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

e-business models for virtual organizations
Other markets are ‘butterfly shaped’: highly fragmented on
both sides. These are ‘neutral’ markets that lend themselves to
independent, third-party exchanges. They have the advantage
of being closer to true markets, such as stock exchanges, and
thus better at lowering prices and improving liquidity by
matching buyers and sellers. Most B2B exchanges today fit into
this category, and for good reason. Car makers and big
retailers already had tremendous power to drive down prices
and to extract value from supply chains. But in markets such
as food, print and paper, few have such clout. When there is
market fragmentation with enormous numbers of participants,
the costs of processing transactions are high for all
concerned.
3.3.2 Do you need an online community?
The Web is rapidly changing. Just a few years ago it was mainly
an information source and an e-mail tool. Today it is also a place
to shop, to contact customer services, and to interact with others.
Recognizing the opportunities afforded by this last activity,
many companies are choosing to build interactive communities
on their websites. Some start by providing for staff, some for
customers, and others for specialized sections of the community
such as the press, government bodies, and the like. What’s
emerging in common to these is essentially a virtual network
that allows two-way communication between interested
parties.
The marketing benefits of an interactive community were
discovered almost by accident by an early pioneer, TuneUp.com.
The TuneUp website was originally designed as a site where
users could go to get computer problems diagnosed. As an
afterthought, the site owners provided a message board and
chat facility. Before long, customers started using the message
and chat functions to swap advice and support to each other,
bypassing the provider. The provider had unwittingly created
value where there was none before. Use of the service boomed,
and attention was drawn to the phenomenon.
Noting the success of this type of operation, Frank Cohen, chief
technology officer for Inclusion Inc., surveyed over 200 organizations
to find out what kinds of community-building functions
or services they considered valuable. Forty-four per cent of the
replies rated the ability to download files as the most soughtafter
or valued function for building a community. But that
service was followed closely by the ability to create smaller
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