Customer Reviews

B2b: How To Build A Profitable E-commerce Strategy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cunningham has captured the essence of the B2B marketplace and built a tremendous guide for those planning "do something about it". Obviously based on real world situations, the book will be useful for those trying to figure out where to make their next move, with an excellent roadmap with prescriptive milestones and waypoints. As B2B includes business process improvements and the new destinations emerging in the market, there is something here for start-ups, brick and mortars and interested bystanders. Impressive and very consumable.

I found this book to be enormously enlightening and lucidly written. Several of the other books on the topic of B2B are too technical for non-IT professionals. This is one anyone interested in e-commerce can understand and use. It helped me get our internal B2B initiative started quickly.

This book is a must read for those working in the new economy. Cunningham's book distills the b2b movement by providing tangible examples of how a variety of firms have successfully applied b2b technologies to their operations. I have read a number of articles and books on the subject and this book stands out as a practical guide for identifying and capturing e-business opportunities. Highly recommended for those interested in taking advantage of a b2b model to transform their businesses!

Recently, I read Cunningham's How to Build a Profitable E-commerce Strategy for a BUS240 class at San Jose State University. I found this book to be very beneficial. Prior to reading it, I, like most, had heard the term B2B, but I was not clear on the differences. This book provided an appropriate level of detail for someone who might consider themselves "new" to the world of e-commerce. Its strengths were its simplicity and its breadth of topics covered. Its weaknesses might be that it was more of an overview, versus delving in to deeper levels of detail as the title may suggest. I reads well and does not bog down in any particular area which kept it interesting. For anyone considering a B2B venture, without extensive prior experience, I would definitely recommend they read Cunningham's work.

Bearing in mind that this was the first book I have read on E-commerce, I found Cunningham's book to be very informative and helpful. It defined alot of terms and concepts that I had heard of but didn't genuinely understand. For example, like most, I had heard of B2B e-commerce but I was unsure as to the differences between B2B and B2C. This book went into a sufficient amount of detail in this regard. It also used alot of relevant and current information to support its statements. It was comprehensive in that it had alot of helpful do's, do-not's, and how-to's when creating a B2B business. For a "beginner" book I felt Cunningham's work was a tremendous success. It had a sufficient level of technical detail without losing me in a myriad of techie terms that would have left me yawning and wondering what I had just read. I would recommend this book to anyone considering a B2B venture, or someone who is merely educating themself.

Many organizations today are focused on the bad news in the B2B markets. Failing exchanges, dot com crashes and vendor and consulting layoffs. In my experience, B2B is and will be a potent weapon the the development and optimization of business processes and technology to support new and better ways of conducting business. Collaborative technologies, widespread affordable communication and faster to implement solutions will allow winning firms to take the lead in this segment of the market. While some start-ups have failed, most are because they were not adding enough value to their clients and partners in the first place. B2B technology, tools and platforms are providing the opportunity for organizations to improve and optimize their position in the market. There are good examples of start-ups, existing businesses and others moving to leverage the Internet sprinkled throughout this book. Winning strategies are built by companies following good business practices and being innnovative in their approach to the market. This book was obviously created as a blueprint for individuals and organizations that are looking for a path through this maze. The examples are based on strategies that have worked and produced excellent results for the firm's using them. Like all technologies and strategies there are winners and losers. Emulating winners is still the best way that we know to reduce risk at the early stages in the marketplace. This book helps others achieve this goal, by providing guidance on the good, bad and the ugly of this complex subject. An powerful and comprehensive read.

I was extremely pleased with this informative book. Cunningham clearly explained the ins and outs of B2B in a clear and thourough fashion, making this book a great guide as to how to improve B2B strategy most effectively. It was a superb introduction to B2B strategy, as Cunningham was able to address the many issues associated with B2B and instruct on the best ways to use B2B to the advantage of your business. A comprehensible guide to understanding the newest revolution in international commerce. Great as an introduction for those new to B2B, as well as a guide for experienced business professionals looking for a tool to enhance their commerce.

I am also writing this review, as I selected this book from a list given to us in our MBA/MSE class. I thought that this book would be a good insight to B2B and how to come about with a strategy. The book actually elaborates on the first half on the differences between B2B and B2C, only to conclude that they are very similar with a major difference on who are the users : businesses only as opposed to businesses and consumers, no surprises here! There are also constant repetitions on the definitions of B2B throughout the book, and thus one never feels as if they are reading new material, but just a definition with different wording. The final chapters touch a little on some technical aspects required for the proper set up of a B2B. Mainly the types of software that should be used or language, such as JAVA, HTML and XML. Also they provide insight on the security aspect of B2B as well as the need and advantages of Virtual Private Networks (VPN). There is also some guidance on requirements for the success to building the proper B2B by creating partnerships and alliances, and the use of Intranet and extranet. The downfall here is that all this information is extremely vague, you will find passages which will state that XML compacts the information that you can place on a web page, thus accelerating the transfer rate, but that is as far as it gets. I would compare the information that I gathered in reading this book, to the information that I obtain when I read Business technology magazines: interesting, easy to comprehend, and vague. The most frustrating part of reading this book is to know that a lot of the information is already somewhat outdated, and that examples of the companies that are benchmarked are companies that today are in serious financial trouble.

Charles Stevens, this is possibly the best B2B book I have ever read. Cunningham provides a clear-cut approach to B2B business. He clearly defines differences and avoids excessive jargon making this book ideal for the experiences business professional or anyone new to the field. It was key in developing the fundamentals and our approaches of our own corporate B2B plan. As sacrilegious as it may be this book has been our B2B Bible. 75% of business - to - business transactions for computers, electronics, and storage are done online. There is a need to develop B2B commerce, improving systems and methods are crucial. People and corporations are hesitant about investing in the Internet because of the current tension in the ecommerce market highlighted by the media. Let it be understood that the failings of high-profile corporations should not be a reflection on the B2B market. Even considering this media-driven pseudo-bear market the estimated revenue from B2B business for 2004 exceeds 3 trillion dollars. Pick up this book, at the very least flip through it at the bookstore (and take notes).

Michael J. Cunningham, founder and CEO of the Harvard Computing Group, has provided strategies and best practices to launch a business-to-business E-Commerce solution for your organization. Financial transfers, online exchanges, auctions, delivery of products and services, supply-chain activities and integrated business networks are all examples of B2B e-commerce. Business-to-business E-commerce is a rapidly growing market. The author guides you through the process from transforming an intranet into an extranet, using portals and digital procurement systems, finding partners, selecting applications and software and finally designing architecture and infrastructure for a B2B business. He has also included a list of best practices used by successful B2B E-commerce companies.