Futurize Your Enterprise: Business Strategy in the Age of the E-customer (Hardcover)

by David Siegel (Author) "IN 1996, RETAILING GIANT TOYS "R" US, the nation's largest toy retailer, with $11 billion in sales and more than 1,400 stores, launched its first..." (more)
Key Phrases: chief net officer, futurize your enterprise, universal descriptors, Whole Harvest, New World, Old World (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Two years after its release, the second edition of David Siegel's Creating Killer Web Sites remains a bestselling guide to building sites that are driven by design aesthetics rather than technological prowess. Now, in Futurize Your Enterprise, Siegel takes off his Web designer hat and turns his attention to developing a corporate online presence aimed at meeting consumer needs. He cautions readers to throw off their old bricks-and-mortar mindsets and focus not on "how to build a Web site but how to build a Web business." Siegel divides the book into four parts--"Principles," "Practice," "Prototypes," and "Predictions"--that moves from "tools and methodologies you'll need to transform your management-led organization into what I call a customer-led company," to fictional case studies that show how these techniques may be applied today, to speculative future scenarios "in which the Internet is no longer a tool but a platform for work, community-building and individual empowerment."

His suggestions include establishing an autonomous Web division that takes the medium more seriously than itself, encouraging (if not insisting that) all employees interact directly with online customers, and factoring in participatory or community aspects that actively attract those who share demographics or specific interests. Some may find that Siegel's recommendations suffer because of his repeated use of fictional case studies to make his point. However, those looking for new ideas will surely find some here. Futurize Your Enterprise is for Web masters, business people, and the many that Siegel won over through his earlier books. --Howard Rothman

Review
"...A readable and relevant book, Siegel outlines how to avoid the six strategic traps." -- Long Range Planning, Vol 33, 2000

"David Siegel is on the cutting edge of web strategy. His customer-driven insights will change your outlook on e-commerce." -- Don Peppers, co-author of The One-to-One Future

"David Siegel uses a people-centered, common sense approach to take the Web from the realm of hype into practical reality." -- John Porter, Chairman, Telos Group

"David Siegel's vision of the future is a gift. When I look forward to the changes ahead, this is what I want to see. A future where companies co-exist with customers in an expandable, renewable relationship. Managers: you will love this book!" -- Susan Rockrise, Worldwide Creative Director, Intel

"David has taken the New Economy to an exciting new level. Futurize Your Enterprise is packed with management insights and a philosophy that celebrates life online." -- Eric Schmidt, CEO, Novell

"There has to be a basic guide to business in the e-commerce age and this is probably the best around." -- Campaign, 19th December 2000

"There has to be a basic guide to business in the e-commerce age and this is probably the best around." (Campaign, 19th December 2000)

"...A readable and relevant book, Siegel outlines how to avoid the six strategic traps." (Long Range Planning, Vol 33, 2000)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471357634
• ISBN-13: 978-0471357636
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,301,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Web-Business Enthusiasm Primer- Companion To Change Texts, December 11, 1999

By	Prof David T Wright (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

Futurise Your Enterprise (FYE) is suitable for a wide audience especially those in business (or jaded technologists) wondering what all the Web-excitement is about. Students, consultants, and industrialists benefit from Siegel's approach that includes some visionary innovation, generic business applications (mostly synthetic/made-up), and a large concentration of charisma and energetic drive.

The crux of the message is for greater (don't be half-hearted); keep customer focus, especially through energising and actively encouraging open contributory communities for product development and marketing; view the Internet as a dialogue, a conversation, and not a "new channel for distribution"; and continually monitor, learn, and adapt your approaches in an ever-changing business world. The themes of globalisation, greater and faster collaboration, and the dynamic flow of information and relationships underpinning these hypotheses apply equally to research, consultant and recreational communities.

Supplementing the main text are numerous sidebar lists of "e-cancers" to watch out for in your organisation indicating areas of urgent concern e.g. "when the company's budget for copiers exceeds the budget for networking"; or "when employees get more voice mail than e-mail" (there are dozens more similar gems of prototypes, and predictions. The principle section discusses the necessary background and deals with the need for urgent action, common web strategy failures, e-business and e-customer, and the truth economy. The practice around, the customer-led web site, the customer-led company, cyber synergy, and navigating the new world. The prototype section presents largely store, magazine publisher, steel fabricator, real estate clearinghouse, book superstore, software company, bank intranet, and drug manufacturer. Finally, the prediction section presents an attractive automated, less bureaucratic view of the future through the eyes of different prospective the moviegoer, the frequent flier, the student, the lawyer, the patient, and the reputation consultant.

