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 questionwhythey must migrate from traditional marketplace businesses to a combination of offline and online presence most still struggle withhowto do so. An indispensable e-business guidebook for established firms in all industriesPlace to Spaceprovides 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 eightatomicbusiness 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-thee-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.
