Showing papers on "Value proposition published in 2000"

Customer‐perceived value in industrial contexts

Abstract: Although customer‐perceived value is discussed widely in the literature, few empirical studies have been conducted due to an absence of operational measures. Reports on the development of measures and tests two customer‐perceived value structures using data collected from industrial customers of the information technology industry. The findings generally support both structures and provide empirical support for a value proposition with 13 value drivers. Furthermore, results indicate that most of the 13 drivers are assessed in a similar way by industrial customers of three service sectors surveyed, ICE (information, communication, entertainment), distribution and finance. Flexibility and responsiveness – two service‐related benefits – are important value drivers for all the business customers surveyed. Relationship value drivers are assessed the most differently in two of the three sectors studied, finance and ICE (information, communication, entertainment).

Discovering potential and realizing value from information technology investments

Abstract: Information technology (IT) value has been measured at various levels of analysis, yet few authors would contend that the search for value has reached a point where practitioners and theoreticians are satisfied with its outcomes. We present a new perspective that emphasizes the importance of understanding where potential value lies and how best to relate it contextually to the measurement of the firm's realized value across multiple levels of analysis. We develop the idea that complementary assets (especially business process design and human capital) influence the firm's realization of value, using concepts such as locus of value and value conversion contingencies. Expanding beyond earlier process models of IT value, which begin with IT expenditure, our analysis of IT value emphasizes the consideration of potential value for an IT investment both in ex ante project selection, and ex post investment evaluation. We illustrate and validate the application of our framework using IT investments in a variety of business domains.

Value Nets: Breaking the Supply Chain to Unlock Hidden Profits

Abstract: The Power of Value Nets. Value Nets and Business Design. Value Proposition: Crafting the Offer. Scope: Deciding Where and How to Play. Profit Capture: Casting the Net. Strategic Control: Staying in the Game. Design for Execution: Realizing the Net. Lessons from the Innovators. Appendix. Index.

Measuring and Selling the Value of Logistics

Abstract: In order to receive adequate rewards for the firm's innovations and performance in logistics, managers have to measure and sell the value that is being provided to customers. Value, once determined, must be sold to customers and also to top management within the firm. There are several value metrics mentioned in the literature, ranging in financial sophistication from customer satisfaction to shareholder value including: customer satisfaction, customer value‐added (CVA), total cost analysis, segment profitability analysis, strategic profit model and shareholder value. While customer satisfaction and CVA may lead to the achievement of higher shareholder value, the specific connection to changes in value for the customer or the supplier are typically not made. The other measures focus on the measurement of value in financial terms. However, financial measurements such as total cost analysis only capture part of the value created by logistics. One of the problems faced by logistics professionals over the years is that logistics has been viewed simply as a cost that needs to be reduced. Segment profitability analysis and the strategic profit model are more complete measures of the impact of logistics, but they are used to evaluate historical performance and lack measures of risk and the time value of money that are included in shareholder value.

Enterprise knowledge management: the data quality approach

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Who Owns Information? 3. Data Quality in Practice 4. Economic Framework of Data Quality and the Value Proposition 5. Dimensions of Data Quality 6. Statistical Process Control and the Improvement Cycle 7. Domains, Mappings, and Enterprise Reference Data 8. Data Quality Assertions and Business Rules 9. Measurement and Current State Assessment 10. Data Quality Requirements 11. Metadata, Guidelines, and Policy 12. Rule-Based Data Quality 13. Metadata and Rule Discovery 14. Data Cleansing 15. Root Cause Analysis and Supplier Management 16. Data Enrichment/Enhancement 17. Data Quality and Business Rules in Practice 18. Building the Data Quality Practice

