A business book using case studies from around the world to demonstrate the transformative power of technology in business. Bill Gates, the most powerful man in the computer business in the world, provides the reader with his view on technology's role in corporate evolution - not just at rival software companies and corporate giants but at small businesses as well.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Information flow is your lifeblood: manage with the force of facts; can your digital nervous system do this?; create a paperless office. Part 2 Commerce - the Internet changes everything: ride the infectious rocket; the middleman must add value; tougch your customers; adopt the web lifestyle; change the boundaries of business; get to market first. Part 3 Manage knowledge to improve strategic thought: bad news must travel fast; convert bad news to good; know your numbers; shift people into thinking work; raise your corporate IQ; big wins require big risks. Part 4 Bring insight to business operations: develop processes that empower people; information technology enables reengineering; treat IT as a strategic resource. Part 5 Special enterprizes: no health care system is an island; take government to the people; when reflex is a matter of life and death; create connected learning communities. Part 6 Expect the unexpected: prepare for the digital future. Appendix: build digital processes on standards.

Author Biography

Bill Gates is the chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation, which employs 27,000 people in 60 countries. His vision and commitment regarding personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and in the advancement of software technology. He lives in the Seattle area with his wife and two children.