A particularly powerful scenario is that of the universal personal web site that everyone will have in 2010 (even the less-Web connected developing countries), which contains information in 7 areas at 6 security levels facilitating streamlined completion of all manner of business and personal matters through timely integration Worldwide of relevant information sources and sinks, and autonomous active acquaintance/colleague, friends/family, spouse, and self. The subject haves, and wants. Such a site supports medical emergency response, organising loans and mortgages, buying and selling goods, voting governments, and almost every transaction that nowadays involves many different systems, bottlenecks, and delays.

A key strength of FYE is that it successfully presents both a basic framework (e.g. background, action steps, prototyping, and customer scenarios) at a level detailed and exciting enough to proceed towards implementation with.

FYE is readable, enthusiastic in tone, relatively complete in vision, supported by anecdotal evidence and reason, well presented with charts and illustrations, and is delivered at an appropriate level for the generalist business/technology audience- truly enough to make you want to start energising your current workplace and setup "pure-play" web-based lateness of the heavily promoted companion web-site; gaps in the 'strategic futurising tools' (the basis is narrative with customers and little else); and the lack of support (either by reference, or full logical reasoning) for many assertions made which all reduce the book's credibility- would you commit your company's future on the basis of a 'glossy brainstorm'?

Three How to Create a Profitable Business Strategy for the Internet and Beyond" by Seybold et al (1998) which identifies 5 key steps in success in e-commerce, using 16 case studies and summarising current best practice. * "Enterprise.Com- Market leadership in the Information Age" by Lotus CEO Papows et al (1998) which examines the way organisations, market, the nature of competition, and global society are driven by advances in technology, including IT. *"Net Gain- Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities" by Hagel/Armstrong (1997) proposing that future business success will depend on using the Internet to build communities (not just relationships) leading to phenomenal customer loyalty and high profits.

Overall, the reviewer recommends FYE as a suitable text to help quickly build up a positive picture of possible future web-enabled business and society scenarios. FYE is very suitable as a companion to one of the many change or operations management texts, which include a wide range of rigororus detailed methodologies supporting change towards "the customer-led Web revolution". END

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent bridge between Evangelists and how-to manuals, March 10, 2000

By	JOOST W. VAN DER LAAN (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

"Futurize your Enterprise" of David Siegel is an excellent visionary book for every manager who wants to rethink business models and develop an E-strategy. It is not about "how to build a website" but how to build a web business. The book is divided into four parts:

"Principles" describes tools and methodologies to change a "management-led" and supply driven company into a "customer-led" company. This part is illustrated by real word examples like Toys-R-Us Direct and Hewlett-Packard. "In a customer-led environment everyone in the company is responsible for the customers experience". The principles part also contains a very clear description of Internet failures and the six most common mistakes companies make online. It also explains the natural development from brocureware Internet sites to real e-business. There is also a definition of different e-customers the transparency of the Internet.

"Practice" is the translation of the principles into practice. What does a company have to do to change into an e-business. There is a practical list of changes the company has to make and agenda's of meetings to organize those changes.

"Prototypes" contains a number of examples business categories like grocery stores, magazine publishers, steel fabricators, real estate clearing house, book superstore, software company etc. These examples use real-life examples as starting point, and show the many possibilities to improve the customer influence by the Internet.

"Predictions" shows speculative future scenario's in which Internet is no longer a tool but a platform for work, community-building and individual empowerment. The examples are fictional but very insightful and expiring. They show the possible developments into the year 2010 of the different roles of people like job seeker, homemaker, breadwinner, teenager, student, patient etc.

For retailers the prototypes of a grocery store and a book store are very interesting. "Futurize your Enterprise" does not touch the challenge of fulfillment of online retailing, but there is much attention for the possibility to add information to merchandise, and the importance to focus on different customer groups. For groceries these different customer groups might be households with young children, different religions with there own food restrictions, people with allergies etc. For bookstores Siegel does a good job trying to improve Amazon.com.

"Futurize your Enterprise" is focused very much on the culture, the mindset, the approach and the customers.

Siegels book is in my opinion a must for every manager who is planning to develop E-strategies. It bridges the huge gap between "Internet evangelists" and "How to"-books. The book is now the number one present for clients of my company.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only one flaw., January 10, 2000

By	Julie Ridl (Michigan, U.S.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I see only one flaw to David Siegel's new book: Like customers.com, it's arrived far too early to capture the imaginations of most business executives, its target audience. But for executives brave enough, smart enough, and awake enough, it's a great guide.

If you currently work to build websites for a company that hasn't quite gotten it, this book makes a good bolster, friend, and consultant you can send off to your executive team to help them see the path ahead.

At the very least, business folks can direct their executive teams and marketing and customer service groups and -- well, everybody -- to the Web Boot Camp Siegel hosts on the amazing companion website. That site, again targeted to busy business professionals, is a great service to web developers of all kinds.

If you can't get anybody at your company to look at the site or read this book and at least consider this sensible approach: Run, dear reader. Run like the wind. There are other companies out there who want smart people like you to help change the world.