The Spider's Strategy introduces four powerful, adaptable 'design principles' for building businesses that can thrive in an increasingly networked world. Amit Mukherjee begins by showing business leaders shows how to embed sense-and response capabilities in their normal plan-and-execute processes, helping to detect emerging problems sooner, adjust course rapidly and inexpensively, and avoid unnecessary crises. Next, he shows how to adopt strategies that promote collaboration among partners, so you become the natural customer or seller of choice when those partners face crises or opportunities. You'll learn how to build organizations that truly value, promote, and share learning, and use it to drive decisive action. Finally, Mukherjee shows how to use technology to simplify adjustments to shifts in your business environment. The heart of the book: practical, proven advice on actually implementing these core principles. Drawing on interviews with innovators at HP, Nokia, and elsewhere, Mukherjee offers insight into everything from work practices to culture and corporate organization. Along the way, he teaches crucial lessons from previous eras of transformative corporate change, and shows how to overcome the obstacles to effective collaboration amongst partners. Mukherjee concludes by introducing the techniques of holographic change management, in which all four design principles are implemented concurrently across one business area, and then replicated.

Praise for The Spider's Strategy Praise for The Spider's Strategy"-Beyond the obvious, this is a great and pragmatic book, demonstrating the incredible power of Collaboration in action." --Jean-Francois BarilSenior Vice President, Nokia Corporation"-Though many have sought to unlock the secrets of creating learning organizations, few have succeeded. InThe Spider's Strategy, Mukherjee provides the keys to the learning kingdom.... And he shows what it really takes to leverage the power of networks. It is that rare business book that deserves to be read from cover-to-cover." --Michael Watkins, Author of The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels"-Mukherjee beautifully weaves the ever-morphing web of technology, business, and organizational learning together and explains why both top executives and middle managers must care about their impact." --Sudipta BhattacharyaPresident, Invensys Wonderware"-About the time of the Nokia incident, the Toyota Group faced a similar situation in Japan and its actions were a good example of best practice--but in a setting of a local network, strong ties, and integral business architecture. I was not sure if a switch from a transactional mode to a knowledge sharing mode could happen in a global network with weaker ties and a modular business architecture.The Spider's Strategyconvinced me that it is certainly possible--by building sense-and-respond capabilities, collaboration with network partners, organizational learning, and responsive information technologies." --Takahiro Fujimoto Professor, The University of Tokyo, Author, The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota, and Co-author (with Kim Clark), Product Development Performance: Strategy, Organization, and Management in the World Auto Industry"-Mukherjee captures very well the essential value that programs like PRM, Buy-Sell, and the internal knowledge management capabilities bring to HP every day." --Greg ShoemakerVice President,Hewlett-Packard Company"-Once in a while I receive a book that makes me think 'Why did I not write this?' But of course, I could not. It takes a very experienced reflective practitioner, who in his heart is still an academic, to write such a wonderful book. I had the privilege to work with Mukherjee as a colleague at INSEAD almost 20 years ago.... I am truly pleased Mukherjee's ideas have finally found a place in a book." --Luk N. Van WassenhoveHenry Ford Chaired Professor of Manufacturing and Academic Director of the Social Innovation Center INSEAD"-An 'adaptive organization' must count astheresponse in the increasingly connected world in which business will operate in the decades ahead.... Mukherjee makes a terrific case of how to achieve the desired response. A great read for the 'concerned' before they reach the stage of being 'tormented.'" --R. GopalakrishnanExecutive Director, TATA Sons Limited"-InThe Spider's Strategy, Mukherjee...demonstrates how corporations that cultivate...strategic webs can thrive even in the face of...business challenges that undermine their competition. This book is a must read for executives who are willing to look outside their own corporate walls to create significant competitive advantage." --Pat BentleySenior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management"-The business world is moving toward non-hierarchical networks.... The a