Part 1 Information flow is your lifeblood: manage with the force of facts; can your digital nervous system do this?; create a paperless office. Part 2 Commerce - the Internet changes everything: ride the infectious rocket; the middleman must add value; tougch your customers; adopt the web lifestyle; change the boundaries of business; get to market first. Part 3 Manage knowledge to improve strategic thought: bad news must travel fast; convert bad news to good; know your numbers; shift people into thinking work; raise your corporate IQ; big wins require big risks. Part 4 Bring insight to business operations: develop processes that empower people; information technology enables reengineering; treat IT as a strategic resource. Part 5 Special enterprizes: no health care system is an island; take government to the people; when reflex is a matter of life and death; create connected learning communities. Part 6 Expect the unexpected: prepare for the digital future. Appendix: build digital processes on standards.

Most companies have a sizeable investment in technology but are realising only 20 per cent of its potential benefit. "Business @ the Speed of Thought" introduces the concept of the digital nervous system which unites all systems and processes under one common infrastructure, allowing companies to make quantum leaps in efficiency, growth and profit. Using detailed tours of Microsoft and other major corporations, Gates demonstrates how integrated technology can transform any business by energizing its three major elements: customer/partner relationships, employees and process, and offers practical suggestions on how this can be achieved.