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Summary: Explores the new concepts of living and working
Review: How should individuals and businesses be changing in order to succeed in a digital world? Evolve! shows answers may be found not in cyberspace but in communities where people interact: Kanter explores the new concepts of living and working with computers which are likely to change organizations and how relationships network.
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Summary: terrible
Review: I admit, I was suspicious: a business book with a hip-hop song-summary? A prescription for dot-com practices, now?Yes, post-bubble, it's still a new world, and this is THE relevant book. In frothier times, I was involved in a wide range of Web ventures. The stock certificates of many of those ventures are now trophies on my office wall. Those that survived and promise to grow into lasting businesses had elements from Moss Kanter's prescription. It's a prescription they'll be following closely now that Evolve is required reading.
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Summary: Yes, it's relevant, essential reading
Review: I admit, I was suspicious: a business book with a hip-hop song-summary? A prescription for dot-com practices, now? Yes, post-bubble, it's still a new world, and this is THE relevant book. In frothier times, I was involved in a wide range of Web ventures. The stock certificates of many of those ventures are now trophies on my office wall. Those that survived and promise to grow into lasting businesses had elements from Moss Kanter's prescription. It's a prescription they'll be following closely now that Evolve is required reading.
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Summary: Excellent introduction into the world of e-business
Review: I am an MBA student at San Jose State University, taking an E-commerce class as part of my required curriculum. Evolve is the first book I have read on the subject, and I found it a very informative, insightful book into the e-commerce world. Rosabeth Moss Kanter gives some very relevant examples that I believe can be applied to the e-business world, as well as providing some general information that would be helpful to anyone starting a business, let alone an e-business. Living in Silicon Valley exposes one to many personal experiences with the internet culture, as well as the culture of many technology companies. This book, however, allows a unique perspective of offering a comparison between many of the dotcoms. Utilizing extensive research, Ms. Kanter provides not only a non-biased perspective, but also a baseline for comparison. This is done by showing examples of how different companies attempt to break into new or established markets, and the results of some of these key ventures. This book starts out by explaining some of the basic principles behind e-culture, and who defines it. There are many aspects of this new culture when compared with the traditional bricks-and-mortar companies. You have a very technologically driven group of people, typically much younger than old-economy companies. At the same time, there are many bricks-and-mortar companies that attempt to enter into the internet realm, and they often must relinquish control to a younger, more technologically minded group of people. The challenge of many e-businesses is to incorporate necessary business tactics, while keeping the mindset that the internet is a whole new way of reaching out to people, and this must be cultivated, not stifled. In addition, there are many young people, new to the business world, trying to build the internet into a tool to sell products or services in ways that traditional companies would have never dreamed possible. So you end up with entrepreneurs inside of established companies, fighting to create e-commerce sites that must enhance, and sometimes compete with, the established companies' business. At the same time, there is often animosity among the people trying to build the traditional business of the people who do not fit in with the company culture. This is a very interesting book, which is quite easy to read. Being an MBA student, and a person with interest in technology, I found this book an excellent foray into the world of e-business. I believe this book would be helpful to anyone thinking of starting an e-commerce business from scratch, or one building an e-commerce site to enhance an existing business. Logically, one of the reasons that most companies fail is because they either do not have a viable product or service, or because they made too many irrecoverable mistakes. This book will give some insight into some of the original internet pioneers, and will show where some of them went wrong. I would say that the only aspect where this book doesn't quite live up to its potential is that the specific examples are not clearly identified to results of those actions. This makes it somewhat difficult to interpret exactly where a company might have failed. Rather, it is the culture and interpersonal aspects of the examples that might indicate the cause of success or failure, but not any specific instances or decisions that can be identified.
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Summary: You probably know more about this subject.
Review: I can see all the old stoggy Harvard professors sitting in a plush room. Someone says "We need a volunteer to go see what this on-line culture thing is all about." Three months later this book is finished. It's as if the author was an anthropologist from the 50's who was transported to today for a few months, "studied" the culture, and then went back to her own time to report. If her 20 year old study subjects read it they might sigh and say "geez, I thought she was actually getting it at the end there..."