Building Digital Brands

Abstract: On the World Wide Web, the brand is the experience and the experience is the brand. In one industry after another, aggressive Internet upstarts are putting established brands at risk, creating very strong brand recognition and enjoying explosive visitor growth (Exhibit 1, on the next spread). The reason may have less to do with the established brands themselves than with their managers. Marketers know what a brand is in the physical world: the sum, in the consumer's mind, of the personality, presence, and performance of a given product or service. [1] These "3 Ps" are also essential on the World Wide Web. In addition, digital brand builders must manage the consumer's on-line experience of the product, from first encounter through purchase to delivery and beyond. Digital brand builders should care about the consumer's on-line experiences for the simple reason that all of them--good, bad, or indifferent--influence consumer perceptions of a product's brand. To put it differently, on the Web, the experience is the brand. Consider an example. If a consumer buys lip-stick from a retailer in the physical world and has an unpleasant instore experience, she is more likely to blame the retailer than the manufacturer. But if the consumer purchases that same product from Procter & Gamble's Reflect.com Web site, her wrath is more likely to be directed at P&G. Thus the on-line marketer's objective shifts from creating brands--at least as defined in the off-line world--to creating Internet businesses that can deliver complete, and completely satisfying, experiences. Yet many marketers, particularly those whose experience is limited to the off-line world, lack a coherent framework and concrete methods for achieving the broader objectives of on-line brand building. These marketers need an approach for aligning the promises they make to consumers, the Web design necessary to deliver those promises on-line, and the economic model required to turn a profit. These three elements--the promise, the design, and the economic model--together form the inseparable components of a successful Internet business, or what might be called a digital brand. Just another channel? One reason marketers lack the ingredients to fashion successful on-line brands is a tendency to underestimate the opportunity itself. Too many incumbent companies continue to view the Internet as just another distribution Channel--one that exists to sell or generate leads for off-line products--not as a new medium with its own capabilities and requirements. At best, the traditional view leads decision makers to under-estimate the opportunity for building dominant digital brands in literally thousands of categories across the globe, from mutual funds to frozen foods, from cars to vitamins (Exhibit 2). In many categories, new digital brands, including the Web extensions of physical-world brands, will supplant the "landed" (physical world-only) brands that have dominated the marketplace until now. The Internet, in other words, is throwing these categories up for grabs. The value propositions of products and services offered in the physical world are essentially limited "point solutions" that meet only part of a consumer need or want. [2] A credit card, for example, allows customers to pay for goods and services, and this is a point solution for a need that occurs in a broader context, such as shopping or traveling. Point solutions are primarily defined in terms of functional benefits, such as the assortment in a bookstore or the rates and terms of a credit card. Today's consumers also care about process and relationship benefits--for example, helpful hints from bookstore clerks and special deals from credit card issuers. But a company's ability to deliver process or relationship benefits is often limited by the myriad practical and economic constraints of the physical world. Many of these constraints are removed by the Web, so companies that want to build winning digital brands must dramatically expand the benefits they offer their customers. …

Unlocking the Supply Chain to Build Competitive Advantage

Abstract: Customer demands on manufacturers and retailers are increasing relentlessly. Spurred by the Internet's “click it and get it” value proposition, a growing number of consumers and business buyers want customized products, convenient ordering, and rapid fulfillment. Delivering against these rising expectations is not easy, however. This is especially true for traditional or incumbent companies that have additional cultural obstacles to overcome. Companies have mastered the challenges of speed, convenience, and reliability and are gaining competitive advantage.

Some Value Propositions of Online Communities

Abstract: Online communities are an integral part of the Internet. However, it is not entirely clear exactly what the value propositions of online communities are, and how firms should leverage them. This paper is an attempt to describe some of the value propositions of online communities and to suggest control structures that firms should employ to maximize community value. The general trend that emerges is that, under the conditions described in the paper, firms should take an arms-length approach to the management of online communities.

Value, knowledge, and the human equation:

Abstract: As implied through the issues presented herein, firms must carefully align the value proposition of the IT function with that of the organization. We suggest that firms will increasingly migrate towards strategies and modes of operation that support the cus-tomization of products and services on a mass scale. A key ingredient in accomplish-ing this objective is the creation of an IT function that can deliver systems and technologies that are customized yet modular. Delivery of such systems depends largely on the adoption of processes and development of personnel who can rapidly adapt and configure IT to changes in business conditions. Failure to deliver these systems can result in unrealized corporate objectives and, in some cases, strategic drift.

