Founder connections
- Steve JobsRecommended in a lecture
“It's rather thick, and it's not good bedtime reading. But you can plow through it, and there's some incredible stuff in it.”
In his 1992 MIT Sloan talk, Jobs recommends the book and discusses its findings about computer spending. He then uses the contrast between management and operational productivity to explain NeXT’s work.Source
Summary
Strassmann examines how executives can plan, budget for and justify spending on information technology. The book considers management productivity, research findings, strategic investment, risk analysis, project justification and cost management. It brings comparisons of business performance and computer spending into an account of how to assess the value of technology in an organization.
Why read it Our view
Useful for asking what a technology purchase is meant to change. Compare the proposed benefit with the work people and systems actually do, and ask how to measure that change. The book’s assessment questions can help separate a budget request from evidence of business value.