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Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for eBusiness - e-Strategy Pure & Simple
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Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for eBusiness

e-Strategy Pure & Simple

e-Strategy Pure & Simple

Connecting your Internet Strategy to your Business Strategy
Michel Robert and Bernard Racine

A book review by D. Richard Dance, CPA and Principal of SoftResources LLC

March 2001

The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive framework for developing Internet strategies that dovetail with an organization's overall business strategy. Their premise is that the CEO and the Executive Team should be the architect of their own Internet strategy that is connected to, and helps deploy, the enterprise's business strategy.

A. Purpose of the Book

The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive framework for developing Internet strategies that dovetail with an organization's overall business strategy. Their premise is that the CEO and the Executive Team should be the architect of their own Internet strategy that is connected to, and helps deploy, the enterprise's business strategy.

Mind Map of the Book's Contents

This table charts out the approach the book takes.

Intro Preface
Chapter 1. The Ultimate E-Nigma
Chapter 2. Strategic Fuzziness
Chapter 3. Strategic Fuzziness 2
Chapter 4. A CEO's Worst Nightmare: Killer.Com
Chapter 5. Back to the Future
The First Imperative Chapter 6. Clarifying the Business Strategy
Chapter 7. Demystifying the E-Nigma
Chapter 8. The Critical Gap: No e-Strategy Architect
The Second Imperative Chapter 9. Constructing the e-Strategy
The Third Imperative Chapter 10. Integrating the Business Strategy and Internet Strategy Processes
Ending Chapter 11. The Tangible and Intangible Results

A Break in the Standard Format…

In previous book reviews I have followed a standard format, which I also plan to use in the future. This book is unusual and needs a different, more free-flowing format where I can just speak my mind about its impact. So here goes… a free-form chapter-by-chapter expression of reaction and opinion as I read through each one.

Reactions to the Intro Chapters

(1) The Ultimate E-Nigma. The new economy, lessons from the past, and a dramatic change are old stuff that I've read over and over now in the past year. It is hardly worth reading again.

(2) Strategic Fuzziness. The chart is good, but the questions are all about strategy, nothing about the Internet. In fact, the book even says, if I score high on strategy "there is no need to read the remainder of the book unless you don't know why you are so good." Let's see, what did I pay for this book anyway? I can't find the price on the back cover, but it must be expensive because the five e-business books cost me over $200. Oh, it is on the front cover, $24.95 is not too bad. But it doesn't look like I need this book for sure.

(3) Strategic Fuzziness 2. Another chapter on fuzziness, the charts are way too basic; I wonder why they each have to be copyrighted by DPI? At least the questions this time have something to do with the Internet. I kind of skipped over them, not sure if I need the book yet.

(4) A CEO's Worst Nightmare: Killer.Com. Another book touting Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com. I'm from Seattle and know people who actually work for Amazon. It is not all that it is cracked up to be. I wonder why people always use it as an example without really knowing what it is like to work there?

(5) Back to the Future. Titled after the movie I see. More platitudes. But wait - pages 37-39 have some real wisdom - the 12 discrete components in which any company can be delimited. I like those insights; that is good. The rest of the chapter doesn't do anything for me though.

Reactions to the First Imperative Chapters

(6) Clarifying Business Strategy. Hmmm, page 50 looks good. The strategic profile of a company consists of four elements:

  • The scope of its products
  • The scope of its customers
  • The scope of its industry segments
  • The scope of its geographic markets

The authors say, "management makes two types of decisions that over time shape the look of the business in these four areas. The first is how it allocates resources and the second is how it chooses opportunities." That might help me with our current company in the allocation and opportunity areas.

Identify the driving force of your company from 10 different components. That's easy for our company, SoftResources LLC, to do since it purely performs unbiased software selection that drives everything we do. But that driving force concept could be useful to others with more complex organizations.

How to construct a meaningful strategy statement actually gave some examples. Maybe this book will be good after all, even though there is not a lot of content about the Internet; at least, technical aspects of the Internet are not to be found anywhere within its pages.

The strategic filter questionnaire for deciding on opportunities is excellent, probably worth the price of the book right there. Page 61 needs to be bookmarked. We need to apply this at our own company since we always have so many competing opportunities. This makes sense.

(7) Demystifying the E-Nigma. To rationally understand where and when the Internet will affect one's business model could be a key finding, especially if considered in light of the 12 basic capabilities or e-nablers that can be applied to any business. That sounds good. I just wish authors would quit using all these made up e-words such as E-Nigma. It would be better if the authors used real words.

(8) No e-Strategy Architect. From our consulting perspective here at SoftResources, I'd have to agree with them. You always want executive sponsorship in every IT project, especially the Internet, or they don't tend to go anywhere. The DPI goal - at first I kind of resenting seeing everything copyrighted by Decision Processes International, Inc. (DPI), but now that I've read enough about businesses that they have helped in a practical reasonable manner, it seems okay if they sell me from time to time throughout the book on their company.

Reactions to the Second Imperative Chapter

(9) Constructing the e-Strategy Blueprint. The diagram on page 114 is the key summation of the whole e-strategy process. I wish that DPI used more than squares and boxes to show it. A good presentation and design consultant could change the image of their company and convey much more artistically the ideas they are trying to express. The diagram would be much more memorable that way.

Reactions to the Third Imperative Chapter

(10) Integrating Business Strategy with the Internet Strategy Process. Page 140 on the seven steps of the strategic thinking process is another good reason to buy the book. Pages 147-149 explained to me how DPI helps companies set up their Internet strategy with six phases over a six-to-nine-month time frame. I am being purely marketed to now, but since I am considering calling them anyway, it is helpful to see what sort of consulting phases and time frames they suggest.

The last paragraph that discusses why meetings scheduled by consultants help advance strategy is another reason to buy the book. I should be using this reason to persuade clients to use our firm also.

Reactions to the Last Chapter

(11) The Tangible and Intangible Results. I still don't like their diagrams, especially the number of them in this last chapter, but Michel Robert and Bernard Racine have been around awhile and have some great insights. Their ideas of prioritized applications and how to obtain more rapid deployment are right on.

Summary of Why You Should Buy This Book

Michel Robert and Bernard Racine don't give a lot of information about e-business. In fact, as I first began reading the book I didn't find much evidence that they knew much about it at all, and I'm not sure at the end of the book if they do either, but I don't care. Because, after I have pondered the subject for awhile, I realized that their understanding of strategy just might help me put more e-business into our business in an cohesive manner than the other technical books or how-to books from individuals who understand e-business, but not strategy. Get the point - this is a book that you should buy. As a companion to another technical book, it will be useful to your business. Go get it. There is just enough meat in it, but not too much, that your company actually stands a chance of implementing some of their suggestions.

H. Where to Obtain the Book

It can be purchased for $19.96 plus shipping directly from the following sources:

Amazon.com's web site (www.amazon.com)
Booksamillion web site at (www.bamm.com)
Barnes and Noble web site (www.bn.com)
Contentville.com web site (www.contentville.com)

Suggested retail is $24.95 U.S.

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