ERP in the Internet Economy

Abstract: This paper discusses the future of Enterprise Resource Planning and (ERP) in the Internet Economy. In the Internet Economy, ERP as a distinct entity is giving way to a much broader value proposition that effectively fuses different forms of business applications and services. Back-office and front-office applications within an enterprise will come together, along with applications and services for value-chain collaboration between business partners.

21st Century Business: Managing and Working in the New Digital Economy

Abstract: 1 A New World Born: It Is More Than Just Technology Foremost an Age of Information Economics The Search for a New Value Proposition Globalization and Digitalization Political Realities Implications and Actions Endnotes 2 Waves of Learning, Waves of Best Practices Rise of the Competency-Based Enterprise How Knowledge Management Is Transforming Commerce Business in a Process-centric World Understanding How Waves of Change Work Implications and Actions Endnotes 3 Who Are These Knowledge Workers? Introducing Familiar Roles and New Functions Where They Came From How Are Knowledge Workers Leveraged Today? Knowledge Management, Value Chains, and K-Strategies How Knowledge Management and e-Business Work Together Implications and Actions Endnotes 4 Changing Work: Role of the Internet The Issue of the Net What Makes the Internet Different Issues, Assumptions, and Questions A Sober View of the Future Implications for Success Endnotes 5 Digitizing Supply and Value Chains The Value of Viewing Everything as a Supply Chain The Emerging New Value Chains Special Role of Communications and Computers Some Realities Endnotes 6 Choosing a Future for Your Company The Future of the Business Enterprise Making Trends Work for the Firm Nature of Management Practices Cyber Manager or Knowledgeable Leader? Nature of Measured Success An Issue of Leadership and Management Endnotes Appendix A: On Keeping Current: A Strategy and Some Useful Reading Some Great Reading Index

SPECS: A New Approach to Strategic Planning for E-Commerce Systems

Abstract: This mini track position paper proposes a new paradigm for strategic planning for e-commerce systems (SPECS) and outlines the many issues that such an approach has to encompass. These include concepts such as virtual and electronic markets and the lifecycle of emarkets; supply chain management, value chains and exploiting virtual value chains; relationships within the market such as intermediaries and cybermediaries and value-based electronic market structures. All of these are pulled together in the SPECS framework and the problems of planning for and managing such e-commerce strategies reviewed. Strategic Planning for e-commerce Systems (SPECS) Why should strategic planning for e-commerce systems (SPECS) be different from strategic planning for IS? One of the major reasons is that SPECS involves collaborations among multiple organisations with several complex economic, strategic, social and conflict management issues as well as major organisational and technological factors. This new business paradigm is one where core business processes may need to be rethought and redesigned, new organisational forms and interorganisational forms may need to be developed and where the emphasis will be on collaboration rather than competition within the virtual market. Driven by such phenomena as the World Wide Web, mass customisation, compressed product life cycles, new distribution channels and new forms of integrated organisations, the most fundamental elements of doing business are changing and a totally new business environment is emerging. (El Sawy et al, 1999; Ticoll et al, 1998; Wigand and Benjamin, 1998; Jansen et al, 1999; Rayport and Sviokola, 1995; Burn and Barnett, 2000). Planning and managing such systems requires an integrated multi-dimensional approach across the ebusiness (Kumar and Crook, 1999). As a first step the following questions need answering: • What business should we be in? • What are our current core competencies? • What are the opportunities for new products or service lines? • What are the opportunities for new business channels? • What do consumers ideally want to buy? • What is the most effective value proposition in the short, medium and long run? • What roles should we play—make, sell or service— and who are my customers? • Who are our competitors, and how do we need to be positioned? • What is our operating model? • With whom should we partner/network? The answers, if they are guided by a deep understanding of the economic implications and opportunity of ebusiness, will produce a very different picture of the company from the one in place today. This needs to be incorporated into a compelling, enterprise-wide vision and translated into an effective strategy for e-commerce development. For many companies, achieving that vision will require building greater expertise in the strategic and operational application of technology which, for better or for worse, is driving the rapid evolution of e-business but that technology focus must be tempered by applying cross-disciplinary, cross-functional and cross-industry perspectives and expertise. This is essential in an eeconomy where industry boundaries will be shaped by customer needs rather than by core competencies. This paper suggests that a comprehensive approach to SPECS will involve: • E-Market Analysis • E-Chain Analysis • E-Alliance Analysis