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Summary: Understanding E-Business from the Inside-Out
Review: I found Evolve! by Rosabeth Moss Kanter to be a fascinating look at how the Internet has changed the business world. As someone in his mid-20's working at a company that is stumbling into the Internet age, I know that Kanter's insights are right on target. The best part of the book is its case studies. Kanter's extensive research enables her to give the reader behind-the-scenes stories of businesses struggling to succeed (as well as businesses struggling with success). These stories are fun and easy to digest -- I seriously couldn't put it down once I started reading it. The stories are woven together seamlessly, and each one is just as fascinating as the last. They uncover the inner-workings of business, which makes an understanding of familiar companies like E-Bay, IBM, BarnesandNoble.com, and Sun Microsystems much richer. This book is also particularly good because it reveals the benefits and drawbacks of the "dot-com style." We have all been attracted to this type of work environment (no dress code, cool office spaces) and Kanter understands this -- but she has a fresh perspective on the extent to which this style can enhance or cramp an organization. She also explains the demands that the Internet has placed on businesses to be quick to move, network, improvise, and take chances. As an employee myself, I found one of the best lessons to be that there are ways of making your job more meaningful, and there are ways of making your company feel more like a community. Some of it involves peppering the "dot-com style" around the company, but that is just a tool -- it has more to do with communication and teamwork. Overall, this book is a great source of insights all told in Kanter's enthusiastic, animated narrative. I have recommended it to my friends and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in understanding the real story behind how e-business has impacted and will continue to impact all types of businesses, from the inside-out.
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Summary: Read Evolve! Today!
Review: I have 20 years of business experience all over the world in every sector. Evolve! articulates just what the issues are. This is a thoughtful, accurate look at the challenges of being in business and sustaining a career today. Dotcoms come and go, to be sure. Technology is with us forever and faster. How we adapt and learn is the issue. Kanter tackles it the right way -- stories about real people and situations. What she looks at rings true and we see the most important lesson of all -- we're not alone out here. Grab the book. I given copies to friends and they agree.
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Summary: Evolve: Right On target
Review: I have recently held several positions working in e-business units at some major companies in the New York city area. I am a 20-something "computer guy," but have a strong interest in business management. At my last couple of jobs, I have witnessed so many senior managers make major blunders as they have tried to move away from their antiquated, old-school business management formulas into e-business. It seems like only a few companies have found the right mix of on- and off-line strategies. These concepts all came together for me while reading Kanter's "Evolve." She makes more sense of everything that has gone on since the rise of the Internet than anything else I have read. Her research is extensive, thorough, and interesting -- and her writing is really quite good. Her enthusiasm makes this book a page-turner, as corny as that may sound. But I recommend it fully, because it helped me think through all of the things I have been witnessing. If the managers I worked for had read Evolve and taken some of Kanter's lessons to heart, I might still be working there. There is a lot for everyone to learn in this book -- for managers, staff, and just people interested in what happened to the dot-coms.
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Summary: One sided observation rather than an Analysis
Review: I thought the naration was terible on this CD, author was not to the point. More of a one sided observation presented as a story rather than a complete analysis.
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Summary: Kanter's right! Improv Your Business
Review: I was delighted to discover someone was combining the concepts of improvisational theatre and business culture. I have been performing improvisationally and teaching improvisation for years. A few years ago I was struck by the link between the speed of change in the corporate world and the mechanics of the disciplin of improvisation. So I started taking this message to the corporate world and discovered that, although it was a hard sell at first, as anything more than a day of fun, once they experienced the principles of improv at work the link was very clear to most of them. I think Ms. Kanter has struck at the heart of how speed and e-culture have changed business paradigms. Pointing out how the relationships between people and not with technology is the real challenge. You can no longer develop, institute and manage long-term business paradigms. Things are just changing to fast. The ability to really improvise allows you work with diferent groups to be on top of each change and use the speed to create momentum. As Ms.Kanter outlines perfectly, you need a culture of improvisation. I think the examples in evolve!, of corporations that have grasped the notion of improvisation while not always characterizing it strictly as that, are dead on. I hope everyone in a position of power in the corporate world reads evolve! and sees the light. It is a constant evolution; the speed has just increased dramatically. It is not about inside or outside the "box"...it is about building a new "box" every day! Kudos!
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