Strategy and execution are key to developing and sustaining a successful
e-business. Only those organizations that successfully integrate key business strategies and processes, dramatically
increase their efficiencies. To be successful, organizations must also form the right strategic relationships and develop
efficient business processes with robust back-end solutions that are able to meet users’ demands for real-time service today
and into the future.
In the past, businesses had the luxury of developing business strategies in the boardroom and
information technology (IT) strategies in the IT department. They then brought these strategies together to run the
overall business. Ebusinesses cannot afford this luxury. The ability to react and change direction is critical.
Speed
is everything. Grounding the organization with sound, winning strategies is key. In the new economy’s competitive electronic
environment, it is easier for an organization to be global, but it is also harder to maintain consistency in the levels of
services offered around the world. E-businesses must be ready and able to adjust their business and IT strategies rapidly,
depending on unpredictable competitors and market pressures. Today’s e-business climate requires the continuous optimization
of an organization’s business and IT strategies. Because IT now has such a significant impact on every business process –
from order taking to inventory to billing – both business and IT strategies are now developed in parallel.
The best example
of this is Dell Computer. From the start, the company’s business strategy was tightly aligned with its IT strategy, allowing
Dell to successfully integrate every aspect of its business – from order taking to inventory to billing – with both its
customers and suppliers. Dell vaulted to the forefront of its industry when it came to market with a winning strategy, the
unique just-in-time delivery model. Unlike traditional computer suppliers, Dell’s business strategy was founded on the
premise of zero inventories. Similarly, online brokerage companies have been leaders in the area of integrating IT and
business strategies. The rapid adoption of Internet technologies combined with market globalization, industry deregulation
and media convergence has afforded these companies the opportunity to gain share and create value in the e-business
marketplace. Turning an organization’s intellectual assets into knowledge is a key business differentiator. In
addition to a continually optimized business strategy, successful e-businesses must establish solid knowledge management
practices. Knowledge management is the definitive way to leverage an organization’s information and intellectual assets for
business advantage. It is the formalized, integrated approach that every organization must take to “know” its business.
Knowledge Management Read More
eBusiness
Home
