E-Profit: High Payoff Strategies for Capturing the E-Commerce Edge (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...This work will serve as a blueprint for companies contemplating the jump to the web. -- Library Journal, March 15, 2000

If you are a member of senior management looking to move your company into e-commerce, e-Profit…will capture you in the first few pages. -- e.now report

Product Description

E-commerce is the hot topic of the day! But few companies are actually doing it--and even fewer are doing it profitably. Why is there so much talk and so little action? According to Peter Cohan, celebrated author of Net Profit and The Technology Leaders, there are two reasons: 1. Fear of change 2. Lack of knowledge about the technology.

E-PROFIT is a definitive, up-to-the-millisecond guide to all the cultural and technical challenges that stand in the way of making high profits through e-commerce. In specific detail, this example-packed book presents:

* The highest-payoff e-commerce applications (and the 10 principles that characterize the best) * How companies are using e-commerce today to dramatically improve their competitive position * The most significant organizational challenges, and how to overcome them * How to define the role of senior management in designing e-commerce architecture, selecting vendors, negotiating savvy contracts, and monitoring the implementation * How winning companies manage their e-commerce strategy to quickly enjoy its benefits--while simultaneously adapting their systems to the new demands of technology and customers.

Sales through e-commerce are expected to grow to 1.2 trillion by 2002. Companies that don't catch on quickly may never be able to catch up. E-PROFIT provides "how-to" and "why-to" guidance for managers who want to stop talking about e-commerce and start profiting from it!

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814405444
• ISBN-13: 978-0814405444
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,673,978 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's All Here, April 21, 2000

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

e-Profit

Cohan wastes no time introducing and then explaining a number of "high payoff strategies for capturing the e-commerce edge." He wrote this book to suggest how to remove the "blocks" that inhibit the progress of e-commerce. The material is organized as follows:

Part I: Winning the Economic Case for E-Commerce (eg How to Avoid Low-Payoff E-Commerce Applications)

Part II: Managing the Transition to E-Commerce (eg Principles of Managing E-Commerce-Induced Change)

Part III: Building the E-Commerce Infrastructure (eg Principles of Successful E-Commerce Management)

Throughout the book, Cohan includes a number of "Case Lessons" derived from corporate initiatives which include those of Cisco Connection Online, the Ames Research Center, Charles Schwab, W.W. Grainger, Chase Manhattan, Microsoft E-Procurement, Merrill Lynch, HP Inkjet Printers, Weyerhaeuser, Eastman Chemical, eBay, Horizon Healthcare, Allied Signal, and American International Group (AIG). I rate this book so highly for three main reasons: It is especially well-organized; most of the content (to the best of my knowledge) has not as yet been provided elsewhere in a single source; and finally, Cohan's brilliant analysis of the material enables virtually any organization (regardless of its size or nature) to avoid or overcome the aforementioned "blocks" that inhibit the progress of e-commerce.

All of his advice seems to be anchored in a wealth of real-world experience. Better yet, each of the many clusters of specific recommendations is provided within a directly relevant frame-of-reference. For example, in the final chapter, "Managing the Implementation", Cohan prepares his reader for an immensely difficult process before offering these suggestions: Identify the capabilities needed to make the e-commerce project successful; analyze the company's capability gap [or gaps]; if necessary, hire an outside consultant with a compelling track record and experienced people; anticipate the effort of integrating back- and front-end systems; fix the time and cost of the e-commerce development process; and finally, be prepared to modify the e-commerce system after it goes into operation. Of course, how easy it is for Cohan (or anyone else, for that matter) merely to stockpile all manner of suggestions. As noted, Cohan anchors all of his suggestions within a context. Moreover, the clusters are arranged in a logical sequence.

If your organization is about to become significantly involved in e-commerce or if its involvement in e-commerce (thus far) has been unsatisfactory, and you need the best single source of information and advice to guide your initiatives, look no further.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down to earth advice, June 12, 2000

By	Linda LeBoutillier "lindaleb" (Eagle, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book offers very down to earth advice for using the internet and other IT in any size business. The sections of the book I enjoyed the most dealt with the type of attitude the CEO and Senior Management Team of any company must have toward IT to make a substantial difference in the use of the internet.

Cohan did not just deal with the usual "big names" like Amazon, Cisco, Schwab, Microsoft, eBay, etc. There were some other examples from smaller companies dealing with contract fulfillment for IT projects. Threre was not a lot of new information on some of the internet "greats" like Amazon, because so much has already been written, but the information was still good and clear, and frankly I enjoy rehashing it anyway.

What was a substantial contribution from this book is the chapters on the use of internet systems for procurement and accounts payable and the amount of money saved with the system, as well as the amount of money saved with internet stock trades and insurance purchases. This information is out there in the business press, but not in this form making the points of this book.

I highly recommend this book for anyone thinking about expanding their use of the internet in their business.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this is the real thing, November 28, 2000

By	John L (Singapore) - See all my reviews

i m currently in the midst of implementing a click and mortar set-up and have been scouring the book shelves for a book that gives u a strategic and at the same time realistic roadmap. i hv come across quite a number of books on this - metacapitalism by G Means & David Schneider; Executive's Guide to EBusiness by Deise, E-loyalty, loyalty.com, etc, etc.

I found that most books were either 1) too theoretical and ivory-towerish or 2) too process-oriented (almost a DIY guide). THe first is good for brainstorming and stress-testing your ideas but they are ultimately still at the idea stage. The second type is like having a map for you to explore the amazon jungle (pardon the pun). Sure it's all written in clear type there but what do you want really if u r about to dive in to the jungle? you want to know why you are going in (strategy), you need to have a good roadmap (process/skill-sets) but mostly you want an experienced guy to warn you of the dangers ahead - the pitfalls ... afterall do not forget when amazon, yahoo, ebay, priceline, boo.com debuted, they were the toasts of the theorists. You can never find fault with a theorist, but how much value is there unless you hv been thru it and live to tell. The devil is in the details. Cohan has succeeded in painting an informative wealth of these trenchant realities within the limitations of his well-written book, trenchant because he incorporates the need and analysis for financial returns vis-a-vis strategy and model. His training is in finance (wharton) and comp science/E Eng (MIT/Swarthmore)plus some years of his own consulting so i hv bet my dollars on his book and it has been a well placed bet and read.