From Bricks to Clicks.

• Author: AITKEN, CHRISTOPHER
• Position: Brief Article

Where and how will you position your B2B company in the new economy?

There's no one-size-fits-all e-business model for business-to-business (B2B) success in the new economy. Even if such a model existed, migrating from an industrial age business model would be complicated enough. But the landscape of e-business options is densely populated, multi-layered and dynamic -- changing not only from industry to industry but also from day to day.

Since staying put isn't feasible -- not even in the short term -- companies are quickly identifying their options, surveying the field both for e-business models that make sense and smart ways to speed their migration into the new economy. Still, there are two crucial steps in the process of building an e-business strategy, regardless of size or industry: identifying both the level of e-business transformation you're willing to undergo and the leading-edge transactional models e-business enables.

These two processes are interrelated, but each necessitates decision-making that could fundamentally alter a company's business model. No one should approach the migration to e-business as a simple translation process. It's a transformation process.

The two intersecting lines in the chart above, representing content and context, create four positions. Along the vertical axis (context), companies can interact with customers, suppliers and other business partners through a range of physical and virtual environments. Status quo describes companies that use only a physical context to deliver traditional products and services. Biz.com describes companies that automate the delivery of traditional products and services via a virtual context (either exclusively or to supplement the physical context). On the horizontal axis (content), companies can create and deliver a range of innovative, Internet-inspired products and services. E-innovation describes companies leveraging the Internet to create entirely new products and services delivered through a primarily physical context. Breakthrough.com describes those few companies that can realize the Internet's full potential by delivering e-content in an e-context. Positioning your firm at breakthough.com can mean cha nging the rules in your industry. It also can mean far greater risk than simply automating existing processes or adding Internet content to your existing tangible mix.

Consider the music industry. A few years ago, retail firms such as HMV and Tower Records earned revenue by selling CDs and Walkmans (status quo). Then CDNow and Amazon arrived. Without altering the legacy content sold by brick and mortar retail chains, these new firms brought the sale of CDs and Walkmans online (biz.com). In the meantime, new MP3 players gave consumers another way to obtain and play recorded music. Warily at first, brick and mortar shops began selling MP3 players (e-innovation). MP3 technology was indeed revolutionary, as the panic of music powerhouses indicated. Yet before this new e-content would fully transform the way music was packaged, sold and played, firms had to take one more step -- leveraging MP3 technology with the Internet's networking...