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SAP

Inside the Secret Software Power

by Gerd Meissner

McGraw-Hill, 2000

Category: Concepts & Trends

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SAP

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Overall (?)

rating 9 (9)

Applicability

rating 7 (7)

Innovation

rating 8 (8)

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rating 9 (9)

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rating 3 (3)

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  (9.0)

In this summary you will learn

  • How five men from a tiny town near Heidelberg, Germany, founded SAP
  • How SAP became the third-largest software company in the world
  • Which four management principles the founders articulated

Why you should read SAP

If you own stock in SAP, perhaps the world’s premier producer of the enterprise software that integrates such business functions as finance, distribution and human resources, this year’s been a wild ride. But despite this patch of management problems, earnings pressure and roller-coaster stock price fluctuations, SAP remains one of the largest and most firmly entrenched software companies in the world. Gerd Meissner attributes much of this success to the corporate culture established at SAP’s birth by its five German founders, and in more than 200 compelling pages, he proves his point by piercing the veil of this innovative and secretive organization. Meissner traces the history of the company back to its origins in the early 1970s, keeping his finger always on the thread of characteristics that set SAP apart from its competitors - for better or for worse. getabstract strongly recommends this book both as a gripping biography of an industry giant and as an incisive study in employee empowerment, business alliances and corporate innovation. In other words, in reading this book, not only will you learn something about this thriving software company, you’ll probably learn something about your own company as well.

About the Author

Veteran journalist Gerd Meissner  founded the Editorial Office Silicon Valley, which reports worldwide on information technology. His articles have appeared in The New York Times and Der Stern, Europe’s premier news weekly. As senior editor there, Meissner helped develop Der Stern’s successful online presence. He writes a monthly column for Connect magazine.

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