| View Larger Image | Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work and World | Hardcoverby Matthew Fraser (Author), Soumitra Dutta (Author)
| List Price: | $29.95 | | Price: | $19.77 | | You Save: | $10.18 (34%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Wiley | | Page Count: | 344 Pages | | Publication Date: | December 31, 2008 | | Sales Rank: | 145,162th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780470740149
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
"If you want to understand why Wikipedia is changing the world, this book is a must read." –Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia "This book is a must read for all - social activists, politicians or managers - who have an interest in understanding how our society is morphing." –Professor C.K. Prahalad, #1 Management Guru and author of Competing for the Future Synopsis The rise of social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo is changing the way we see ourselves, how we interact with each other, how we work and how we do business on a daily basis. Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom explores the powerful forces driving the social networking revolution, the impact of these profound changes, and the far reaching consequences of social networking. Detailing the way social networks affects both individuals and societies as a whole, the book offers a detailed focus on the ways social networking affects the world of business and work. The generation entering the workforce today - and entering boardrooms everywhere - is fully engaged with social networking and its uses. Rather than feeling threatened and paranoid, today's business leaders need to understand this phenomenon, accept that it won't go away, and embrace its power in the world of business. Excerpts from Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: "Your next CEO’s most impressive job credential might be status as an online gladiator, honing valuable leadership skills mercilessly slaying mortal enemies on World of Warcraft. Why not, the skills necessary to hack your way to the top levels of virtual games – especially a killer instinct – are excellent pre-requisites for managing complex organisations." "Many senior managers mistakenly believe Enterprise 2.0 is a product, like the latest Microsoft office suite. They don’t realise that Enterprise 2.0 is not a cost centre, but a “state of mind” – a revolutionary new way of managing companies and conducting business. Web 2.0 tools have no regard for “organisational boundaries, hierarchies, or job titles”. Try telling a senior executive that, henceforth, there will be no job titles, reporting lines, and organisational boundaries in the company – and watch the reaction closely." "When someone calls a meeting, he or she is asserting authority over those who are invited to attend. Meetings are exclusive and closed. In most corporations, who gets invited to a meeting – and who does not – sends a signal about who’s ‘in the loop’. Meetings are a form of social grooming inside organisations. Meetings impose vertical authority. They establish status hierarchies. The Enterprise 2.0 model is feared in corporations because it threatens status hierarchies." "Harnessing the dynamism of horizontal networks, Web 2.0 social media are bypassing institutional forms of social organisation and directly empowering people. This book has attempted to tell that story with illustrations, which, we hope, have offered intriguing and instructive insights into the powerful transformations we described. What has interested us most, indeed, is the transformative impact – or “e-ruptions” – of Web 2.0 social media on the three dynamics that gave this book its structure: identity, status and power." |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 4 reviews)
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A Decent Web 2.0 Primer, But Buys Into the Visionary Hype by K. Marko (Boise, ID USA)  3 Stars
June 11, 2009
I reviewed this book for Processor Magazine (June 6th issue at [...]) and while the authors give a nice summary of social networking for the uninitiated, for my taste they too often uncritically fall for the hype.
If you're a middle manager who's never used a social site and who's only familiarity with Twitter is Conan's "Tweet of the Week", Throwing Sheep will have you believing that social networking is poised to upend your company's entire business model. While I don't deny the utility of Web 2.0 social sites for certain businesses and products (particularly those targeting young people or selling consumer products), I don't see them as significant as the printing press or even television -- not yet anyway.
Aside from the breathless hype, my other gripe with the book it that it's long on anecdotes and short on analysis. It often reads like a Lexis/Nexis dump of every news story with even the most remote Web 2.0 angle, however as I note in my Processor review, it's lacking in proscriptive recommendaions or strategies for how businesses can effectively start using the technology. For that, I would recommend Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Li and Bernoff.
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Doesn't get the Amazon model at all. by Wolfmont (Georgia) 3 Stars
March 28, 2009
While the author's views and information about various social networking sites are intriguing and helpful, the comments about book reviewers on Amazon are absolutely OFF the mark.
I know this because (1) I am an author with books on Amazon, (2) I am also a publisher of other people's books, which are carried by Amazon and (3) I review books on Amazon.
