The Eye of the Storm

"In March 2000 Cisco Systems, with a market capitalization of $531 billion, was the most valuable company on the planet. With 44,000 employees and a stock price at $80 per share, Cisco was poised for unstoppable growth and unending glory. Six months later with the crisp smell of cold cash in the air, Cisco president and CEO John Chambers vowed to change the world. Who knew that in a matter of days disaster would strike?". "The Eye of the Storm: How John Chambers Steered Cisco Through the Technology Collapse offers the account of the high-tech American dream turned nightmare. Robert Slater's narrative traces the path of Cisco's rise from anonymity to prosperity and then to its sudden, shocking fall, as a world without ceilings gave way to a world where no floor was in sight.". "Through exclusive interviews with Chambers and Cisco's top executives and unparalleled access to Cisco's private forums, Slater reveals the confidential workings and insider decisions behind what was nothing short of a business miracle before the vision went temporarily awry. Unadorned and unequivocal, this is the story of how Chambers, once widely hailed as "King of the Internet," navigated Cisco through a period of inconceivable success before guiding his company through unimaginable misfortune."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.