The internet as an opportunity to rethink the role of the intermediary

Abstract: The advent of the Internet and the attending increase in the value chain inter‐linking has been understood as a harbinger of the death of the intermediary. This paper uses Williamson's (1975) forms of specificity (human‐, site and physical asset‐specificity) and the components of the traditional value proposition (content, context and infrastructure) to suggest that the function of the intermediary will be changed, but not eliminated. In this discussion, I draw on the cases of Volvo and Electrolux. Both companies have recently launched web sites in order to regain control of the interface with customers, or context, which thanks to the Internet, can now be virtualised. This allows their intermediaries to focus on their specific advantage, namely handling the activities related to the delivery and logistic infrastructure. The main implication for firms is to re‐examine the various steps along their value chains with a view to bringing in‐house, virtually, those components where the intermediaries had speci...

Value assessment of IS/IT service provision within organizations

Abstract: This paper presents a means-ends objectives network that can be useful in assessing value of IS/IT service provision in organizations. This network is developed following Keeney’s (1992) method of value focused thinking. This paper also highlights the importance of engaging in value focused thinking by presenting step by step application of the concept. A total of 71 interviews were completed; the preliminary analysis recognizes two areas where adequate consideration of value propositions will help in improving IS/IT service provision. Currently, an instrument is under development using this framework for more generalizable results. Such an assessment will help in remedying the bottlenecks, if any, in improving the competence of the IS/IT functional unit. 1. WHY ASSESS THE VALUE OF IS/IT SERVICE PROVISION? Assessing the value of information systems/information technologies (IS/IT) service provision has been the preoccupation of many researchers. Some have considered strategic management as a way forward, particularly Bowman’s (1974) notion of “rent” generation. Others have grounded themselves in industrial organization theory (Porter 1980). More recently, many researchers have been informed by the resource-based view of the firm (Rumelt 1984) as a means to understand the fundamental processes that transform resources into capabilities (for an application to design firm level capability, see Andreu and Ciborra 1996). Most studies focusing on the IT function level service provision have, however, considered user satisfaction, information quality, and individual/organizational impact as key determinants of success of organizational IT operations. DeLone and McLean (1992) identified six categories of IS success: system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact, and organizational impact. In addressing a similar issue, our intent is to take the debate a step further by considering concepts rooted in the strategy literature to assess the ability of an organization to deliver IT services to the users. Our aim is to conduct such an assessment by focusing on the value attached by the users to the ability of the IS/IT function in delivering IS/IT services. The concept of a value proposition focuses on benefits that end-users anticipate they will receive from service provision (Keeney 1999). In addressing the notion of value of IS/IT service provision, two classes of definitions need to be considered. The first homes in on the notion of “value proposition.” Values, according to Keeney, are “principles used for evaluation” (1992, p. 6), which are essential to assess “actual or potential consequences of action and inaction.” With respect to IS/IT service provision, the value proposition can be defined as the net benefit of the service received from the IT function within an organization in the process of doing one’s current work and planning for future use. The second class of definition relates to the concept of an “ability of the IT function.” We term this concept IT competence; that is, the ability of an enterprise to successfully leverage IS/IT related business processes and individual skills to achieve an objective (cf. McGrath et al. 1995). In the context of our research, it is the combination of abilities and resources that allow an organization to provide better IS/IT services or to garner rents (Bowman 1974; Selznick 1957). Advantages gained from such par excellence service stem from proprietary assets that are largely intangible and tacit (Prahalad and Hamel 1990). The objective of this research is to elicit such idiosyncratic resources and abilities (i.e., IT competencies) and assess the value of these resources and abilities from the users’ perspectives.

