[8] 2002 e-business-strategies-for-virtual-organizations

Creating virtual cultures for global online communities
of e-business sites where information on company statements
suggests that e-business success depends on the knowledge
about the e-business environment help by the CEO or manager–
owner. This included the appreciation of capabilities of
e-business facilities, and an understanding of the potential of the
Internet for creating business value. In the case of LRW, the CEO
of the company mentioned that he has been involved in
computers ‘since the days of CPM/DOS operating systems’. The
CEO, with the help of his daughter – an employee with a
bachelor degree in commerce – takes care of the day-to-day
management of the website. According to him, his technical
knowledge helps him in negotiating good deals with his chosen
ISP and that he had to scan the market and compare prices
before settling on the present ISP. Although the website redesign
was outsourced, the company considers the ability to make
changes on a routine basis in-house very important and the CEO
expressed his eagerness to receive input from clients and visitors
in aspects of site usability.
Virtual organizing within the Internet requires a continuous
reorganization of business processes, infrastructure components
as well as product mix in order to respond to changes in
markets. Translating strategic decisions into product features,
marketing information and online presentation, and introduction
of new online facilities require changes to site content and
format on a routine basis. This also involves appreciation of the
soft issues of the Internet environment, such as customer
perception of value online, brands management, and how to
capture and sustain the interest of visitors and ensure revisits.
An alternative to the existence of in-house knowledge about the
e-business environment is to form a strategic alliance with
external sources of the requisite knowledge base, for example
with a local ISP or e-business solutions provider. Dstore.com, an
Australian online retail business, provides a typical example of
such an alternative where the company has formed a technological
alliance with the national telco, Telstra, to develop stateof-the-art
e-business infrastructure. Dstore.com‘s technology
alliance with Telstra represents one feature of virtual organizing
aimed at adding to the limited scope of an SME and to provide
a competitive edge for its e-business operations.
Strategic visioning for the internet
The ability to articulate a strategic vision about the company’s
use of the Internet is another important factor of success. This
251