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Inside this Issue:
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Business
News via the Value Framework™ Lenses
Management Perspective
by
Mitchell Levy, Author of the book E-Volve-or-Die.com, Creator of the
Value Framework™
Executive
Producer, VMS3.info
VMS3.info News
Managing
Supply Chains: What the Military Can Teach Business (and Vice Versa)
Can companies learn useful lessons from the experience of military establishments,
which must move people and materials globally under dangerous conditions? Conversely,
can the armed forces benefit from the expertise of companies such as Wal-Mart
or Sears, which also manage complex global supply chains? Experts at Wharton and
elsewhere point to increasing signs that each world is trying to learn from the
other's successes and failures. Major Online Shopping
Sites Fall Flat on "Black Friday"
San Mateo, Calif. -- Major
online shopping sites took a severe performance beating the day after Thanksgiving,
according to San Mateo-based Keynote Systems, a provider of web performance measurement
and management services. During peak shopping time on "Black Friday"
(9 am-noon, Pacific Time) consumers could only complete a purchase 80% of the
time. That means that almost one in five transactions attempted to be completed
on the major holiday shopping sites failed. By comparison,
the day before
Thanksgiving, the average success rate was 98.4%. "Clearly, the sites were
not adequately prepared to deal with the level of increase in online shopping
activity experienced on Black Friday,' said Keynote. Company sites measured include
Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, EBay, Eddie Bauer, JCPenney, LL Bean, Nordstrom, Office
Depot, Office Max, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart. Altered States:
Business-Process Fusion
True enterprise transformation can begin where
E-business left off—by revamping the processes of doing business. Despite
the economic downturn of the past few years and frustration with some unfulfilled
promises, E-business has brought about positive business changes. As we approach
2004, there's a renewed focus on core business processes and the wide array of
business applications to address these needs.
Google Adds Package Tracking
Search technology giant Google has
quietly rolled out a new Web search feature that lets users track FedEx and UPS
packages as part of its continuing push to expand beyond basic keyword queries.
The addition of numbers tracking adds to the nifty features the Mountain View,
Calif.-based firm has added in recent months, including glossary feature to troll
the Web for definitions, a calculator and local search service that allows users
to segment their searches by location, including address or zip code.
Toshiba launches VoIP software for PCs
SoftPhone program turns any
Windows XP desktop or notebook into a VoIP telephone. The Toshiba SoftIPT SoftPhone
costs about $200 per software license depending on the number of licenses purchased
and the system for which the software is designated. It works on both wired and
wireless PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP.
Which Online Music Service Will Have the Longest Playing Time?
Since May 2003, when Apple’s online music service, iTunes, opened its digital
doors, the drums announcing other online music services – new enterprises
as well as existing music services spruced up and recharged – have been steadily
beating. MODEL: PARTICIPANTS
The Reward Of Supply-Chain Excellence
Research
uncovers core attributes that can turn your company from supply-chain laggard
to leader. You've heard a lot about the dangers of the so-called bleeding edge.
But according to research jointly conducted by Accenture, Insead, and Stanford
University, being a supply-chain leader pays handsomely. In "The Reward Of
Supply-Chain Excellence," Accenture partner Robert D'Avanzo explains how
the researchers categorized companies into four degrees of supply-chain excellence
to discover that the best supply-chain practitioners also enjoyed the largest
financial rewards. D'Avanzo's article is no academic think piece, however; instead,
he shows you how to apply this
information directly to your own supply-chain
efforts. The Coming RFID Revolution
There is both good news and bad news about the much-hyped RFID, or radio
frequency identification, technology. The bad news -- bad, at least, for those
who are dismayed at the prospect of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars
on an unproven system -- is that within the next ten to twenty years any company
that wishes to stay competitive will have to build an RFID-centric supply chain.
3Com Widens Reach With EDS Deal
In a deal promising increased competition between networkers, EDS (Quote, Chart)
now offers enterprise customers equipment from 3Com as well as Cisco. The IT service
provider will sell 3Com switches, routers and voice over Internet protocol (define)
gear to financial and retail companies in United States and the United Kingdom,
with worldwide coverage and additional industry segments to follow. MODEL: INFLUENCES
Sullivan: Blogs to replace formal
op-ed style
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Weblogs can offer journalists an alternative
means of reaching global audiences while promoting reader interaction and debate,
according to writer Andrew Sullivan, who keynoted the Online News Association
conference on Saturday. Gartner:
50% of IT Suppliers Will Go Bust in Next Two Years
San Jose, Calif. --
Stiff price competition is expected to significantly thin out the information
technology sector over the next two years, with the number of suppliers being
cut in half, according to Gartner, a provider of research and advisory services
with West Coast headquarters in San Jose. "There are currently more than
2,300 publicly traded software companies in the world," Gartner analyst Ian
Bertram told reporters. "That's about 50-60% too many. There are too many
vendors selling the same thing." Gartner predicts that most marginal firms
will go out of business, while larger companies buy out niche players. US
on top in tech competitiveness
The US is using information technology
to boost economic growth more than any other country in the world, according to
a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey. Sun
pushes harder on everybody's buttons
In a move that chief financial officers
(most of whom control IT budgets) may not be able to ignore, Sun has unveiled
a new, cutthroat pricing plan for its Java Enterprise System (JES) and Java Desktop
System (JDS). Yahoo
Announces New Premium Content Subscription Service
Sunnyvale, Calif. --
Yahoo has announced a new premium content subscription service for high-speed
Internet subscribers, which will be offered for an additional $5.95 per month.
