From .com to .profit : Inventing Business Models That Deliver Value AND Profit

It couldn't last forever?and it didn't. Finally, scores of e-businesses that once enjoyed astronomical capitalization in spite of their vague business plans, modest sales, and absence of profits have been called on the carpet. The experimental first era of e-business is over and now its time for the next, when companies will deliver customer value and make a profit or disappear altogether. Nick Earle, Hewlett-Packard's chief strategist for e-services, and Peter Keen, a respected strategy and business consultant, map the future of online business and describe the six key drivers that companies must master in order to survive the next era of e-commerce.

Until now, all it's taken to build a successful e-business is the right technology. An online storefront goes up and a company's market capitalization goes through the roof, despite low sales and no profits. But now the race to get online is over. As the new economy rapidly becomes the only economy, Internet companies must learn how to create sustainable value if they're going to survive. This book provides the solid business basics companies need to move from the old era of.com to the next era of.profit.
Nick Earle, the driving force behind Hewlett-Packard's worldwide Internet strategy, and Peter Keen, a visionary in the world of business and technology, have been anticipating online trends and communicating them to managers for over twenty years. Here they team up to forecast the future of Internet commerce and to lay out the six key imperatives that will determine the difference between successful and unsuccessful e-business in the coming decade.
Earle and Keen show managers how to perfect the logistics, cement the relationships, build the brands, transform the capital and cost structures, harmonize the sales channels, and provide the services that are crucial to delivering both value and profits on the Web.
Using examples from HP and other top companies around the world, the authors go beyond Internet hype to lay out strategic action in the key areas of technology, finance, and marketing. In the process, they provide all the useful information, timely insights, and practical advice managers need to build business plans for the new economy that really work.

Until now, all it's taken to build a successful e-business is the right technology. An online storefront goes up and a company's market capitalization goes through the roof, despite low sales and no profits. But now the race to get online is over. As the new economy rapidly becomes the only economy, Internet companies must learn how to create sustainable value if they're going to survive. This book provides the solid business basics companies need to move from the old era of .com to the next era of .profit. Nick Earle, the driving force behind Hewlett-Packard's worldwide Internet strategy, and Peter Keen, a visionary in the world of business and technology, have been anticipating online trends and communicating them to managers for over twenty years. Here they team up to forecast the future of Internet commerce and to lay out the six key imperatives that will determine the difference between successful and unsuccessful e-business in the coming decade. Earle and Keen show managers how to perfect the logistics, cement the relationships, build the brands, transform the capital and cost structures, harmonize the sales channels, and provide the services that are crucial to delivering both value and profits on the Web. Using examples from HP and other top companies around the world, the authors go beyond Internet hype to lay out strategic action in the key areas of technology, finance, and marketing. In the process, they provide all the useful information, timely insights, and practical advice managers need to build business plans for the new economy that really work. From .com to .profit......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 8 FOREWORD......Page 10 PREFACE......Page 14 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 20 ABOUT THE AUTHORS......Page 24 PART ONE THE WORLD OF INTERNET BUSINESS......Page 26 1. THE VALUE PATH FROM .COM TO .PROFIT......Page 28 2. POSITIONING FOR THE .PROFIT ERA: GAINING THE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ADVANTAGE......Page 46 3.DELIVER VALUE TO CUSTOMERS AND PROFIT FOR THE FIRM THROUGH RELATIONSHIP, COLLABORATION, AND COMMUNITY......Page 66 PART TWO THE VALUE IMPERATIVES OF THE INTERNET SPACE......Page 84 4. CRAFT THE BUSINESS MODEL THROUGH THE VALUE IMPERATIVES......Page 86 5. PERFECT YOUR LOGISTICS......Page 99 6. CULTIVATE YOUR LONG-TERM CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS......Page 117 7. HARMONIZE YOUR CHANNELS ON THE CUSTOMER'S BEHALF......Page 139 8. BUILD A POWER BRAND FOR YOUR BUSINESS......Page 154 9. TRANSFORM YOUR CAPITAL AND COST STRUCTURES......Page 167 10. BECOME A VALUE-ADDING INTERMEDIARY—OR USE ONE......Page 186 11. IMAGINE ... WHAT'S NEXT?......Page 202 ENDNOTES......Page 226 INDEX......Page 232 This is a guide from e-strategists on how to make profit in the new world economy. The authors say we are in the midst of the first era of e-business, characterized by experimentation, vague or non-existent business models, and dubious value propositions. This era is driven by technology. The next era of e-business will be characterized by a focus on value creation built on business models that are sustainable and profitable. In this next era the key drivers will be: perfecting logistics; establishing long term customer relationships; harmonizing sales channels for customer benefits; building a power brand; transforming corporate capital and cost structure ;and ultimately becoming a value added intermediary
Their business plans are vague at best. Their sales are modest; their profits nonexistent. And yet scores of e-businesses have seen astronomical capitalization. How long can it last? In this book, two industry experts take readers beyond the experimental first era of e-business into the next, when companies will either deliver customer value and make a profit or disappear altogether. Nick Earle, Hewlett-Packard's chief strategist for e-services, and Peter Keen, a respected strategy and business consultant, map the future of online business and describe the six key drivers that companies must master in order to survive the next era of e-commerce.
It couldn't last forever ... and it didn't. Finally, scores of e-businesses that once enjoyed astronomical capitalization in spite of their vague business plans, modest sales, and absence of profits have been called on the carpet. The experimental first era of e-business is over and now its time for the next, when companies will deliver customer value and make a profit or disappear altogether Criticizes current e-business practices as unprofitable, predicting forthcoming trends in Internet technologies while describing six key factors for developing an e-business that will enable significant value and profit.