Corporate Internet Planning Guide [Hardcover]

Richard J. Gascoyne (Author), Koray Ozcubukcu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1997

The Corporate Internet Planning Guide is the first responsible in-depth guide to using the Internet for business advantage. The authors go "beyond the hype" by examining the capabilities of the Internet in conjunction with the strategic goals of their businesses. 40 illus.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Thinking strategically about the Internet? The Corporate Internet Planning Guide: Aligning Internet Strategy with Business Goals by Richard J. Gascoyne ($29.95, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 307 pp.)

Get out your laptop and get ready to take notes. This book delivers on its promise to help you formulate an Internet strategy.

You realize immediately "The Corporate Internet Planning Guide" isn't just another cookie-cutter, skin-deep take on Internet strategy. (The author, by the way, uses the phrase "Internet strategy" in reference to both the Internet and intranets.) For one thing, Gascoyne, a director of the Internet division at Claremont Technology Group, in Seattle, doesn't waste time dragging you through the all-too-common 100-page summary of Internet history. As the title implies, he regards Internet technology as strategically imperative; thus, he focuses immediately on helping you decide how to apply and integrate that technology into business strategies.

To that end, Gascoyne explains why you must strive to make your Internet strategy innovative and why it should be complementary to your intranet strategy, not separate. He walks through specific steps for formulating an Internet strategy, clearly outlines business risks and barriers to success, and explains what needs to be done to manage the changes the Internet will affect in your company. He also very clearly identifies the different stages of an emerging Internet strategy, providing guidelines to assess which stage you are currently in.

Whether you should be developing an Internet strategy is not up for question. As Gascoyne provokes thinking about how you could be using Internet technology, he weaves in arguments against any rationale that could justify why you aren't doing more, if anything at all, with the technology.

Perhaps, for example, your company isn't looking at the Internet strategically because your customers aren't online. Hogwash, says Gascoyne. The point is not to use the Internet to service current customers online so much as it is to use this technology to create new business opportunities.

One of the best attributes of "The Corporate Internet Planning Guide" is the way Gascoyne presents his material--namely, he delivers the goods in a well-thought-out and clear manner. Yet unlike authors who write books so formulaic they are almost insulting, Gascoyne uses repetition, lists and charts only when they are really necessary. -- By Erin Callaway, PC Week Decembern 23, 1996 -- PC Week- December 23, 1996

From the Inside Flap

Corporate Internet Planning Guide Are you confused by the bewildering decision-making process involved in establishing an Internet presence or in creating an Intranet? If you’ve already made the Internet leap, are you seriously questioning its bottom-line value? Before you take another step, read Corporate Internet Planning Guide: Aligning Internet Strategy With Business Goals. This timely book breaks down the complicated process into simplified problem-solving steps that will help you confidently plan, develop, implement, and manage a corporate-wide Internet or Intranet strategy. You’ll find all the tools you need here in a format you can put to work right away. Planning questions, checklists, and examples help you analyze your company’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, enabling you to create a customized plan for maximum impact—or if you’re already online—to evaluate, enhance, and redefine your current Internet/Intranet strategy. Use Corporate Internet Planning Guide to:

• Identify your company’s Internet/Intranet needs
• Build your Internet/Intranet business case
• Develop an Internet/Intranet strategy that will enhance all aspects of your enterprise
• Strengthen your company’s overall strategic direction
• Implement your Internet/Intranet plan successfully

Veteran Internet professional Richard Gascoyne takes you step-by-step through each portion of Internet strategy planning and implementation with clear summaries about key issues and intelligent discussion of the opportunities and risks at every turn. In addition to comprehensive coverage of corporate strategy, business-unit strategy, industry trends/analysis, and strategic alternatives. Corporate Internet Planning Guide provides:

• Hundreds of examples that offer invaluable insight into what is working in corporate America and overseas
• Dozens of models, tables, and charts designed to help you develop a customized Internet strategy
• A how-to guide for evaluating the benefits and technologies associated with building the company’s presence on the Internet or creating an Intranet
• Sound, business-based tools to facilitate and promote responsible corporate use of the Internet
• A convenient guide to analyzing technologies, organizational impact, and risk factors—before you spend your money

No matter what industry you’re in, if you’re involved with marketing, sales, services, business, operations, or information systems, this is the one book that cuts through the Internet hype to help you focus on the only issue that matters: How can Internet technology be used to accomplish my business goals? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Van Nostrand Reinhold; 1st edition (January 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0442024169
• ISBN-13: 978-0442024161
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,198,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Trendy gushing over Internet possibilities., December 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Internet Planning Guide (Hardcover)

This is one of those treatments which would make an excellent article in a business publication yet, unfortunately, has been expanded to book length. Case studies are numerous, shallow, and typically one paragraph long. After the first couple of chapters I found it repetitive as the same points were made about the same companies, only under different chapter headings.

The title page lists Ozcubukcu as co-author, but the dust jacket does not mention him/her, focusing solely on Gascoyne. It is possible that Ozcubukcu wrote the book from interviews with Gascoyne. Given the wandering path with which the book covers its subject, this seems likely.

There are a lot of "old model" - "new model" comparisons in the numerous tables, usually over simplifying what business was like BI (Before the Internet) compared to the dynamic new possibilities the Internet offers. One wonders how anyone made any money in the past.

In one chart, the authors describe the "New" world has one without barriers to entry and two pages later wax eloquent about how an early Internet adopter has established substantial entry barriers by using an interactive Web page. This is but one example of the books internal inconsistencies. One wonders if they read their own material. The book also contains numerous editing mistakes.

The authors speak of the Internet as a "paradigm shifting" technology which will change how all businesses operate (I wonder if McDonald's has received the word yet) rather than just another new method for communications between businesses and their customers and partners- about as "revolutionary" as the telegraph and the telephone.

The authors make many good points and offer sound advice, but this is pretty much finished by the end of the first 50 pages. Compared to other business books I have read, it offers little meat, a great deal of cheering and waving of pom-pons, and a shallow treatment of the subject, not worth the purchase price nor the time to read it. It's main selling point is that it reinforces the latest business fad of waxing eloquent about how the Internet will change the world.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Guide to Internet Strategy and Planning, April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Internet Planning Guide: Aligning Internet Strategy With Business Goals (Hardcover)

I ordered 3 books from Amazon.com on the development of an Internet Strategy for my company. This book is clearly the leader in the presentation and development of an Internet strategy. It is well written with relevant examples, tables and commentary. Don't waste your time and money on other titles -- this is the one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for Corp.Strategic Internet planning, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Internet Planning Guide: Aligning Internet Strategy With Business Goals (Hardcover)

Gascoyne does a great job of articulating the processes required to align Corporate Internet Strategy with core business Objectives. This is a critical component of any Strategic Marketing Plan.