E-business strategy
For every change or evolution, there is always a group of people who fully embrace the new possibilities that are given. On the other hand, there is also a group of people who pull out, who think that it is not needed, that they can live without it. The second group is often the more important one.
The Xpragmatic View #88 - July 8, 2007
The long-lasting success of companies is fundamentally linked to their ability to know and understand their customers. However, are they any good at it? Do they
really try?
The Xpragmatic View #67 - June 2005
A sluggish economy, increased competition, price erosion and lower margins are forcing organisations to look for new and more creative ways to generate additional revenue. Unfortunately, most attempts remain largely focused on the traditional theme of accelerating the introduction of new products or variations of existing products. Today, companies must avoid focusing exclusively on the product itself. Instead, they must focus more on the potential use of their products.
The Xpragmatic View #66 - May 2005
The Internet has been a revolution for the travel industry. So they say. And indeed, the Internet has initiated an evolution towards on-line reservation systems that has created a new, but harsh reality for the independent travel agency. Unfortunately, for the average traveller itself this has generated little added value.
The Xpragmatic View #62 - September 2004
The customer was not surprised
At the start of a new year, most analysts publish their predictions for the trends of the coming year. Very few of them (dare to) look back at their predictions of last year. However, analysts are not the only ones to blame. Every single company should have a closer look at its own performance (or lack of performance) during the past year. And this will not always be a pleasant picture...
The Xpragmatic View #58 - January 2004
The Internet-revolution has created a wealth of new opportunities allowing organisations to interact directly and in a personalised way with their customers. Marketing to the individual, the customer-focused organisation, it all seamed a bit more achievable and affordable. Unfortunately, this remains an unfulfilled promise. Even worse, the customer now understands what is happening.
The Xpragmatic View #56 - August 2003
"Own the total customer experience" is a well-known concept that was already introduced in 1998 in publications such as the bestseller Customers.com of Patricia Seybold. Five years later, it seems that many organisations did not really get the message.
The Xpragmatic View #53 - April 2003
"By necessity, e-business initiatives have a lot to do with the introduction of new technologies. Therefore, much attention and effort goes towards these aspects. Other requirements, such as the organisational impact, are often a bit neglected. However, reality is that the difference between success and failure has little to do with technology and much more with the other aspects of change...
The Xpragmatic View #25 - June 2000
Over the past years we have seen some dramatic evolutions in the business landscape. Globalisation, deregulation, the Internet economy, mergers and acquisitions are only a few of the drivers that have influenced the way companies do business. In this article we examine the evolution to an e-business model, but especially from an information technology point of view.
White paper - December 1999
"September 1999, the Gartner Group released a new study that claimed that 75 percent of all e-business projects would fail. Now that nearly every company is working on or planning for its own e-business project, this is an alarming statement. However, are we surprised?
The Xpragmatic View #15 - October 1999
"In the past, the "follow the leader" approach has often been used while developing a company's business strategy. Countless organisations focused on the examples of the market leaders in their specific industry segment or imitated the successful products and solutions of their competitors. It was an easy way of building a strategy and considered as being a safe one. Also, most often it guaranteed a (modest) success. Is this still feasible today?
The Xpragmatic View #14 - September 1999
E-pragma - From Business Capability to Experience Model
E-pragma is not a specific concept, neither is it a new methodology. It simply is a focus area for the activities of our company. In essence it is the deployment of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) approaches in an e-commerce or e-business context. More specifically, we have a special interest for the integration of ERP solutions into such environment.
White paper - July 1999
All IT vendors, be it hardware or software vendors, will argue that IT is a key factor for the successful deployment of your business. And most companies will agree to that. However, companies should not overemphasise the importance of IT and certainly not think that it will be the cure for all diseases. IT is only one of the things that matter, even in the Internet space.
The Xpragmatic View #5 - May 1999
E-commerce: Voyage to the point of no return on investment?
Internet and E-commerce are hot topics. Most organisations have the feeling that they should do "something" with this new medium. What are their chances? How can they succeed?
The Xpragmatic View #4 - May 1999
