Tapscott (management, U. of Toronto) and Williams (resesarch, London School of Economics) explore the phenomenon of global collaboration demonstrated on YouTube, Wikipedia, The Human Genome Project, and other websites, offering insights to businesses on using open source strategies to expand research and development and marketing success. Sharing stories from Best Buy, Boeing, BMW, and other companies, the authors demonstrate that while the phenomenon is widely seen as undermining the right and need of a company to make a profit, online collaboration within and between firms, as well as with the greater public, holds great potential to boost business, not hinder it. Annotation #169;2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The word "wiki" means "quick" in Hawaiian, and here author and think tank CEO Tapscott (The Naked Corporation), along with research director Williams, paint in vibrant colors the quickly changing world of Internet togetherness, also known as mass or global collaboration, and what those changes mean for business and technology. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia written, compiled, edited and re-edited by "ordinary people" is the most ubiquitous example, and its history makes remarkable reading. But also considered are lesser-known success stories of global collaboration that star Procter & Gamble, BMW, Lego and a host of software and niche companies. Problems arise when the authors indulge an outsized sense of scope-"this may be the birth of a new era, perhaps even a golden one, on par with the Italian renaissance, or the rise of Athenian democracy"-while acknowledging only reluctantly the caveats of weighty sources like Microsoft's Bill Gates. Methods for exploiting the power of collaborative production are outlined throughout, an alluring compendium of ways to throw open previously guarded intellectual property and to invite in previously unavailable ideas that hide within the populace at large. This clear and meticulously researched primer gives business leaders big leg up on mass collaboration possibilities; as such, it makes a fine next-step companion piece to James Surowiecki's 2004 bestseller The Wisdom of Crowds.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Tapscott (management, Univ. of Toronto; The Digital Economy)and Williams give readers a thoughtful look into the future through their study of the collaborative environment that has revolutionized business today. Tapscott's New Paradigm think tank, where Williams works as research director, sought out companies and individuals having a significant impact on industries based on their openness, peer production, information sharing, and global action. The result is a forward-looking economic model wherein connected individuals engage with companies in web-based communities to embrace a new art and science of productivity and innovation called wikinomics. The authors discuss several Web 2.0 applications and the need for open-source software and open-access publishing to achieve success. In-depth profiles of companies and individuals make the book helpful for all types of businesses. The book was even written in a collaborative spirit, as the authors polled the public for suggestions on the subtitle through an online forum and encouraged readers to participate in blogs and wikis pertaining to the book. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Mark McCallon, Abilene Christian Univ. Lib., TX Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Tapscott (founder, New Paradigm strategy consulting company; academic; author, The Naked Corporation, CH, Apr'04, 41-4768, and The Digital Economy, CH, May'96, 42-1645) and Williams (research director, New Paradigm) present an optimistic overview of successful collaborations and business ventures enabled by Web technology, including innovations in organizational problem solving and distribution options. They provide accounts of organizations, research projects, and inventions created by groups, ofttimes voluntarily, citing numerous short case studies. The authors predict the death of traditional silos of knowledge/skills and hierarchical directives (with a nod to James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds, CH, Nov'04, 42-1645). They use unique terms (e.g., idea agoras, productive friction) and words (e.g., marketocracy, prosumption, knowledge commons) to explain concepts and ideas they introduce. They address Coase's law, a reality check for industrial organizations when open-market collaboration is more cost effective than internal transactions. A discussion of this kind warrants more consideration of the darker sides of human motivation as well as groupthink and mass mediocrity. Notes with some sources of information are provided, but the authors primarily draw on their own observations of businesses and trends for the ideas presented. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and practitioners. General Readers; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by N. J. Johnson. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.