Creative Destruction - Business Survival Strategies in the Global Internet Economy

Creative Destruction examines business survival strategies for the global Internet economy.

Booz Allen Hamilton alumnus Raul Katz, Tufts University Associate Professor Lee McKnight, and Fletcher School Assistant Professor Paul Vaaler are the authors of Creative Destruction: Business Survival Strategies in the Global Internet Economy.

Theoretician Joseph Schumpeter stated more than 50 years ago that in capitalistic societies creative destruction occurs when innovations destroy obsolete technologies and are in turn assaulted by newer and more efficient rivals. This book delves into the question of whether the current state of the telecommunications and Internet industry is evidence of creative destruction or a result of private firms and the government wasting valuable resources with limited benefits to society as a whole.

The authors discuss the primary challenges facing corporations, government, and other players and shed light on how to exploit the opportunities created by such destructive dynamics. They highlight the importance of national regulations promoting competition and non-monopolistic market structures as well as the role of new technologies such as the Internet in driving down the price and speeding the diffusion of innovative products and services.

Booz Allen and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy have sponsored a series of events in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC, promoting the publication of the book. The idea for the book came out of a symposium held at The Fletcher School that brought together leading academic and professional commentators on the key dynamics compelling change in the way firms and their stakeholders do business in an increasingly global and Internet-centric economy.

book summary posted in 2001