Futurize Your Enterprise: Business Strategy in the Age of the E-customer [Hardcover]

Two years after its release, the second edition of David Siegel's Creating Killer Web Sites remains a best-selling guide to building sites that are driven by design aesthetics rather than technological prowess. Now, in Futurize Your Enterprise, Siegel takes off his Web designer hat and turns his attention to developing a corporate online presence aimed at meeting consumer needs. He cautions readers to throw off their old bricks-and-mortar mindsets and focus not on "how to build a Web site but how to build a Web business." Siegel divides the book into four parts--"Principles", "Practice", "Prototypes," and "Predictions"--that moves from "tools and methodologies you'll need to transform your management- led organisation into what I call a customer-led company", to fictional case studies that show how these techniques may be applied today, to speculative future scenarios "in which the Internet is no longer a tool but a platform for work, community-building and individual empowerment."

His suggestions include establishing an autonomous Web division that takes the medium more seriously than itself, encouraging (if not insisting that)all employees interact directly with online customers, and factoring in participatory or community aspects that actively attract those who share demographics or specific interests. Some may find that Siegel's recommendations suffer because of his repeated use of fictional case studies to make his point. However, those looking for new ideas will surely find some here. Futurize Your Enterprise is for Web masters, business people and the many that Siegel won over through his earlier books. --Howard Rothman, Amazon.com

"There has to be a basic guide to business in the e–commerce age and this is probably the best around." (Campaign, 19th December 2000)

"...A readable and relevant book, Siegel outlines how to avoid the six strategic traps." (Long Range Planning, Vol 33, 2000)

"..what makes Siegel worth reading is his presentations style, his depth of exploration and the work he puts into practising what he preaches. ... As always, Siegel has produced a masterpiece."

- "I would recommend this book to anyone setting up or refining an on-line business. It'll teach you things that years of 'realworld' retailing never could".

"This book will help any business manager who does not want to be left behind."

"...A readable and relevant book, Siegel outlines how to avoid the six strategic traps."

"There has to be a basic guide to business in the e-commerce age and this is probably the best around."

Praise for Futurize Your Enterprise "David Siegel has taken the New Economy to an exciting new level. Futurize Your Enterprise is packed with management insights and a philosophy that celebrates life online." – Eric Schmidt, CEO, Novell "Siegel′s principles are a roadmap to the future. The limiting factor online is not the pace of technology but the pace of perception." – Jane Metcalfe, founder, Wired Ventures Inc. "David Siegel′s vision of the future is a gift. When I look forward to the changes ahead, this is what I envision. A future where companies co–exist with customers in an expandable, renewable relationship. Managers: you will love this book!" – Susan Rockrise, Worldwide Creative Director, Intel "The next revolution on the Internet will be a management revolution. David Siegel shows how your customers will change your company, whether you were planning to reorganize or not!" – Steve Schaffer, CEO, Mystery.net "David Siegel uses a people–centered, commonsense approach to take the Web from the realm of hype into practical reality." – John Porter, Chairman, Telos Group About the companion web site This book comes with a companion web site, where you can get all the tools you need to construct a customer–led web strategy. It′s designed to go hand–in–hand with this book. Come to www.futurizenow.com and get the rest of the story.

Futurize Your Enterprise Business Strategy in the Age of the E–Customer E–Customers are changing your business. Look at their faces on the cover of this book (there are even more inside). They are real people. They are e–customers with a message: follow our lead. How to respond? In Futurize Your Enterprise, renowned web strategist David Siegel shows how your best strategy for future success will be to grab your customers and hang on tight! Futurize Your Enterprise challenges you to rethink your approach to the Web. It teaches you how to harness the exponential power of e–customers and take your business in new directions. You′ll see how leading–edge companies like Microsoft and Dell are now organized around customer groups rather than products and services. And, you′ll conduct the six most critical meetings in your company′s history, transforming your organization into one that listens to customers in new ways. Siegel shows that the Web isn′t about hits, eyeballs, or banner ads – it′s about people doing e–business together. Real people having real conversations. When your employees join those conversations, you tap into the same energy source that fuels all the hot Internet start–ups. Winning in the future means letting e–customers change your company from the outside in. You′ll learn how to avoid the six strategic traps that keep you from succeeding online, why e–commerce is a false goal, and why the power of the Web lies in people, not technology. You′ll read a series of eye–opening case studies that show exactly what it takes to go with your customers in the direction they′re headed. Think the Internet Gold Rush is over? After reading this book, you′ll see that it′s just getting started! Futurize Your Enterprise takes you into the year 2010, where e–customers will change business and society in ways you can′t imagine. Whether your company has 100 or 100,000 employees, this exciting vision of the future will guide you to success in the 21st Century.

Praise for Futurize Your Enterprise "David Siegel has taken the New Economy to an exciting new level. Futurize Your Enterprise is packed with management insights and a philosophy that celebrates life online." – Eric Schmidt, CEO, Novell "Siegel′s principles are a roadmap to the future. The limiting factor online is not the pace of technology but the pace of perception." – Jane Metcalfe, founder, Wired Ventures Inc. "David Siegel′s vision of the future is a gift. When I look forward to the changes ahead, this is what I envision. A future where companies co–exist with customers in an expandable, renewable relationship. Managers: you will love this book!" – Susan Rockrise, Worldwide Creative Director, Intel "The next revolution on the Internet will be a management revolution. David Siegel shows how your customers will change your company, whether you were planning to reorganize or not!" – Steve Schaffer, CEO, Mystery.net "David Siegel uses a people–centered, commonsense approach to take the Web from the realm of hype into practical reality." – John Porter, Chairman, Telos Group About the companion web site This book comes with a companion web site, where you can get all the tools you need to construct a customer–led web strategy. It′s designed to go hand–in–hand with this book. Come to www.futurizenow.com and get the rest of the story.

DAVID SIEGEL is a leading Internet strategist. He is the author of the bestseller Creating Killer Web Sites, which has been translated into 15 languages. His Secrets of Successful Web Sites is the bible of new–media project management. Siegel has been published in the Harvard Business Review and is an internationally sought–after public speaker. In working with clients like Hewlett–Packard, Lucent, Sony, Office Depot, NASA, and numerous start–ups, he has built a reputation as an expert in planning long–term web strategy. Siegel is chairman of Studio Verso, a web–design and strategy firm, and president of Siegel Vision, an E–strategy company (www.siegelvision.com).