Everywhere organizations are attempting to "reinvent" themselves. The old, unresponsive bureaucracy simply doesn't work in today's volatile, open, global business environment. However, the computing systems in today's organization seem unable to deliver the goods for corporate rebirth. They are limited in function, and expensive, and seem to take forever to change. Here's a book that explains how a new era of technology can enable the transition to the new enterprise and business success. It shows managers and professionals with little or no technical background how to take action NOW to achieve short-term benefits of this technology and position their organizations for long-term transformation. Based on a series of multimillion dollar investigations of more than 4,500 businesses and government organizations, Paradigm Shift examines and synthesizes the recent experiences of leading edge companies in making the transition to the second era. ^ The book reveals the promise of the new technology in creating the open, networked, "client/server" enterprise - altering virtually every facet of today's business operations, including the impact of work-group computing and business process reengineering in building a network of high performance business teams; enterprise computing in achieving the integrated competitive organization; and interenterprise computing in extending the react of companies to their customers, suppliers, business partners, and even competitors. You'll learn how major shifts in the nature of information technology are enabling previously unimagined breakthroughs in its use and useability: the shift from proprietary to open systems; the shift from host-based to network-based systems; and the shift from software craft to software manufacturing. Most important you will learn critical insights into how to make the transition to the second era enterprise. ^ Drawing on the recent experiences of such diverse companies as Toys 'R' Us, Sears Roebuck, Four Seasons Hotels, Otis Elevator, and Federal Express, this cutting-edge book provides all the information you'll need to succeed in today's new high-tech, high-stakes business environment!