Insightful examples of how companies can innovate in a digital age.
An expert on “disruptive” technology suggests how both startups and established companies can innovate and not get lapped by the competition.
Jones (On Innovation, 2012), former Kayak.com chairman and founder of Travelocity, returns to the subject of innovation in a book, part memoir and part self-help, that draws on his long experience as a tech company leader. The author begins by considering how the proliferation of computers has influenced business models of successful companies. He then shows how “disruption” happens when the core offerings of a business become obsolete because a nimble, fast-moving competitor refuses to play by the established rules of the industry while also offering value. As an example, he discusses how mobile phones and phone-based computing present both an opportunity and a threat to today’s companies. In thematically driven chapters, he draws on his own experience at Travelocity—initially a major disruption in the travel agent market—and keeps his text “snackable” (no need to read the book straight through to pick up ideas). Jones also discusses innovations like product subscriptions (such as software as a service), cloud computing as a way to avoid excessive asset ownership, and marketing through bundling and packaging the products of one company with those of others. Jones focuses on broad trends, connecting his topics—like machine learning, blockchain, and drones—to innovative business choices that allow people to profit from these newly available resources. In the second part of the book he offers advice on business models and finding a niche in a rapidly-changing disruptive industrial marketplace. Every chapter begins with an inspiring or challenging quote, discussing how it connects to the concept covered. This device and others help to keep the tone informal and user friendly even when the author deals with high-level business challenges. One of the most thought-provoking aspects of the book is that it aims to show how to avoid a potential problem—having your business disrupted—but in the end advocates for becoming the disruptor. As a result, the book reads more like a guide to developing the right mindset for today’s marketplace challenges than a how-to manual for protecting a company from disruptive threats.
Insightful examples of how companies can innovate in a digital age.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5439-7750-9
Page Count: 235
Publisher: On Inc.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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