Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/269179
77 BizEd March/April 2014 you work; if you're not competing in the right part of the market, you'll fail. It's all about setting priori- ties, insists Putsis, a profes- sor at UNC-Chapel Hill: "Companies need to make choices about allocating scarce resources. Not only must they decide in what part of the market they should compete, but they must also adopt the right tactics." He emphasizes how important it is to understand the external business environment, which can't be controlled by an individual company, and to exploit the value chain, which sometimes can. For instance, he examines Google Glass, a wearable wi-fi device that keeps users constantly updated about essential information. But it only works when there's unbroken Internet access—which is one rea- son Google is providing ubiquitous high-speed broadband service in test markets. If Google owns the Internet connection, it has leverage at every other point "in the value chain and gives the company a complete solution no one else can offer," Putsis writes. That might be an extreme example, but it's cer- tainly a convincing one. B IG BANG D I S R U PTION AUTHORS: Larry Downes and Paul Nunes PUBLISHER: Portfolio/Penguin, US$29.95 EvEN DISRUPTION HAS been disrupted. Old theories considered how innovators created new mar- kets, targeted underserved markets, or focused on niche markets. But today's innovators attack all mar- kets, all at once, frequently using mobile cloud-based computing that enables them to create products with almost no investment of infra- structure or IT. These disruptors might not even be setting out to shake up the industry. "Usually, they're just tossing something shiny in the direc- tion of your customers, hoping to attract them to a business that's completely different from yours," write Downes, an Internet analyst and columnist, and Nunes of the Accenture Institute for High Per- formance. The authors offer 12 tips for surviving and creating Big Bang disruptions. These include staying hypervigilant, changing directions swiftly, abandoning old assets if necessary—and always looking for the next opportunity. READy TO BE A THOUGHT LEADER? asks executive coach Denise Brosseau. For those who answer yes, she outlines the seven necessary steps—such as find your driving passion, build your ripples of influence, and codify your lessons learned—while underscoring what makes thought leadership so important. "As a recognized thought leader, you will have the power to persuade, the status and authority to move things in a new direction, and the clout to implement real progress and widespread inno- vation," she writes. "Thought leadership is not about being known; it is being known for making a difference." (Jossey-Bass, US$27.99) BABSON'S THOmAS H. Davenport isn't sure big data will be the trans- formative force experts are predicting, and he doesn't even like the term big data. But in Big Data @ Work, he takes a comprehensive look at how massive data might change the future of work. He points out that it's not the "big" part that's so overwhelming, it's the fact that the avail- able information is unstructured and difficult to mine. Enter the data sci- entist. "The data is often free or cheap, the hardware and software are free or inexpensive, but the people are expensive and difficult to hire," Davenport points out. It's only one of many thoughtful insights in the book. (Harvard Business Review Press, US$30) TODAy'S GLOBAL wORkfORcE includes more women, more genera- tions, and more racially diverse individuals than ever before—but fewer CEOs who know how to manage such a broad group of employees. In Flex, executive coaches Jan Hyun and Audrey Lee call for leaders to become more "fluent" in interacting with people of all types. They write that leaders must "view difference as a latent potential, not a liability," and have "an insatiable curiosity about perspectives and motivations of others, and the skills to navigate across leadership styles." Hyun and Lee provide examples of fluent leaders and tips for gaining much-needed flexibility. (HarperBusiness, US$27.99) Don't Miss