric business.
However, almost all of these cases involve the very large firms: e.g. Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, which have strategic planning, high capitalization, and access to best consultants. But the very essence of the new information economy today is entrepreneurship, like Napster, Visi-calc, etc, with good ideas and lucky chance.
The most contradictive part in this book is chapter 6. Authors offer both sellers and buyers alternative strategies on how to manage Lock-in. No matter how effective those strategies are, the dilemma here is that if both sellers and buyers adopt the alternative strategies this book recommends, who will be the winners ultimately?
This book was published four years ago. The network economy has changed a lot since then. From the beginning of 2001, most Internet companies experienced the toughest time. As a reader of this book, a question comes to my mind constantly: are those information rules still applicable in today's network economy? According the thesis of this book, the answer should be yes. It's time to test the models of this book.