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In 'Creating Iridium: How a Remarkable Team Made Space History,' alum Durrell Hillis gives insiders' views of a communications satellite program with lessons on managing teams and negotiating along the way. In 'The Physics of Brand: Understanding the Forces Behind Brands That Matter,' alum Dan Wallace and his co-authors explain marketers must change from controlling brand messages to delivering memorable customer experiences.</p>

Discover new business books by alumni

One makes satellites; one makes brands. Two alumni take business readers across time and space.

In "Creating Iridium: How a Remarkable Team Made Space History," Durrell Hillis (MS Electrical Engineering '67, MBA '70) offers insiders' views of the communications satellite program that his team refused to believe was an impossible task. His book shares stories from his more than 40 interviews with Motorola colleagues who created the idea for a system of "upside-down cell phone towers" orbiting 420 miles above Earth. They overcame obstacles in technology, manufacturing, and international regulations to build and launch the system that still enables voice and data transmissions across 99.999 percent of the planet.

The book begins in 1987, with Hillis charging a team to search for ways their new division could turn its expertise in satellite payloads from a subcontractor into a prime contractor business.

It continues through its spinoff as Iridium Inc. and ends with the system's first live call in 1998. Hillis says he wrote the book to record and pay tribute to the people who were part of the massive project. "People were passionate about this program," he says. "They worked 80- to 100-hour weeks because they wanted to, and they did amazing things that had never been done before."

Iridium's story offers many lessons on managing teams, conducting negotiations, and defying conventional manufacturing wisdom. Hillis says the book shows the importance of determining the kinds of teams needed to complete a complicated project, and how to empower and hold them accountable. It tells of winning crucial support from Russia, China, and other countries to build and operate the system. It also gives examples of what Hillis calls "a true 'clean sheet of paper' approach'' to high-capacity manufacturing, such as training subcontractors on quality and testing standards, and applying statistics to keep thousands of activities on schedule.

Others have written about Iridium's subsequent bankruptcy and reorganization, but the saga of the satellites continues. The first next-generation satellite launched in January and Hillis says the next few years will see Iridium making air traffic control more efficient while also being used for global Wi-Fi and other apps.

As Iridium turned upside down the concept of cell towers, the internet is turning upside down how consumers interact with brands.

In "The Physics of Brand: Understanding the Forces Behind Brands That Matter," Dan Wallace (BS Marketing '82) and co–authors argue that to make brands valuable, marketers must change from controlling brand messages to delivering memorable customer experiences.

"The premise is that brands live in human memory and that the way we develop our memories is through our experiences in the world," Wallace says. We can measure those experiences in time - the first moment we create a memory, the amount of time customers spend with a brand, and the rate at which the time spent increases. Experiences also are crafted in a space where customers are at the center, surrounded by their trusted communities, then by brand handlers and brand owners.

The authors combined their expertise in brand strategy, brand design, and brand valuation to produce the first book that offers a framework for linking brands with customer experiences. The framework includes three models - developed into software and tested in simulations - for turning the signals a brand sends into social and multi-sensory experiences for customers, which ultimately lead to profits and value.

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Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation by George Westerman, Didier Bonnet, and Andrew McAfee

The Digital Transformation Playbook: Rethink Your Business for the Digital Age by David Rogers

Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane by Brett King

Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Jerry Kaplan

Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford