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One Simple Strategy to Organize your Online Business
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One Simple Strategy to Organize your Online Business By Abe
Cherian Copyright ? 2005
Recently a survey showed that most online businesses are not
organized. In fact many organizations throw up an expensive web
site using all the latest "bells and whistles" only to find it a
generally unsatisfying experience.
Apart from the technical vs. sales and marketing issues of the
web site itself many organizations both in terms of appropriate
organizational behaviors as well as of effective organizational
designs has been sadly neglected by many established retailers.
You may have a business site with dedicated staff and webmaster,
yet it is poorly integrated within your parent organization and
tasked with ill defined roles. A simple question needs to be
asked. Do you have a central internet group (CIG) directed by a
chief Web officer and composed of dedicated staff for each
business function?
If not then depending upon your organizations size and abilities
you need to implement a CIG or outsource those functions.
Typically, many conventional retailers have acquired
organizational habits that are not well aligned to the needs of
eCommerce. It should be noted that four undesirable traits or
behaviors found in many organizations must be guarded against.
You might find that increasing complexity in your company has
resulted in inflexibility and slow decision making processes.
There is also a tendency towards internal conflict and
stratification as well as a leadership that would tend to
emphasize capital investment as a solution to all problems.
The movement towards centralized control, which characterizes a
typical consumer goods business, will carry with it limited
coordination among your departments and divisions resulting in a
weakened sense of market trends and increased dissatisfaction.
These features are in direct conflict with what you should know
about the cultural characteristics of pure successful
e-businesses. An e-business is predominantly a flat organization
with quick decision making where risk taking is encouraged and
failure is merely education.
Employees tend to work long hours at the office by choice and
are very self disciplined. Typically such companies use guiding
principles rather than procedures and tend to lead by example.
When these two types of cultural environment are brought
together, unexpected and perhaps dysfunctional behaviors must be
expected to emerge. Given the cultural and organizational
differences between "new" and "old" economy businesses, the way
in which you as an established retailer should set up and manage
Internet operations is therefore extremely important.
One factor to consider is that small businesses are more
flexible organizationally. You should consider that e-commerce
has provided greater "e-quality" for smaller businesses in
relation to their larger competitors.
You will need an increased willingness to seek appropriate
alliances and partnerships, plus consider organizational
designs, company spin-offs, etc., that will provide convergence
to the integrated business model required to overcome these
mismatches in culture and outlook.
The many advantages derived from the Internet must be exploited
both within and between existing sectors of your bricks and
mortar business. With the ways in which networked organizations
are evolving, it should be realized that only those retaining an
Internet culture in a parallel or centralized Internet group
(CIG) style of operation closely identified with the eCommerce
aspects of a business's overall objectives will be successful.
About the author:
Abe Cherian is the founder of Multiple Stream Media, a company
that helps online businesses find new leads and more customers
without spending a fortune. http://www.multiplestreammktg.com