Barry Libert - The Network Imperative: How to Survive and Grow in the Age of Digital Business Models

As the CEO of a billion-dollar IT services company, I am on a journey to be in the path of relevance to our customers in their digital transformation. The idea of weaving our connections for network orchestration is very appealing. I couldnt put this book down. Very structured, practical, and thought provoking. Now Im ready to PIVOT. A must-read for all CXOs with inquisitive minds.

GANESH AYYAR , CEO, Mphasis

As the world becomes increasingly digital, organizations need not just digitize, or even transform, but rather digitally reinvent themselves. Values are shifting increasingly to the network. The orchestrators of such networks increasingly get more of the value from the ecosystem and businesses they support. Assets, services, or technology cannot compete with the benefits of the network provider.

The authors of The Network Imperative do a great job of laying out the competitive advantages of network-based organizations operating in the open-platform digital world and how they will impact every industry. The authors explain the rationale behind the network business modelits value creation as well as its tendency toward exponential growth.

The book provides the promise of value enhancement and wealth, as well the principles of success, the PIVOT process to get you there, and the practices and mental models required. If you are part of the Fortune 1000 and want to be there ten years from now, you need to listen to what these authors have to say in this important book.

SAUL BERMAN , Vice President and Chief Strategist, IBM Global Business Services

Interdependencies and how to recognize them, allocate resources between them, and optimize them will define success in our new networked economy and operational models. We all need guidance and access to wisdom on how to win in a networked, interdependent system. The Network Imperative will help us to be more effective system thinkers, with Barry, Megan, and Jerry guiding the way.

PHIL COWDELL , CEO, MediaCom North America

Get ready for a future in which everyone and everything are digitally connected, marginal costs approach zero, and openness to the ideas and assets that exist around the organization matter more than sheer scale. The successful firms of the future will embrace the principles for creating network value found in this prescient book.

GEORGE DAY , Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor, Emeritus, the Wharton School

In the new world of crowd sourcing, the sharing economy, and the internet of everything, there is no question that every business is being transformed by a networked world. In The Network Imperative , Libert, Beck, and Wind break down this twenty-first century phenomenon and offer an actionable and effective approach for any business to not only ward off disintermediation, but also to set a path for long-term success.

MICHAEL DISTEFANO , Senior Vice President and CMO, Korn Ferry; President, Korn Ferry Institute

Networks really are at the heart of our modern economic system. A model spurred by the eponymic GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) but also encompassing billion-dollar unicorns and all other companies changing our lives through computer technology, The Network Imperative not only reveals the strategic value of networks but also delivers an actionable framework to help industry leaders transform asset-based companies into graph-powered organizations.

STPHANE DISTINGUIN , founder and CEO, FABERNOVEL

Digital innovations are coming on fast and furious. But to flourish they need a much sounder business model. Read all about it in this very well researched and insightful book.

AMITAI ETZIONI , author, Privacy in a Cyber Age

As a pioneer of the Network Age, I found this book to be an understandable and valuable help in the integration of digital technology into the business world. All too often technologists do not have a clear understanding of how our systems impact and affect the organization. The book provides a complete and structured guide to the impact of new technology on organizations. As a longtime consultant to businesses, established and start-up, I strongly recommend this book to all participants in this evolving restructuring of the world.

DAVE FARBER , Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania

When the internet burst onto the scene, many business leaders were in denial about its ultimate impact. Denial then gave way to a sense of uncertaintythe risk (fear) of disruption. Disruption has now clearly yielded to opportunityopportunity that inspires creativity, demands reinvention, and offers the prospect of major new business success. The Network Imperative will disturb the complacent but energize those who are capable of inventing the future, and they will be the winners.

GREG FARRINGTON , former Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania

The Network Imperative offers very practical advice for companies struggling to find their way in the digital revolution. The Ten Strategies for Creating Network Value are relevant to both long-established brands and those still establishing their identity. A valuable tool kit!

DON GAGNON , CEO, AAA Club Partners

How to value an organization or an individual? What candidate to hire for a position, whom to select as a mentor in a corporation or as a thesis adviser in college? Its the strength of their network, stupid! This truth should inform all aspects of decision making, from long-range corporate strategy to everyday judgment calls. I enjoyed reading this insightful and timely book, aware that it addresses one of the most fundamental facts of todays life.

EDUARDO D. GLANDT , former Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania

Every manager and consumer knows they live through fast-changing business paradigms but are often at a loss when trying to make sense of the digital and network revolutions taking place around them. We need a framework to understand whats going on and predict how things can develop. We also need to separate the facts from the hype. This is what The Network Imperative delivers to its readers in a clear and compelling manner.

GABRIEL HAWAWINI , Henry Grunfeld Chaired Professor of Investment Banking, Professor of Finance, and former Dean, INSEAD

Business models based on digital networks will be generating vast value in the years ahead, but only to those who comprehend the challenges and activate the opportunities. To do so will require new styles of leadershipfrom the boardroom on down through the entire organization. All this is compellingly analyzed in The Network Imperative. This indeed is your playbook for being a winner in the digital revolution.

JIM KRISTIE , Editor, Directors & Boards

Ninety-eight percent of the businesses in the world are non-digital. By the year 2020, most of these enterprises risk becoming prey for digital business network predators, with severe social and economic consequences.

This fascinating book provides an important wake-up call for the leaders of these non-digital, non-networked enterprises, large or small. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the new digital, networked world and describes it as one with unlimited growth potential, subject to the law of increasing returns. In this networked ecosystem, every human being is a potential source of creativity and innovation, an important node in the network, and capable of contributing both tangible and non-tangible assets. These assets can have significant economic value if provided with the proper platforms, some of which are already available and are integrating cloud data with big data analytics and abundant access.

The authors provide a blueprint for business leaders as to how to transform their enterprises to operate successfully in the digital, networked world. They outline concrete steps leaders must take to gain a renewed understanding of their organizations, as all aspects of business structure and management must be transformed in a networked organization. The authors base their analysis on comprehensive academic research and many real-world examples.