Product Description

An updated edition of the national bestseller—now with a new introduction and a new chapter

Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics proves this fear is folly. Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success.

A brilliant guide to one of the most profound changes of our time, Wikinomics challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand competitiveness in the twenty- first century.

Based on a $9 million research project led by bestselling author Don Tapscott, Wikinomics shows how masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, or even building motorcycles. You'll read about:
• Rob McEwen, the Goldcorp, Inc. CEO who used open source tactics and an online competition to save his company and breathe new life into an old-fashioned industry.
• Flickr, Second Life, YouTube, and other thriving online communities that transcend social networking to pioneer a new form of collaborative production.
• Mature companies like Procter & Gamble that cultivate nimble, trust-based relationships with external collaborators to form vibrant business ecosystems.

An important look into the future, Wikinomics will be your road map for doing business in the twenty-first century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2530 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-17
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The word "wiki" means "quick" in Hawaiian, and here author and think tank CEO Tapscott (The Naked Corporation), along with research director Williams, paint in vibrant colors the quickly changing world of Internet togetherness, also known as mass or global collaboration, and what those changes mean for business and technology. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia written, compiled, edited and re-edited by "ordinary people" is the most ubiquitous example, and its history makes remarkable reading. But also considered are lesser-known success stories of global collaboration that star Procter & Gamble, BMW, Lego and a host of software and niche companies. Problems arise when the authors indulge an outsized sense of scope-"this may be the birth of a new era, perhaps even a golden one, on par with the Italian renaissance, or the rise of Athenian democracy"-while acknowledging only reluctantly the caveats of weighty sources like Microsoft's Bill Gates. Methods for exploiting the power of collaborative production are outlined throughout, an alluring compendium of ways to throw open previously guarded intellectual property and to invite in previously unavailable ideas that hide within the populace at large. This clear and meticulously researched primer gives business leaders big leg up on mass collaboration possibilities; as such, it makes a fine next-step companion piece to James Surowiecki's 2004 bestseller The Wisdom of Crowds.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Can you learn about Web 2.0 without spending more time staring at a computer screen? With Alan Sklars unabridged recording of this book, the answer is yes. Consumers, businesspeople, and academics can benefit from this investigation into how online collaboration tools have the potential for transforming research and production. Sklar is a sophisticated reader whose well-known voice is a smooth platform for the authors case studies of innovative information sharing. They provide an enthusiastic overview, and Sklar provides an engaging reading that will make listeners excited about returning to their computers to experience new technologies. R.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Anyone who has done even a modest amount of browsing on the Internet has probably run across Wikipedia, the user-edited online encyclopedia that now dwarfs the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica. This is the prime example of what is called the new Web, or Web 2.0, where sites such as MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and even the Human Genome Project allow mass collaboration from participants in the online community. These open systems can produce faster and more powerful results than the traditional closed proprietary systems that have been the norm for private industry and educational institutions. Detractors claim that authentic voices are being overrun by "an anonymous tide of mass mediocrity," and private industry laments that competition from the free goods and services created by the masses compete with proprietary marketplace offerings. The most obvious example of this is Linux, the open-source operating system that has killed Microsoft in the server environment. But is this a bad thing? Tapscott thinks not; and as a proponent of peering, sharing, and open-source thinking, he has presented a clear and exciting preview of how peer innovation will change everything. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Helping ArmstrongAuctions.com succeed
This is a great book! Highly recommended.

I read about 5 - 8 business, marketing, technology and auction related books a month to stay on the cutting edge in my auction business. The internet is playing an increasingly important role in my industry and I have been studying about different ways to harness the power of the net to benefit our auction clients. A lot of what is out there is marginal at best....but not Wikinomics, I read this book with highlighter in hand and it is marked up all over the place.

My son and I spent 18 months and over $100K building the latest and greatest live online auction system, which is just about complete and ready to launch. We had lots of new features in mind that we thought would have to be added later...now we are going to use these ideas and bring them to market even quicker. Plus, I always knew there had to be more things possible that I haven't even thought of yet, by harnessing the power and the wisdom of everyone interested, I know we can bring a world class live online auction solution to market quickly and efficiently.

Thanks Don and everyone at Wikinomics, your work is very important and appreciated.

Alan Armstrong, President of ArmstrongAuctions.com, FlyBoysToys.com and Big Gavel Inc.

Wicked Wikinomics
This has to be the most straight forward explanation about social media to date. It is clear, and makes causal links throughout! Great

Wow, What an eye opener!
Wikinomics is a terrific book to open our eyes to what is happening in the workplace. As a middle school guidance counselor, I can see that we need to be teaching the student more about technology and how the work place is using it for collaboration. Thanks.