Living on the Fault Line: Managing for Shareholder Value in the Age of the Internet

Readers looking for ""how to"" advice, specific examples or more than introductory thinking about how to use a company's stock price as a management lever are bound to come away from this uninspired book disappointed. A consultant and venture capitalist, Moore (Crossing the Chasm; Inside the Tornado) begins by explaining why companies must focus on what they do best-but the concept of ""core competencies"" has been around for almost a decade. He then goes on to say shareholders reward firms that have a clear competitive advantage in the marketplace. But that idea's probably been around as long as stock markets themselves. The key to gaining that advantage today, Moore argues, is embracing the right technology. Only how can you tell which is the right one? Clearly, Sony thought it was on the right track when it created Beta, only to lose out to the VHS technology that governs most VCRs today, and the thousands of failed software companies dotting Silicon Valley must have thought they were on the right path when they opened their doors. What do all the failures have in common? Moore provides little in the way of answers. He concludes, again as others have before, by suggesting that companies must change their management styles as their core technology matures. But the point would be more telling if he had provided detailed examples of firms that have done that well and those that haven't. Only readers looking for an initial grounding in this area need apply. 6-city author tour; 15-city NPR radio campaign. (June)