The value matrix

Abstract: Companies recognise that their ability to become world-class competitors is based on the establishment of their strategies. This paper concentrates on the development of a new framework for locating the firm’s value as a competitive weapon in a market segment. In terms of contribution, the Value Matrix enlaces the firm’s vision with the target market’s needs. Moreover, this framework provides more flexibility to conventional businesses as well as new businesses working in dynamic interaction with their existent environment.

Developing and Branding Innovative Internet-Based Delivery for Financial Institutions

Abstract: The growth of the Internet as a marketing medium presents most "traditional" retail financial institutions with significant challenges. A"traditional" financial institution can be defined as one that offers one more products or services to individual consumers or small businesses primarily through physical branch offices or through a field force of agents. The common theme is that marketing, sales and service are conducted through high cost, physical and highly personalized channels. Were the products and services being sold complex, high value, high priced or high margin, could such physical distribution channels be economically justified? However, given the power of the Internet as a low-cost, massmarket marketing, sales and service channel, the growth of the Internet provides a major challenge to those institutions with extensive physical and human distribution channels. For"traditional" financial institutions, the problem becomes even more complex because of the need to transition from the "old" model of physical distribution and personal service to the "new" model of Internet-based direct marketing and delivery. 'Traditional" products and services have one set of features, benefits, cost structures and pricing. Internet-based products, because of the nature of the delivery channel, have a significantly lower cost and delivery structure. The "traditional" products represent the source of current profits and funding for the development of new products. However, by offering Internet-based products with different pricing structures, the"traditional" institution runs the risk of cannibalizing its existing profit stream as customers migrate to lower-cost offerings. Yet, at the same time, new competitors, unencumbered by the existing infrastructure, can offer lower-cost Internet-based products and steal customers from the traditional competitors. Were these the only issues that needed to be addressed, they would present management with significant challenges. Still another level of complexity is added by the fact that "traditional" financial institutions consider one of their primary assets to be their brand. For most "traditional" financial institutions, the brand has been established over the period of many decades. While the brand may include negative connotations based on such real-life experiences as poor service, inflexible policies, high prices or mistakes, most financial brands retain strong connotations of trust, stability and security. All of these positive attributes of brand ran be of great value to "traditional" financial institutions in developing their Internet-based value propositions and marketing programs. While branding is clearly important for products and services, it takes on special import for providers of services. With physical goods (for example, soft drinks or athletic shoes) the variability of the product is easier to control than with services. Assuming the product meets the manufacturers' quality control standards and the actual physical product meets or exceeds the consumers' expectations, the brand promise has been met. The physical product, combined with the consumers' expected experience, as generated by the marketing and advertising, should be complementary. With services (in particular financial services), the brand promise needs to be supported by the actual service experience. This is particularly important in financial services, which, since they involve people's money, are a high-involvement, high emotion product. Consumers' interactions with their financial service providers are generally highly repetitive and long-term, measured in years or even decades. For some products, for example, transaction accounts, there are hundreds if not thousands of contacts or interactions each year. Other products, for example, investments or insurance, may have fewer interactions but have larger economic or emotional value at stake. The quandary that most traditional financial institutions face with branding on the Internet is the fact that success in the off-line (or physical) world does not represent a guarantee of success in the Internet (or virtual) world. …

Harnessing the Potential of Wireless Local Area Networks

Abstract: Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are becoming more widely recognized as a general-purpose connectivity alternative for a broad range of business customers. In this paper, the author has discussed the current state, the value proposition and the future potential of WLANs under four broad heads: business applications, technology options, network topologies, and prevalent industry standards.

