Net Ready

Rating:
Summary: Mingling with Genius
Review: Would you like to mingle with genius? Then I suggest curling up with Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy. Technophobes, technophiles, and everyone in between will be drawn into a provocative journey with 10,000-foot views and stunning strategic implications that prove to be profound, fascinating, and thought-provoking.

And all this insightful information is written with clarity and exquisitely-crafted language, resulting in a meaty read that is hard to put down. Consider this gem:

"Knowledge management..has fallen on hard times because of a fundamental problem... The problem is that people prefer to hoard knowledge rather than share it. We have studied centuries of human organizations and have found that people are addicted to accumulating information, much as they are addicted to accumulating wealth and power. People have found little percentage in sharing information or giving it away. In most organizations, knowledgement management initiatives shrivel in the face of unrecognized human aversion to sharing what is known to be true, and even worse for the organization, sharing what is known to be false. People will always share their knowledge of victories before they share knowledge of where the bodies are buried." (p.23)

The authors balance keen observations of the current state in many organizations with what it will take to enable any organization to be net-ready. The model they propose begins with four pillars of net readiness, which are leadership, governance, competencies, and technology. Then they describe eleven trends in e-business that have changed or will change virtually every facet of life as we know it. These trends will define not only business behavior but individual behavior as well.

They also detail techniques for creating sustainable e-conomy value, which include product and market transformation, business process transformation, and industry transformation. The authors, who are from Cisco, illustrate the key points with provocative and exciting details from a broad range of businesses and industries. Unlike many books which use the same stale case studies, the authors provide plenty of fresh examples. In discussing brand equity and channel equity, they cite 7-Eleven, which

"harnesses this channel equity not only to expand the notion of convenience beyond bread and milk, but also to create a whole array of financial services. Consumers trust 7-Eleven's channel equity when they buy money orders, make cash transfers, and engage in a growing number of financial services...In Japan, for example, 7-Eleven has partnered with a company that allows consumers to print books on demand at convenience stores." (p. 291)

In addition to these examples of successful e-business initiatives and the history of their development, the authors scatter "Net Ready Strategies" throughout the book, which provide very concrete examples to stimulate your thinking about the future of your own business.

If you are interested and excited about future possibilities, read this book; you won't be able to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: Mingling with Genius
Review: Would you like to mingle with genius? Then I suggest curling up with Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy. Technophobes, technophiles, and everyone in between will be drawn into a provocative journey with 10,000-foot views and stunning strategic implications that prove to be profound, fascinating, and thought-provoking.

And all this insightful information is written with clarity and exquisitely-crafted language, resulting in a meaty read that is hard to put down. Consider this gem:

"Knowledge management..has fallen on hard times because of a fundamental problem... The problem is that people prefer to hoard knowledge rather than share it. We have studied centuries of human organizations and have found that people are addicted to accumulating information, much as they are addicted to accumulating wealth and power. People have found little percentage in sharing information or giving it away. In most organizations, knowledgement management initiatives shrivel in the face of unrecognized human aversion to sharing what is known to be true, and even worse for the organization, sharing what is known to be false. People will always share their knowledge of victories before they share knowledge of where the bodies are buried." (p.23)

The authors balance keen observations of the current state in many organizations with what it will take to enable any organization to be net-ready. The model they propose begins with four pillars of net readiness, which are leadership, governance, competencies, and technology. Then they describe eleven trends in e-business that have changed or will change virtually every facet of life as we know it. These trends will define not only business behavior but individual behavior as well.

They also detail techniques for creating sustainable e-conomy value, which include product and market transformation, business process transformation, and industry transformation. The authors, who are from Cisco, illustrate the key points with provocative and exciting details from a broad range of businesses and industries. Unlike many books which use the same stale case studies, the authors provide plenty of fresh examples. In discussing brand equity and channel equity, they cite 7-Eleven, which

"harnesses this channel equity not only to expand the notion of convenience beyond bread and milk, but also to create a whole array of financial services. Consumers trust 7-Eleven's channel equity when they buy money orders, make cash transfers, and engage in a growing number of financial services...In Japan, for example, 7-Eleven has partnered with a company that allows consumers to print books on demand at convenience stores." (p. 291)

In addition to these examples of successful e-business initiatives and the history of their development, the authors scatter "Net Ready Strategies" throughout the book, which provide very concrete examples to stimulate your thinking about the future of your own business.

If you are interested and excited about future possibilities, read this book; you won't be able to put it down!