Place to Space: Migrating to Ebusiness Models [Hardcover]

Peter Weill (Author), Michael Vitale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

As the second wave of the e-business revolution plays out, traditional firms - not ephemeral dot-coms - will do the hard work of making e-business both viable and profitable. But while established companies no longer question why they must migrate from traditional marketplace businesses to a combination of offline and online presence, most still struggle with how to do so. An indispensable e-business guidebook for established firms in all industries, "Place to Space" provides a simple but powerful strategic framework for analyzing, choosing, and implementing successful e-business enterprises. Based on several years of research and a detailed study of fifty online initiatives in a variety of traditional firms, authors Peter Weill and Michael R. Vitale describe eight atomic business models that they argue represent the core building blocks of all e-business ventures. Using powerful real-world case studies of international companies including Lonely Planet, GE Supply Company, Cisco, Reuters, and others, the authors illustrate each atomic business model-direct-to-customer, full-service provider, whole-of-enterprise/government, intermediary, shared infrastructure, virtual community, value net integrator, and content provider-in practice, and reveal the strategic objectives, sources of revenue, core competencies, critical success factors, and necessary IT infrastructures required for implementation. The authors also introduce a new diagnostic tool - the e-business model schematic - and show how leaders can create company-specific schematics that empower them to assess their current business models, identify the atomic e-business models that best suit their organizations, and combine those models to create powerful and customized value propositions for customers. The first book to provide a structured, practical approach for traditional firms migrating to the Web, this hands-on book will give leaders in all industries-from CEOs and senior managers to marketing and IT executives - the insight and confidence they need to operate successfully in both place and space.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Place to Space, by Peter Weill and Michael Vitale, is an accessible entry point for old-economy senior managers who know e-business is in their future but are not quite sure how to best tackle this brave new world. Weill, director of the Center for Information Systems Research at the MIT Sloan School, and Vitale, dean and director of the Australian Graduate School of Management, identify and examine eight "atomic e-business models" (looking into everything from strategic objectives and IT requirements to how money is made) and propose ways these can be adapted to create individualized e-business initiatives in all types of existing firms. "This book," write Weill and Vitale, "focuses on the key challenges facing leaders of successful, established businesses migrating from their traditional marketplace business models to a combination of place and space"--a tag they've adopted for operations both offline and on. Their purpose is to "provide a structured approach to understanding and implementing e-business models" that mix new Net-based strategies including electronic auctions and virtual communities with traditional approaches like direct-to-customer connections and full-service relationships. Incorporating informative case studies, they present a solid primer on ways business can be conducted electronically and clear direction to help in choosing among the proper solutions to various situations. --Howard Rothman

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the recent, unsettling dot-com fallout, the authors claim that the e-revolution is here to stay. Moreover, they say, with few exceptions, solidly managed, financially stable traditional companies will lead the most productive, profitable and long-term forays into e-commerce. Weill and Vitale, affiliated with MIT's Sloan School of Management and the Australian Graduate School of Management, respectively, use extensive surveys and research to show how bricks-and-mortar companies can and should use the Internet to expand their businesses profitably. While a consumer may simply want a user-friendly Web site, businesses have to evaluate a range of questions, including financial, technical and marketing issues, when creating an e-business. The notion of ownership is crucial: "In any e-business model, there are three important questions of ownership who owns the customer relationship, who owns the customer data and who owns the customer transaction." The book expands on key e-business models and includes brief profiles of companies like Lonely Planet and Cisco. This highly technical study will appeal primarily to information technology specialists, e-business consultants and company executives ready to roll up their sleeves and take a hard look at their infrastructure and channels of distribution in order to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the Internet. Still, the writing is clear, and the authors use a textbook approach with chapter summaries that will enhance readers' ability to turn their analysis into practical application.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 372 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157851245X
• ISBN-13: 978-1578512454
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Weill is Chairman of the Center for Information Systems Research and Senior Research Scientist at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An e-business Bible, May 8, 2001

By 

"apsrose" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Place to Space: Migrating to Ebusiness Models (Hardcover)

There are two unique e-business books that are presently available: the first is e-business 2 by Kalakota and Robinson and the second is now this book "Place to Space". Where e-business 2 deals with the technological software infrastructure, "Place to Space" deals with the business models an e-business can adopt. The central idea of the book is that there are 8 atomic business models that exist. They can be used individually or in combination. The models are: Content provider, direct to consumer, full service provider, intermediary, shared infrastructure, value net integrator, virtual community and whole of enterprise. The authors spend a chapter for each model describing the details of it. For each model examples are given with detailed statistics over how each one is producing revenue and whether it is now profitable or future profits are possible. The real diamonds in the book are the e-business model schematics (essentially detailed diagrams about how each model works). These diagrams explain in a simple way the most complicated models and it is worth buying the book just for these diagrams alone. Apart from the e-business model diagrams each business model is extensively analysed from the point of view of the infrastructure required, value proposition, strategic objectives, revenue sources, critical success factors and core competencies necessary. There are extensive examples and various case studies. The book is entirely focused on the business and strategic side of e-business. It makes sense of the business models of Amazon, ebay, Yahoo, etrade, iVillage, Reuters, Lonely Planet and many other major ebusinesses. Anybody involved or interested in e-business should now or in the future read this book. It charts former pioneer territory. Potentially an e-business Bible.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good summary of the state of play, June 17, 2002

By 

Paul Willyams (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Place to Space: Migrating to Ebusiness Models (Hardcover)

I was looking for an e-business book that would be useful for the MBA classes I teach - this fits the bill nicely. Readable, not technical, not overly academic, and not full of the usual e-hype! In fact, tends to a negative outlook. The "atomic business models" are familiar, but it's worthwhile to have them defined with some rigour. Useful mini-case studies and anecdotes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you' ve read one, you' ve read them all...., February 11, 2002

By 

M. Psiloutsikou (Athens, Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Place to Space: Migrating to Ebusiness Models (Hardcover)

It seems that all books that refer to ecommerce and respective issues are all alike. This is not a bad book. On the contrary, it makes some very interesting points. But it is no breakthrough. It's just a different way of categorizing the different forms of business currently online. The proposed models are undoubtedly interesting and pretty much cover everything. Unless you are new in this area, don't bother.