Power Retail: Winning Strategies from Chapters and Other Leading Retailers in Canada

Abstract: This work elaborates on strategies used by retailers to outperform their competition. This work offers methods for customer segmentation based on needs, development of a competitive advantage in value proposition, and insights into better execution in managing people, technology and costs.

Defining a Value Proposition for Information Security

Abstract: A recent conversation with a colleague and friend presented a challenge. What is the value proposition of information security. How does a security professional, whether a consultant, a manager of information systems, or a software developer prepare a cost/benefit analysis or economic justification for one's product or services? After about 15 years in this business, I believed I knew the answer. My friend who has a few more years in the business had just set a trap for me.

Creating a value proposition for collaborative engineering systems within an application service provider model

Abstract: Globalization has spawned an increasing number of geographically dispersed teams, the success of which is dictated by the ability to effectively communicate and share information. Meanwhile, the rapidly changing Internet economy places unparalleled importance on faster time-to-market development cycles for products and services. Providing organizations with new ways to improve communications, collaborative engineering systems increase productivity, while reducing project costs and duration. The ability to allow employees to share information across organizational boundaries is a significant step in producing effective teams. Additionally, information sharing between collaborative teams may be ideally supported by an application service provider (ASP) model. ASPs provide common information and centralized application services for collaborative engineering systems. The objective of this investigation is to create business value for collaborative engineering systems. Bringing business value through strategic, organizational, and technological issues, collaborative engineering systems may spread across educational, financial, industrial, as well as business sectors. Businesses must perform strategic, organizational, and technological analysis to achieve successful distributed collaboration. A business plan, featuring a marketing report and an abstraction of a collaborative engineering system, will highlight the thesis. The business plan will also reveal the business model and strategies of the company ieCollab (intelligent electronic collaboration) Partners, a team of graduate engineers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thesis Supervisor: Feniosky Pena-Mora Title: Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Electronic Commerce Business Models: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract: The recent boom in the new economy of internet based commerce has created a large number of firms with a variety of business models that aim to leverage the power of the internet to further their business goals. In this paper we attempt to provide a conceptual framework for understanding e-commerce business models on a number of important dimensions - nature of consumer activity, nature of e-commerce activity, target customers, targeting strategy, revenue generating modes, procfactfcerwce delivery modes, payment collection modes, operating modes, market places, advantage mechanisms and domination characteristics. We also examine means of improving value proposition and net-friendliness for e-commerce activities and identify areas where e-commerce models have not been explored or fully exploited so far. Since the range of economic activities on the internet is vast and growing, newer models and opportunities are likely to emerge through improvements in internet technologies as well as innovations in their application to business contexts. Hence any conceptual framework on e-commerce business models, including our own, can never be comprehensive.

Defining A Value Proposition For Information Security… The Complete Picture

Abstract: Over the last couple of issues of the journal, I've explored the concept of defining a value proposition for information security. I've discussed the concept that for most of us, our work resides in a cost center and every expenditure must be justified. So, how do we go about obtaining the senior level support for our projects? We do this by providing a value proposition for the effort.

Development of an Integrated IT Research Methodology.

Abstract: 2 CIO, MIS, Hilti Inc., USA, E-mail: burgjay@us.hilti.com; . ABSTRACT: Information technology can no longer viewed as a strictly business supportive mechanism incurring expenses to an organization. With the advent of the global economy concept, it is rather thought to be the vehicle that will carry the business into the future. The paradox lies in determining what makes technology sense in conjunction with business sense. The purpose of developing an integrated IT research methodology is to properly guide the business into the future using right technology, right strategy and right organizational behavior. The proposed methodology is divided into three sub-methodologies, e.g., mapping technology to business functions, researching new technology and measuring IT effectiveness. Implementation of these sub-methodologies in an integrated way ensures a standard uniform research approach for the evaluation and adoption of new technology as well as the alignment of technology with the business vision. Additionally, it favors the gradual transformation of IT infrastructure and competency that prepares the organization for the future, resulting in a more predictable cost and value proposition for technology.