Marc J. Epstein - Implementing E-Commerce Strategies: A Guide to Corporate Success after the Dot.Com Bust

Cover

Page i

Implementing E-Commerce Strategies

Page ii

This page intentionally left blank.

Page iii

A Guide to Corporate Success after the Dot.Com Bust

MARC J. EPSTEIN

Page iv

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Epstein, Marc J.
Implementing e-commerce strategies : a guide to corporate success after the
dot.com bust / Marc J. Epstein
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-275-98463-X
1. Electronic commerce. 2. Strategic planning. 3. Business enterprises
Computer networksPlanning. 4. Electronic commerceCase studies.
I. Title: Implementing e-commerce strategies. II. Title.
HF5548.32.E67 2004
658.872dc22 2004049568

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright 2004 by Marc J. Epstein

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004049568

ISBN: 0-275-98463-X

First published in 2004
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881

An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Page v

Page vi

Page vii

Sector: Retail

Industry: Bookstores

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Borders

Industry: Discount Retail

Wal-Mart

Kmart

Target

Industry: Luxury Retail

Nordstrom

Neiman Marcus

Ashford.com

Industry: Grocers

Tesco

Webvan and Homegrocer

DAgostinos-MWG

Industry: Office Supplies

Office Depot

Staples

Page viii

Sector: Services

Industry: Stockbrokers

Charles Schwab

Merrill Lynch

E*Trade

Industry: Consumer Banks

Wells Fargo

Bank of America

Bank One-Wingspan

Industry: Pharmacies

CVS

Walgreens

RiteAid-Drugstore.com

Industry: Postal Services

UPS

Federal Express

Sector: B2B

Industry: Computers

Dell

Compaq/HP

Industry: Networking

Cisco

Lucent

Industry: Plastics

GE Plastics

Omnexus

PlasticsNet.com

Page ix

With the growth of the Internet, corporations have struggled with the determination of the appropriate level of investment in the new technology. CEOs faced the quandary of whether to fully commit or wait and watch. Academics devoted effort to determining ways to formulate e-commerce strategies. But, little research has focused on how to choose among alternative strategies or how to execute an e-commerce strategy.

This book relies on extensive analysis of academic and managerial research, along with a review of company successes and failures during the foundation and short history of e-commerce. It provides industry and company cases and specific recommendations for actions that managers can take to improve e-commerce success. It provides a framework for measuring the benefits and costs of potential e-commerce investments that can aid in deciding how much to invest and how to achieve the greatest potential payoffs. It places e-commerce in a value creation frame, so that corporate and business unit managers can more effectively evaluate the possibilities and trade-offs. The author hopes that lessons learned can guide managers to effectively formulate, evaluate, and implement an e-commerce strategy.

This book could not have been completed without the important contributions of research assistants Todd Makse, Steve Wilbur, Kirby Brendsel, and Pranika Uppal. The dedication of faculty assistant Karen Lavelle has been critical in managing all of the documents related to the preparation of this book. I also thank Nick Philipson, senior editor at

Page x

Praeger, for his support, guidance, and friendship over the years of our association. Finally, I acknowledge my colleague and friend, Al Napier, who was an important inspiration to this project and provided significant input throughout the project.

The book is dedicated to the many managers whom I have worked with who have asked about evaluating both potential e-commerce investments and e-commerce success. The lessons we learn from prior successes and failures and the frameworks presented here are intended to help senior general managers to better develop, evaluate, and implement e-commerce strategies. IT managers should be aided to better analyze the value creation potential of investing additional resources in e-commerce initiatives. I hope also that for students and researchers this book pulls together the managerial experiences and academic literature on the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of e-commerce strategies and that it adds to the understanding of management control and performance measurement in corporations. If some find its synthesis, frameworks, and guidance useful, this book will be a success.