The Yahoo Plus service is intended to compete with similar, higher-priced offerings
like AOL for Broadband, which offers subscribers to any ISP the features of AOL
for an additional fee. In addition to email accounts and firewall, anti-virus,
anti-spam and pop-up blocking software, Yahoo Plus will offer subscribers access
to the LAUNCHcast Premium streaming music service, an online games tournament
service, and "premium video content from leading news and entertainment sources."
EMC to Complete
Acquisition of Pleasanton-based Documentum
Pleasanton, Calif. -- Boston-based
EMC Corp., a data storage technology, said that it expects to complete its $1.7
billion acquisition of Pleasanton-based Documentum, a content management software
firm, on Dec. 18. For EMC, which has traditionally focused on hardware, the acquisition
of Documentum is in keeping with its stated goal of deriving 30% of its revenue
from software by 2005. "With Documentum we are now adding the intelligence
layer that brings structure to unstructured data," said Joe Tucci, CEO of
EMC. In October, EMC paid $1.3 billion in stock to buy Mountain View-based Legato
Systems, a provider of software for creating backup archives of large-scale databases
and for providing centralized storage of unstructured information. STRATEGY:
MANAGED Apple Computer
Has now Sold Over 25 Million iTunes Downloads
Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple
Computer said on Monday that its iTunes Music Store has now sold over 25 million
song downloads since its launch in April 2003. Additionally, the company said
over $1 million of iTunes online gift certificates and allowances have been purchased
since the features were added to the store on October 16. The new HP is
ready for its next test
After a wave of executive departures and a solid
earnings report from HP, we're left wondering: "What has Carly done?"
A better view of business finance
Cingular Wireless
may be in the business of cutting-edge mobile technology, but its financial planning
system used to be strictly old school. To assemble a companywide financial plan,
employees sent spreadsheets back and forth between regional offices and headquarters,
in the process creating multiple copies and the potential for errors. But after
Cingular was officially formed by the merger of the wireless divisions of BellSouth
and SBC Communications three years ago, it decided to scrap its round-robin financial
forecasting process in favor of a centralized planning system. AT&T
Shakes Up Management, Strategy
The carrier replaces its president and
looks to managed network services for new growth. But can it compete with HP and
IBM.
C&W to Employ
Bankruptcy Laws to Exit U.S. Market
San Francisco -- British telecommunications
giant Cable and Wireless, which has dual U.S. headquarters in San Francisco and
Northern Virginia, said on Monday that it will sell its assets in the U.S. to
Los Angeles-based technology investment firm Gores Technology for $125 million.
The company filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to
facilitate the sale. Over the past six months, the company has struggled to offload
its loss-making Internet-hosting unit. While industry experts
speculated
that an exit from the market could have cost Cable & Wireless as much as $1.7
billion, the company says that it has found a way to withdraw that would cost
no more than $520 million by first declaring bankruptcy and then selling the operations
to Gores. The deal is comprised of $50 million in cash and $75 million in the
form of a note.
New Microsoft goal: A computer in every car
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — First Microsoft set out to put a computer in every
home. Now the software giant hopes to put one in every vehicle, too.
About
the Author: Mitchell
Levy is President
and CEO of ECnow.com (http://ecnow.com/), a management
consulting firm helping companies grow with strategic consulting and targeted
business education. The strategic consulting component focuses on helping companies
choose and manage the business models they deploy, manage and evolve. Through
the Value Framework(tm) (http://ecnow.com/value/),
we share a tool that allows the practitioner to merge strategic planning with
business process reengineering and execution. For qualified firms, we offer a
free 2-hour initial consultation which will result in a high-level analysis of
the business models currently in place and those planned for the future. The business
education component involves custom programs as well as off-the-shelf programs
at Universities like San Jose State where we run the Silicon Valley Executive
Business Program (http://SiliconValleyPACE.com).
Read more about Mr. Levy: http://ecnow.com/ml_bio.htm
Public speaking appearances I've given: http://ecnow.com/speaking.htm
Read about ECnow.com's media coverage: http://ecnow.com/media
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