Blur - Hardcover

Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer look at how three factors in the wired world--speed, connectivity, and intangibles--are driving the increasing rate of change in the business marketplace. Citing examples that include Mercedes-Benz automobiles, Otis elevators, and even Amazon.com, Davis and Meyer interpret how development in these three areas is causing the boundaries of other formerly distinct categories to blur. Once business tended to be either products or services. But what about a box that tracks your car if stolen? You are buying a product--a piece of electronics--but are actually receiving a service--the ability to track a stolen automobile. The distinction between buyers and sellers is also blurring; for example, in grocery stores vendors buy shelf space from the retailer but also sell their products to the store. Even the distinction between work time and home time is blurring with the development of Internet-powered home offices, where time can be used more flexibly. According to Davis and Meyer, blur should be embraced because it will only increase. The authors wrap up with 50 ways to add productive blur to your business and 10 ways to adapt to blur in your personal life. --Elizabeth Lewis

Stan Davis, a well-known visionary business thinker, is the author of eight influential books, including the bestselling Future Perfect , recipient of Tom Peters' Book of the Decade” Award. Formerly on the faculty of Harvard Business School, Columbia University, and Boston University, he's now an independent consultant and research fellow at Ernst & Young's Center for Business Innovation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Christopher Meyer, a leading business consultant and lecturer, is director of Ernst and Young's Center for Business Innovation. With over twenty years' experience in general management and economic consulting, he is an authority on the evolution of the information economy and its impact on business.