Rating: 
Summary: Some Major Points, A Little Carried Away
Review: A good book, while not as important as Gorilla game and Crossing the Chasm. The significance of it is, i think, on page 96, where the author states the several levels of competition: 1. Competition of New paradigms versus old paradigm (e.g. PC vs. MiniComputers and MainFrames
2. Competition between the new paradigms - Apple value chain vs. PC value chain, for example.
3. Competition for a spot on the value chain - Dell vs. Compaq; MS DOS vs. C/PM vs. Pascal; etc.
4. Competition for a bigger piece of the pie - Intel vs. Microsoft vs. Dell vs. CompUSA etc. AS you can see, the two first stages involve "collaboration" whereas the 2 latter are concerned with Competition (Michael Porter Style). There are other significant issues discussed in this book - i just thought i highlight this one as the one that stroke me as most important. Good Hunting!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing rehash that does not provide a good overview
Review: Geoffrey Moore is one of the most interesting writers on management active today, and his work is usually more interesting to read than most of what's published. This book is no exception. Moore is arguing that the Internet has, as a few commentators have already noticed, changed the face of business. Much of what he says is not new at this point--you don't need Moore to tell you that outsourcing is critical, and that the first-mover advantage is so important that many companies are sacrificing earnings for growth. What is new, and what will be controversial, is Moore's discussion of stock price as a real-value indicator. He argues that because the stock price and trend is a real-time survey of the investing community, it is a useful guide to how well a company is doing. There is of course some truth in this (when the stock of a high-flyer tanks, it's a bad sign), but I and many others will no doubt question whether a high P/E means that the company is doing well, or whether its investor relations are simply outpacing the rate at which the market comes to understand these companies. All in all, well worth reading, as it has much more real substance than many e-business books that are being published these days.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Framework for Understanding
Review: Geoffrey Moore is the master at taking complex marketing questions and answering them with simple frameworks. These frameworks help you understand the forces at work in the market and help you make decisions about your own business. In "Living..." he continues this tradition. This book extends the concepts of the "Chasm" and "Tornado" books and uses these new concepts to address real world questions in large companies. He clearly answers questions like "Should this task be outsourced?", and "How should I align my line functions to bring a new product to market?" An essential read to a high tech marketer or leader.
Rating:
Summary: The culmination of Moore's business framework thinking
Review: Geoffrey's Moore's latest book should be required reading for all executives in the age of the Internet. Rather than filling out a theoretically weak book with numerous examples, or building a detailed theory which cannot be applied, Moore has produced a brilliant work of practical business theory. Drawing on and extending his work in Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, and The Gorilla Game, Moore looks at various stages in the development of businesses, how to manage for shareholder value, how to create and sustain competitive advantage, and how companies with diverse cultures can effectively overcome the innovator's dilemma. Any executive feeling threatened by the Internet, or wishing to take full advantage of discontinuous innovations, should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great try. He slightly misses his mark. Still worth reading
Review: I am a little disappointed. This is a good book. I wanted it to be an important book. It is not. Geoffery Moore is the clearest and most insightful thinker in the dynamics of technology markets. His application of the technology adoption life cycle and the concept of crossing the chasm is now the cornerstone of most technology marketing strategy. In 'Living on the Faultline' Moore is applying his models and his thinking to more traditional business. He comes very close to succeeding. His review of the impact if the Internet, the role of IT, the importance of shareholder value, the thinking required to develop sustained competitve advantage and managing culture are all well done. His grasp of the Innovators Dilema is also very good. I think that problem is that it is too soon to know. Using digital and network technology to creating innovative business model outside the technology business is new. The evidence for what works and what does not work is still uncertain. Moore is a keen obsverer of structural dynamics. His models took the black magic out of technology strategy development. I hope that in his next book Moore has developed a new model to help managers understanding what is happening in their competitive environment. In the mean time, 'Living on the Fault Line' serves as a good overview of the most important thinking in these areas.
Rating:
Summary: High Concept, Limited-Detail Look at Technology Success
Review: Living on teh Fault Line will mainly be of value to those who are new to working in technology-based businesses. This book combines the perspectives of many different books into one. As a result of spanning so much material, the book operates at about 100,000 feet above sea level. Although the view is breathtaking, you can't see most of the details. For managers and executives, that means being left with concepts that they may have trouble implementing. The way to overcome that weakness is to go on to read other books that do address these issues in more detail like Built to Last and The Innovator's Dilemma. The first part is familiar material about how the Internet is changing business. It goes on to focus on the IT department of a traditional company as the weak link in responding to Internet opportunities and challenges. The second part repeats Moore's shareholder value perspectives from The Gorilla Game (a book I liked much better than this one). Basically, he feels that management and the board should look at the level and direction of stock price as a litmus test on the company's strategy and implementation. Part three hits the high points of relating well in the middle of creating a competitive advantage while technology is changing. Part four discusses how top performance changes at times during a technological wave. This is probably the most interesting part of the book. It is quite well done. Part five examines the key concept of focusing on what creates competitive advantage internally, and getting rid of everything else by outsourcing and partnering. I thought this was a little too simple. In many cases, your internal perspective may be the worst place to try to do key activities. For example, Wal-Mart reportedly began to do better with Internet development after it did more outsourcing in this core area. Keep in mind though that apparently Wal-Mart is still struggling with the Internet. This section was really addressing The Innovator's Dilemma material and concepts. Finally, how do you institutionalize the way your company will attack the Internet and future technologies? This is routine material from a variety of books, and you can skip it if you are well read in business. If you like your business books highly condensed and simplified, you'll rate this book a 5 star. If you like more detail, you'll rate it lower. If you have to have lots of detail, skip this book. It is resistible for you. After you read this book, I suggest you think about when you may communicate at too high a level of generalization. People need it simple. See the excellent book, Simplicity, more more ideas!
Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Radical Changes Around Us...
Review: Lots of duplication from Geoffrey Moore's earlier efforts. But, if you are looking for an introduction that brings together his concepts of crossing the chasm with new products / services, reaching the bowling alley (capturing niches) and the tornado (widespread acceptance), this book describes the concepts quickly and well. Obviously, Geoffrey works with a variety of high tech firms and was careful not to be too negative about any of them... too bad. He could have more effectively driven home his points with more examples of how companies are unable to make transitions necessary in the face of change. In fact, he seemingly goes out of his way at the end to show how company cultures built around cultivation, competence, collaboration, and control can evolve and how these cultures might co-exist... I find this pretty hard to believe having worked at the extremes of his cultural models. I fear that some executives who read this will leverage it to provide needed lip service to Wall Street to raise stock value without changing anything. Wall Street doesn't sort this out in the short term in many cases... Geoffrey gives too much credit to the market. However, if companies could be as flexible to change as he advocates, long term shareholders probably would receive much more value for their holdings. By the way, a hidden value in this book is that it may help you decide what kind of company you are most likely to enjoy working for and some key indicators you should look for.
Rating:
Summary: Same old baloney
Review: The author himself clues us in to the value of this work in his own preface. At the top of page xiv his comments about his previous work include a telling sentence, "In sum, much of my celebration of a new economy was just a lot of old baloney". Well most of this new work is more of the same. CAP and GAP are a rehash of old concepts tried and true. Context and core is the 80/20 rule revisited. Rather than buying, or god forbid wasting your precious time reading this volume, wait till the author's next book, where hopefully he'll compliment you in his next preface for not having paid money for just a lot of repackaged baloney.
Rating:
Summary: What's Going On Down There?
Review: Those who have read Crossing the Chasm and/or Inside the Tornado already know that Moore is among the brightest, most eloquent of contemporary business thinkers. In the Introduction to this book, he explains that it is "about managing for shareholder value, a discipline that has been widely endorsed but rather poorly described. Specifically, it is intended to answer one question that is haunting numerous management teams at the turn of the century: [italics] What should a company that rose to prominence prior to the Internet know and do about its stock price now that the Internet is upon us?" There are related questions: 1. What are the fundamental changes that collectively represent the transitions to the new economy? 2. If a stock price directly equates to sustainable competitive advantage, what must a management team do to convert that stock price into an appropriate management information system? 3. What are the most effective strategies for recognizing, catching, and then riding the next technology "wave"? 4. What are the most effective strategies for coping with the "destabilizing effects" on markets caused by shifts in underlying technologies? 5. As markets evolve through a series of four distinct stages which comprise the "the technology adoption life cycle", how and where (and especially WHY) can a new technology cause so many corporations to fail? 6. Which cultural models should be considered if the objective is to sustain "long-term vibrant success"? With uncommon skill, Moore addresses these and other key questions. Although it may seem that this book was written only for decision-makers in large, publicly traded companies, I now suggest that almost all of the information and suggestions provided are also relevant to privately held companies as well as to non-profits. Moore's ultimate objective is to explain HOW to maximize value of any organization in the Age of the Internet. He suggests that an organization conduct a series of workshops for its senior managers, each workshop based on one of the chapters in this book. That is an excellent suggestion. The material could also be the substance of an off-site "retreat", with its Table of Contents serving as the agenda. Those who share my high regard for this book are strongly encouraged to read Ehrbar's EVA, Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma, and Collins & Porras' Built to Last.
Rating:
Summary: What's Going On Down There?
Review: Those who have read Crossing the Chasm and/or Inside the Tornado already know that Moore is among the brightest, most eloquent of contemporary business thinkers. In the Introduction to this book, he explains that it is "about managing for shareholder value, a discipline that has been widely endorsed but rather poorly described. Specifically, it is intended to answer one question that is haunting numerous management teams at the turn of the century: [italics] What should a company that rose to prominence prior to the Internet know and do about its stock price now that the Internet is upon us?" There are related questions: 1. What are the fundamental changes that collectively represent the transitions to the new economy? 2. If a stock price directly equates to sustainable competitive advantage, what must a management team do to convert that stock price into an appropriate management information system? 3. What are the most effective strategies for recognizing, catching, and then riding the next technology "wave"? 4. What are the most effective strategies for coping with the "destabilizing effects" on markets caused by shifts in underlying technologies? 5. As markets evolve through a series of four distinct stages which comprise the "the technology adoption life cycle", how and where (and especially WHY) can a new technology cause so many corporations to fail? 6. Which cultural models should be considered if the objective is to sustain "long-term vibrant success"? With uncommon skill, Moore addresses these and other key questions. Although it may seem that this book was written only for decision-makers in large, publicly traded companies, I now suggest that almost all of the information and suggestions provided are also relevant to privately held companies as well as to non-profits. Moore's ultimate objective is to explain HOW to maximize value of any organization in the Age of the Internet. He suggests that an organization conduct a series of workshops for its senior managers, each workshop based on one of the chapters in this book. That is an excellent suggestion. The material could also be the substance of an off-site "retreat", with its Table of Contents serving as the agenda. Those who share my high regard for this book are strongly encouraged to read Ehrbar's EVA, Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma, and Collins & Porras' Built to Last.
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