e-volve !

I thought people would simply use the service to buy and sell things, but what they really enjoyed was meeting other people. (Pierre Omidyar, Founder, eBay).

Searching … Searching… reads the message at the bottom of my screen. It seems emblematic of the state of the world. Everywhere I turn, I find people who want to know what the internet really means for their future and what they must do to succeed.

Internet is a revolutionary technology that cannot be ignored or avoided. New economic and organizational forces stemming from the rise of the Internet affect more than just those people and companies whose work centers around the World Wide Web. These forces have an impact on workplaces of all kinds, reaching non-computer users as well as avid techies. The Internet has the potential to transform every economic and social institution, from business to education to health care to government.

“ A must-read for all who care about the future”

People and organizations at every stage of internet sophistication face the same burning question: How should they change in order to succeed in a digital world?

Renowned thinker and business trailblazer Rosabeth Moss Kanter says answers will be found not in cyberspace but on the ground, where real people connect, collaborate, and form thriving human communities. In this eye-opening book, Kanter explores what she calls “e-culture” – a new wat of living and working that will transform every aspect of today´s organizations.

Kanter argues that networks of relationships, not just new technologies, permit speed and seamlessness, encourage creativity and collaboration, and release energy and brainpower – the “soul” of e-business. And every organization – from dotcoms to dotcom-enablers (technology and service providers) to wannadots (traditional companies struggling to embrace the Web) – must lead to build and foster them.

Based on a landmark project with a rare on-site access, over 300 interviews, and 785 company global survey, Evolve! Provides a hands on blueprint for adopting the core principles of e-cultrue: treat strategy as improvisational theater; nurture networks of partners; reconstruct organizations as online and offline “communities”; and attract and retain top talent.

With colorful and memorable stories, Kanter illuminates vast differences between older, more conservative companies and aggressive, born-digital dotcoms. She takes us deep inside evolving organizations – including IBM, eBay, Reuters, Sun Microsystems, Razorfish, Abuzz, barnesandnoble.com, Williams-Sonoma, and pioneering public schools – to provide best practices from e-culture pacesetters and cautionary lessons from internet laggards. Defining the skills leaders need to master change, she reveals how dotcoms and dotcomenablers can grow fast while crafting a great culture, and how wannadots can benefit by becoming Web-enabled.

For anyone who wants to realize the potential and avoid the pitfalls od the Internet Age, this pathbreaking book identifies and analyzes the emergence of e-culture – and provide a lively, rool-up-your-sleeves guide to profiting from tomorrow.