While I am sure that there are SOME people who get paid to review books on Amazon, just as there are a few dishonest folks who have all their friends buy copies on a single day to push their book to "Bestseller" status, it certainly is not universal! No self-respecting author or publisher would stoop that low.
Reviews of my own books and reviews of others' books which I have published have all been fairly earned.
And I know for a CERTAINTY that I have never been paid for any review I have left on a book, good, bad or indifferent. Where is MY check if Amazon reviews come from paid reviewers?
That being said, there may be a few dishonest people who do pay for Amazon reviews. The same thing occurs outside of Amazon, however; it is not confined to Amazon and it does not cover even the majority of Amazon reviews, much less all of them.
Don't make sweeping statements and expect to keep your credibility when they are discovered to be incorrect.
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Good material and at least one substantial flaw by Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) 3 Stars
March 27, 2009
I was looking forward to reading this book because I participate actively in social networking for my own business. I recommend social marketing to my own clients and help others use Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
Mostly the book seems to get it right. I enjoyed reading the contrast of Facebook versus Friendster. I appreciated the discussion of the wide acceptance of wikipedia. The section on the horrific consequences of getting googled seemed plausible and scary, but I wonder how many people actually are affected.
What stopped me cold was the discussion of Amazon book reviews on page 169. According to the authors, one Garth Risk Hallberg received a glowing Amazon review for his first book. Hallberg was thrilled till he realized that Grady Harp, the reviewer, had been paid to write the review.
The authors say:
"Harp, it turns out, wasn't an enlightened consumer at all. He was a regular, paid reviewer for Amazon - no different from a freelance book reviewer in the book sections of the New York Times or the Daily Telegraph."
When I first read this statement, I thought the authors were saying Amazon pays reviewers. That's simply not accurate. I am an "Amazon 500" reviewer and Vine reviewer. Amazon doesn't pay me a dime.
I do get a limited number of books from the Vine program but I'm allowed to review them any way I want. Most are advance copies that have no monetary value. There is absolutely no encouragement to write a favorable review, let alone a glowing one.
Hallberg's publisher presumably paid a reviewer to write a glowing review. I was surprised to discover that a Top 10 reviewer was getting paid, although I know of services that promise to write you a glowing review for money. The problem is not with Amazon: it's with authors and publishers who are dumb enough to pay someone to write a glowing review.
The problem with these fake reviews is that Amazon is, first and foremost, a community. Amazon readers are *not* dumb. They can spot those puff pieces. They write comments and share "not helpful" votes.
In the foreword to this book, the Wikipedia founder tells us that Wikipedia is policed by its own readers. That's the value of openness. Why don't the authors understand that the same process applies to Amazon?
These paid reviewers are *not* analogous to reviewers of the New York Times or any other newspaper. Freelance reviewers are paid to write the review based on their own opinion. They are not asked to write glowing reviews.
Finally, if the authors had just looked up Hallberg's book, they would have seen the Amazon system in action. Grady Harp's review collected a huge number of "not helpful" votes. A number of used copies of Hallberg's book are available at bargain prices - the ultimate indicator of reader responses. The book's Amazon sales rank is something in the millions.
Just one glowing review won't save a bad book. And if you pay for half a dozen reviewers, you're eating into the book's profits!
When I find one major inaccuracy in a book, I'm afraid I get skeptical about the rest of the information. Although some sections seem useful, this type of flaw should not appear in a book by a major publisher authored by two university professors.
Adding insult to injury, the book seems poorly designed. The text appears with long paragraphs - solid blocks of type, unbroken by subheadings, let alone illustrations.
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Very Interesting Book by BG  5 Stars
January 25, 2009
I found this book easy and enjoyable to read. Once I picked it up and started reading, I couldn't put it down. The book looks at social networking sites and Web 2.0 platforms in general and their impact on corporate and institutional structures. It is a fun read--it covers topics such as how to "un-friend" a friend and other social networking etiquette, little-known facts about the beginning of social networking sites, democracy 2.0 (Obama), privacy issues and the nature of social networking's democratic, horizontal structure compared to the vertical structure of most of our society's institutions (corporations, churches, governments, schools, etc.). This is a fascinating and engrossing book about a timely topic. PS - An interesting tidbit from the authors: Bill Gates has a page on LinkedIn. I checked it out; it's true. Not surprisingly, Bill is not taking any inmail or introductions.
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