Global Digital Business eBook

No company can afford to sit on the sidelines as e-business takes off in the global digital economy. The time to get going is now, warns IBM e-business expert Tim R. Wroblewski who spells out a strategy on what to do in his new book, Global Digital Business.com.

To lead a company into the digital economy, management must act on what he identifies as the necessary ingredients: "Your company needs to have a Global Digital Business.com strategy, which is that set of dynamic, integrated business management and e-business decisions that create stealth global business advantages for the 2020 Digital Economy."

Taking a cue from stealth technology, he advocates a strategic scenario that takes the competition by surprise in establishing marketplace supremacy. As examples of "stealth" companies, he cites IBM, Schwab.com, Ariba, Cisco, Dell, eBay.com, i2 Technologies, Akamai, Intel, CommerceOne, VerticalNet, and e-chemicals, among others.

Of the four possibilities (i.e. laggard, parity, leader, leaper) facing companies, neither lagging behind nor settling for parity has ever been acceptable. Now, being a leader is not good enough. It's necessary, Wroblewski says, to "leap" beyond the competition before it realizes what's happening. Otherwise, a company is at risk, as happened with a Fortune 500 company that suddenly found itself threatened by the e-business initiative of its main rival. Then came the call to IBM consultants: "We need IBM's expertise to become a global e-business."

To become a stealth company, Wroblewski recommends a three-part response:
* Business Strategy -- a set of dynamic, integrated decisions that position a company in its marketplace by encompassing production, financial, marketing and R&D.
* IT Strategy -- information technology decisions that support business objectives and propel the company past the competition in serving customer needs, meeting regulatory requirements and providing a return to stakeholders.
* Global Digital Business.com strategy -- integrating management and e-business decisions to create stealth competitive advantages.

What emerges is a "stealth company that is not easily visible" initially as it gains first mover advantage. In the 2020 Digital Economy, such a company will have an unconventional structure, integrate components in the value chain, have virtually no overhead, thrive on innovation and undertake risky projects. It will package technology to benefit from synergy by using technology components as a whole rather than in terms of individual parts.

For management, this means moving from a traditional hands-off approach to a hands-on approach that integrates business and e-business strategy to meet and exceed business objectives. In a world where change is measured in "Web days" rather than years or months, Wroblewski pinpoints the areas where change has speeded up exponentially:

* New products and services
* Digital convergence
* Knowledge chain innovation
* Infrastructure ownership and management
* Global Digital Business growth
* New Markets (aggregator, auction, exchange)

Wroblewski points to changes in the nature of commerce and work and in the boundaries of industry. At the level of commerce, change encompasses customer intimacy, rising customer expectations, electronic commerce, mass customization and global delivery. Work is changing in the direction of collaboration, the rise of the knowledge worker, mobile work forces and flexibility in the Web environment. Industries are changing through focused competencies, external collaboration, resource effectiveness, management of strategic events, and leveraging of information technology.

As these changes open up opportunities, the main arena of competition shifts from products to services. To respond, Wroblewski calls upon company leaders to develop a vision and then to demonstrate "the creative talent and courageous management to turn that vision into reality."

In pointing out that digital convergence is uniting the functions of the computer, the telephone and the TV, Wroblewski envisions massive reorganization and restructuring. Industries where this is already happening include publishing, transportation, consumer electronics, financial services and education.

Within an enterprise, Wroblewski calls for total involvement by everyone in pursuing the opportunities in the digital economy. He adds a challenge to company leadership: "Business and e-business strategy is a journey, not a destination. Your job is to guide your company along that journey."