
Burning the Ships
Intellectual Property and the Transformation of Microsoft
Wiley (Publisher)
Published on 21. April 2009
Book
Hardback
186 pages
978-0-470-43215-0 (ISBN)
Description
At the start of this decade, Microsoft was on the defensive--beset on all sides by anti-trust suits and costly litigation, and viewed by many in the technology industry as a monopolist and market bully. How was it going to survive and succeed in the emerging new era of "open innovation," where collaboration and cooperation between firms, rather than market conquest, would be the keystones of success?
This was the challenge facing Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates. But "like Cortez burning his ships at the shores of the New World," Gates decided to embrace the change that was needed. He recruited Marshall Phelps--the legendary "godfather" of intellectual property who had turned IBM's IP portfolio into a $2 billion-a-year gold mine--out of retirement and into the cauldron of controversy that was Microsoft. Only this time Phelps' mission was infinitely more challenging than simply making money from IP. It was to help reform Microsoft's "man the barricades" culture, encourage the company to abandon its fortress mentality around its technology and share it with others for mutual benefit, and use intellectual property not as a weapon of competitive warfare but as a bridge to collaboration with other firms instead.
Here, for the first time (and 500 collaboration deals later), is the inside story of what one analyst has called "the biggest change Microsoft has undergone since it became a multinational company."
In this book, authors Marshall Phelps and David Kline take the reader inside the dramatic struggle within Microsoft to find a new direction. They offer an extraordinary behind-the-scenes view of the high-level deliberations of the company's senior-most executives, the internal debates and conflicts among executives and rank-and-file employees alike over the company's new collaborative direction, and the company's controversial top-secret partnership building efforts with major open source companies and others around the world. Nothing was held back from this book save for information specifically prohibited from disclosure by confidentiality agreements that Microsoft signed with other companies. Indeed, the degree of access to Microsoft's inner workings granted to the authors--and the honest self-criticism offered by Microsoft leaders and employees alike--was unprecedented in the company's 34-year history.
There are lessons in this book for executives in every industry--most especially on the role that intellectual property can play in liberating previously untapped value in a company and opening up powerful new business opportunities in today's era of "open innovation." Here is a powerful inside account of the dawn of a new era at what is arguably the most powerful technology company on earth.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a book as much about teams and organizations managing conflict brought on by significant change as it is about intellectual property (IP). Intertwined throughout a series of engaging and personal stories - showing how Microsoft instituted a strategic personality makeover from a monopolisitc bully to a respected collaborative partner - are lessons that every business person can use in building and implementing diverse teams to meet clear strategic objectives.Anyone who invests the short time to indulge the personal stories of this book will come away with a renewed sense of commitment to implementing fully cross-functional teams, as Phelps clearly shows as a key element to the successful transformation of a software powerhouse "going it alone" to spurring innovation and economic progress benefitting all of society." (Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2010; 27) "Phelps (corporate vice president for intellectual property policy & strategy, Microsoft) and journalist Kline (Rembrandts in the Attic) have written a brisk and engaging book about Microsoft's radical overhauling of its intellectual property (IP) strategy. Phelps, the principal architect of this new strategy, gives the reader an insider's perspective on his struggle to overcome Microsoft's traditional use of its intellectual property as a "weapon" against competitors and to transform the company into a key player in the new business environment of "open innovation.the book is worth reading for its portrait of a major corporation undergoing massive change and for its lucid explanations of IP business strategy. Recommended for serious business readers." (Library Journal, July 15, 2009) "Could Microsoft's ability to produce intellectual property be the company's future salvation? A few weeks ago, I complained that Microsoft wasn't innovating. Yet the book Burning the Ships talks of Microsoft's burgeoning intellectual property treasure chest. Burning the Ships shows the way to another outlet for Microsoft's innovation. Instead of trying to hold their intellectual property close to the vest, Microsoft is beginning to open up the IP treasure chest and let others try to do the work of bringing those products to market." (InformationWeek, June 1, 2009)More details
Product info
gebunden
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
Chichester
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 23.2 cm
Width: 16.3 cm
Thickness: 2.1 cm
Weight
379 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-470-43215-0 (9780470432150)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Marshall Phelps | David Kline
Burning the Ships
Transforming Your Company's Culture Through Intellectual Property Strategy
Book
01/2011
Wiley
Unfortunately, price unknown
Article exhausted; check different version

Marshall Phelps | David Kline
Burning the Ships
Transforming Your Company's Culture Through Intellectual Property Strategy
E-Book
05/2009
Wiley
€13.99
Available for download

Marshall Phelps | David Kline
Burning the Ships
Transforming Your Company's Culture Through Intellectual Property Strategy
E-Book
04/2009
Wiley
€13.99
Available for download
Persons
Marshall Phelps is Microsoft's corporate Vice President for Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy and is responsible for setting the global intellectual property strategies and policies for the company. He also works with governments, other companies in the technology industry, and outside institutions to broaden awareness of intellectual property issues. Phelps joined Microsoft in June 2003 after a twenty-eight-year career at IBM Corp., where he served as vice president for intellectual property and licensing and built its world-leading $2-billion-a-year licensing program. Phelps is an executive in residence at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and was elected to the initial class of the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame in 2006. He may be reached at mphelps@microsoft.com.
David Kline is a journalist, author, and intellectual property consultant who has earned acclaim for his unique ability to demystify complex IP issues and explain them in a clear and relevant manner to a broad business audience. His bestselling 2000 book, Rembrandts in the Attic from Harvard Business School Press, is considered a seminal work in the field of intellectual property strategy within corporate America. As a journalist, Kline has covered some of the world's most critical wars, famines, and other crises for the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, NBC and CBS News, the Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Wired, and other major media. He may be reached at dkline@well.com.
Content
About the Authors.
Acknowlegments.
Introduction.
Chapter One: The Collaboration Imperative.
We Need Relationships.
A Lesson in Patent Holdups.
It's Déjà vu All over Again.
"You're Stealing our Software!".
IBM on the Ropes.
Convincing the Big Boss.
IP Must Serve the Business.
Chapter 2: Like Cortez Burning His Ships.
A Cultural Revolution.
Why Collaborate?
How To Build A Licensing Operation.
Open For Business.
Perception Versus Reality.
Collaboration's Bottom Line Benefits.
The Media Takes Notice.
Chapter 3: Money Isn't Money Anymore.
Back On The Home Front.
The Unusual Friendly People.
Calling All Entrepreneurs.
"An Incredibly Rich Collaboration".
Value Greater Than Money.
Chapter 4: A Very Secret Mission.
The Cathedral And The Bazzar.
Peace Or War?
A New Opening.
"Done Or Dead By Halloween".
A Hitch Develops.
"Make This Work!".
The Die-Hards React.
A Distinction Without (Much) Difference.
Chapter 5: To Protect and Serve the Business.
Chapter 6: The Road Ahead (With Apologies to Bill Gates).
Index.