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The Internet revolution has been broadly
advertised -- yet despite the onslaught of warnings about
what companies need to do to transform themselves, most
corporations, large and small, remain completely unprepared
for the long-term demands of the digital economy. While
they publicly embrace e-everything, most managers have done
little more than patch Web initiatives onto their existing
business structures as online start-ups boldly claim the
electronic marketspace.
In Unchained Value, Internet expert Mary
Cronin argues that these corporations will fail at e-business
as long as they continue to use the traditional value chain
as the strategic model for the enterprise. She introduces
a radically new model for organization she calls the digital
value system -- focused not on static, internally focused
"chains" but on dynamic, external webs of relationships
that take full advantage of the power, flexibility, and
opportunity of the digital arena. According to Cronin, four
factors define the new value system of digital businesses:
(1) collaborating with multiple players outside the firm
based on real time information pooling; (2) mastering dynamic
pricing for digital marketplaces; (3) establishing customer
trust and lifetime increasing returns through a proactive
balance of privacy and personalization; and (4) providing
essential, relationship-based online services that can be
delivered to customers on the fly.
Using compelling data and case studies from
dozens of online companies and innovative multinational
corporations, this book identifies the new realities every
company has to reckon with in the shift from internal value
chains to Internet-based value systems, and illuminates
who wins and who loses when processes traditionally controlled
within the firm are optimized for an open, networked digital
environment. Examining core business functions from supply
chain management to product design and production, from
sales distribution to customer support, Cronin describes
how companies must align the entire business with the Internet,
and details the challenges and rewards of implementing and
expanding a digital value system successfully.
Whether a company is dealing in bits and
bytes or bricks and steel, Unchained Value offers
a much-needed framework for assessing the impact of the
Internet on sources of business value and competitive advantage.
Helping managers at all levels develop and analyze e-commerce
strategies, this invaluable book will provide readers with
the strategic firepower to totally rethink their businesses
and benefit from the opportunities of the new economy.
Dr. Mary Cronin is Professor of Management
at Boston College and has done extensive research in the
development and implementation of Internet business strategies.
She works as a consultant to Fortune 500 and multinational
companies and serves on the board of several Internet-based
companies.
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