Business @ The Speed Of Thought By Bill Gates – In his book, Bill Gates discusses how technology can help run businesses better today and how it will transform the nature of business in the near future. Gates stresses the need for managers to view technology not as overhead but as a strategic asset, and offers detailed examples from Microsoft, GM, Dell, and many other successful companies. Companion Web site
Table of Contents
Contents – Business @ The Speed Of Thought
page
Introduction v
Chapter 1 Information Flow is Your Lifeblood 1
Chapter 2 Commerce: The Internet Changes
Everything 20
Chapter 3 Manage Knowledge to Improve
Strategic Thought 55
Chapter 4 Special Projects 79
Chapter 5 Expect the Unexpected 95
Business Wordlist 101
Activities 102
Introduction – Business @ The Speed Of Thought
“As the boss of Microsoft, the world’s most successful software company, I played a large part in the birth of the Information Age. In this book I explain the idea of a digital nervous system—the use of information technology to satisfy people’s needs at work and at home … ” In this fascinating book Bill Gates offers the reader a better future. He explains how more and better information can mean more interesting jobs for workers, more knowledgeable customers, more interesting schools, and citizens who have a voice in the decisions their government makes. A “digital nervous system” can improve business, but this book is not just for people in business. It is for everybody. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, where he grew up with his two sisters and where he still lives with his wife and children. Business @ The Speed Of Thought
His mother was a teacher and his father was an attorney. In 1973 he studied math at Harvard, where he met Steve Ballmer, now president of Microsoft. He left Harvard after a year and started Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen. In the year ending June 1999, the Microsoft Corporation had a total income of $19.75 billion. It employs more than 32,000 people in sixty different countries. In 1995 Bill Gates wrote The Road Ahead, which was number one in the New York Times best-seller list for seven weeks and is also a Penguin Reader. Business @ the Speed of Thought came out in 1999.
Chapter 1 – Business @ The Speed Of Thought
Information Flow is Your Lifeblood Information work is thinking work. When thinking and working together are significantly assisted by computer technology, you have a digital nervous system. It consists of the advanced digital processes that knowledge workers use to make better decisions —to think, act, react, and adapt. Michael Dertouzos of MIT writes that the future ” Information Marketplace ” will require a large amount of special software and complex combinations of human and machine processes—an excellent description of a digital nervous system at work. Do you view information technology as a way to solve specific problems? Then you’re probably only getting a fraction of the benefits that modern computers and software can provide. Instead, you should be creating systems that will deliver information immediately to anyone who can use it—” digital nervous systems.” Business @ The Speed Of Thought
As the boss of Microsoft, the world’s most successful software company, I played a large part in the birth of the Information Age. In this book I explain the idea of a digital nervous system— the use of information technology to satisfy people’s needs at work and at home, just as the human nervous system supports the human mind. Like a living creature, an organization works best if it can rely on a nervous system that sends information immediately to the parts that need it. A digital nervous system can unite all of an organization’s systems and processes, releasing rivers of information and allowing businesses to make huge leaps in efficiency, growth, and profits. I have a simple but strong belief: how you gather, manage, and use information will decide whether you win or lose. Business @ The Speed Of Thought
The best way to put distance between your company and the crowd is to do an excellent job with information. There are more competitors today. There is more information available about them and about the market, which is now worldwide. The winners will be the ones who develop a world-class digital nervous system so that information can easily flow through their companies for maximum and constant learning. I know what you’re going to say: no, it’s efficient processes! It’s quality! It’s winning market share and creating brands that are recognized! It’s getting close to customers! Success, of course, depends on all of these things. Nobody can help you if your processes aren’t efficient, if you don’t care about quality, if you don’t work hard to build your brand, if your customer service is poor. A bad business plan will fail however good your information is. Business @ The Speed Of Thought Business @ The Speed Of Thought
And bad practice will spoil a good plan. If you do enough things badly, you’ll go out of business. But whatever else you have on your side today—smart employees, excellent products, loyal customers, cash in the bank —you need a fast flow of good information to make processes efficient, raise quality, and improve the way you put your plan into practice. Most companies have good people working for them. Most companies want to treat their customers well. Good, useful data exists somewhere within most organizations. Information flow is the lifeblood of your company because it enables you to get the most out of your people and to learn from your customers. See if you have the information to answer these questions: • What do customers think about your products? What problems do they want you to fix ? What new features do they want you to add ?
Reading books is one of my favorite ways to learn new things and better understand the world. I try to read every day, even when I’m busy and traveling. I’m excited to share with you what I’m reading, the people I meet, and what I’m learning. I hope that you’ll join the conversation here and on my blog, gatesnotes.com
Originally published: 1999 Author: Bill Gates Genre: Non-fiction Preceded by: The Road Ahead
mr bill has a great mind
From the look if this book it would be okay
This is a must get for everyone, whether am entrepreneur or not
I’d like to download this book
[…] book is addressed to all those business entrepreneurs or business owners that do not wish to stop the attained results but want to utilize new […]