HIGH TECH, HIGH HOPE: TURNING YOUR VISION OF TECNOLOGY INTO BUSINESS SUCCESS

Faced with a bewildering array of technology options and increasing obsolescence in many parts of their organizations, today's business decision makers are in a tough spot. They need help determining which latest technology will work for their businesses and what high-tech strategies will solve their companies' problems. Business managers today need help separating hype from reality; more importantly, they need to know what has worked well for others in the same situations.

High Tech, High Hope is the first book to provide a critical analysis of several top American firms that have carefully injected a range of new technology strategies into their businesses. You'll find how such leading firms as Chrysler, Boeing, Federal Express, 3M, Hallmark, and Owens-Corning have supercharged their businesses by applying a cocktail of new technologies.

This authoritative and accessible reference delivers accurate and thoroughly up-to-date coverage of how managers have applied technology solutions across their businesses. From operations and purchasing to marketing, sales, and customer support, High Tech, High Hope helps managers who are trying to get up to speed with some of the smartest solutions applied today.

What technologies are currently available? How have they been applied successfully? What are the costs? The learning curve? How well do they integrate with other crucial systems in my organization? And do these new technologies really lead to a more efficient, productive, and most of all, profitable business?

To help answer these crucial questions, High Tech, High Hope features the invaluable insights of some of the world's leading technology strategists and thinkers, including Bill Gates of Microsoft, Louis Gerstner of IBM, Lew Platt of Hewlett-Packard, FedEx CIO Dennis Jones, and noted analyst Gideon Gartner. Sharing their unique perspectives and offering sound advice, they explain what works, what doesn't, and what lies ahead, covering such issues as the Internet, a new generation of software applications, and ever more sophisticated networking technologies.

High Tech, High Hope gives you an insider's view of the various technology strategies that have been seamlessly incorporated into some of the world's most successful companies, and helps managers develop real action plans for supercharging virtually every part of their organizations. mprehensive and timely, High Tech, High Hope is indispensable for executives, managers, and entrepreneurs who need to understand and adopt important technology trends in a real-world context to help boost their businesses.

"Paul Franson has given us the best and most complete account of life inside the new technology-driven corporation. With example and example, department by department, Franson shows how this transformation has been accomplished. High Tech, High Hope is the premier best practices book on the new enterprise." --Michael S. Malone Coauthor, The Virtual Corporation.

"Franson is an old hand in Silicon Valley, and his experience and expertise really show in High Tech, High Hope. This book delivers practical advice on the strategic use of today's cutting edge information technologies." --Paul Saffo Director, Institute for the Future.

"Franson's book is a fascinating look at the pervasive role of the computer in business and how the technology is accelerating these changes. He really has his arms around the technology revolution going on in business today. In his new book, he has chronicled how computers are dramatically changing the way the business world works." --Bob Henkel Editorial Director, CMP Media, Inc.

"High Tech, High Hope takes an insightful look at how managers are developing their businesses in a highly competitive world that is changing at web-speed." --George Sollman President, CEO and Founder, Arabesque Communications, Inc.

PAUL FRANSON is the founder of Franson, Hagerty & Associates, a public relations firm for the high-tech industry. His clients have included LSI Logic, 3COM, Silicon Graphics, Hewlett-Packard, and Hitachi. Mr. Franson's numerous articles have appeared in such publications as Upside, Inc., The Financial Times, Dividend, Electronic Business, Marketing Computers, and PC Computing.