Product Description

"Almost a quarter century after their core management principles put them in nearly unassailable positions of market dominance, Japanese firms like Toyota, Sony, and Honda are still the standards to which other corporations aspire. Today, Japan's NTT DoCoMo is on the verge of attaining equal stature. DoCoMo is the world's second-largest mobile phone operator and, with its I-mode system, the first to roll out real, viable third-generation applications like Internet-ready mobile phones. This quantum leap in technology will very soon change the way we all send and receive information, from e-mail, paging, and voice to graphic business applications and entertainment. But DoCoMo's success came not as a result of following the hard-and-fast models of its illustrious predecessors. In fact, it is much more a reflection of the ability of DoCoMo's management to carve out a creative niche within the confines of legendarily traditional Nippon Telephone and Telegraph. Beck (co-author, The Attention Economy) and Accenture senior consultant Wade examine the enormous risks that DoCoMo took in pursuing a "bleeding edge" technology which analysts thought was superfluous, and how their daring almost single-handedly brought an entire global market into existence. It is this extraordinary story and the simple, powerful management themes ingrained in it that will drive companies the world over to emulate DoCoMo as they did the previous giants of Japanese industry."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1791531 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .98" h x 6.38" w x 9.20" l, 1.13 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

From Amazon.com
America is just waking up to the vast potential of the wireless Web. In Japan, nearly a third of the population already works, plays, and shops with wireless, continuously connected to a universe of data, services, and communities. The force responsible is a young company with a name that means "anywhere" in Japanese: DoCoMo. Another case study that examines a specific corporation for management lessons it can share with others, DoCoMo--Japan's Wireless Tsunami takes a riveting look at the world’s second-largest mobile phone service that has, after only two years, a customer base as big as AOL’s. Don’t think of this book as an apology for the languishing telecom industry. Instead, it’s an inside look at how creativity and innovation were nurtured at one of the world’s stodgiest companies--Nippon Telephone and Telegraph--and how a small team of committed visionaries never said "Never" and created DoCoMo’s extraordinarily popular I-mode technology.

For those who've read of the importance of "intrapreneurship" in corporations, here is a real-life exploration of that principle in action. Noted business strategists John Beck (The Attention Economy) and Mitchell Wade give us story upon story of the dynamic personalities behind I-mode, from NTT Chairman Kouji Ohboshi--who saw DoCoMo through a series of crises that would have meant early death for most U.S. startups--to CEO Keiji Tachikawa, whose post-WWII childhood gave him a keen grasp of the economics of disparity.

With chapter headings like "People-People Who Need People" and "Passion Is Destiny," this book sends the strong message that every successful business model depends so heavily on the human factor--a point that seems lost in the venture-capital-dominated model of the West. With lessons for all business leaders, in any industry, this book stands as a testament to the pivotal role of conviction, integrity, and personal passion in business success. --Charles Decker

From Publishers Weekly
NTT DoCoMo is among the most exciting and profitable companies in the world. In three years, it has sold Internet wireless telephones to 29 million Japanese residents, despite a recession and low consumer spending. DoCoMo's I-mode phones are not just, or even primarily, for talking. They can take and transmit pictures, access the Web, send and receive data and transact business without credit cards or currency. When the company announced plans for 500% market penetration (by selling wireless services for pets) and replacing paper currency, no one laughed. DoCoMo is working hard to replicate its success outside Japan, and in March listed its stock on the New York and London stock exchanges. As a spinoff of the stodgy Japanese national telephone company, DoCoMo has unrivaled appeal for trendy hipsters and geeky gadget-heads alike. It spends $10 billion a year on research and development, a field most service providers have abandoned. Unfortunately, this book on the company written by two thinkers from Accenture's Institute for Strategic Change is outrageously padded. It provides only the sketchiest information about I-mode and the company's history and strategy. There are two pages about scheduling an interview with Chairman Kouji Ohboshi, but the interview itself is a six-year-old newspaper reprint, short and far from incisive. Much of the book consists of sidebars, such as a table of 1998 world steel production by country and a World Bank analysis of land redistribution in Japan, information seemingly irrelevant to DoCoMo and not referenced in the text.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The story of NTT DoCoMo is a fascinating one and a major success that has grown to be the world's second-largest mobile phone operator. DoCoMo (a play on the Japanese phrase Doko Demo, or "everywhere") achieved outstanding success with i-mode, "a system that turns the pedestrian cellphone into a personal network connection" and allows users to send messages and also be able to "download and pay for information." Authors Beck (director, Accenture's Inst. for Strategic Change; coauthor of The Attention Economy) and Accenture senior consultant Wade present a detailed report of the highly successful DoCoMo, which in less than a year went from $16 billion to almost $400 billion in market capitalization. The company now has 30 million paying data customers. Principal players in DoCoMo's story are profiled, including its first CEO, Kouji Ohboshi, whose unique management style involved his staying in touch with his employees by visiting each floor, "scurrying up and down the back staircases." The authors also profile consumers who have eagerly adopted the i-mode system and offer readers lessons in effective strategies for innovation. This company profile describes not only the shaping of a fast-rising business but how that firm has effectively used and explored new technological innovations. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.
Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.