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MBA in a Book

Radical E: From Big Biz to E-Biz

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About the Book

Radical E profiles nine of what the the best Web sites on the Internet, showing how these Internet entrepreneurs, including rock star David Bowie, designed successful sites that survived the hype. Provides lessons for anyone looking to design a successful Web site.

Over the past five years, the business world has been tossed into a tumultuous Internet whirlwind. Dot.com start-ups came and went. Billions of dollars were made overnight and lost almost as quickly. As the dot.com dust settles, the real race for e-business and Internet dominance is just beginning, and the companies best equipped to succeed are big, established businesses. Corporate titans like General Electric, General Motors are flourishing online because they’ve embraced a radical approach to e-business, emphasizing nontraditional thinking and a willingness to turn left when conventional wisdom says turn right. In the best tradition of Built to Last and Radical Marketing, Radical E: Winning Strategies in the Race from Big Biz to E-Biz provides a series of compelling case studies that offer today’s top executives a blueprint for embracing the Internet and building e-business success.

Joel Kurtzman and Glenn Rifkin have put together a "best practices" approach to help you turn your company into an Internet powerhouse. Rather than offering academic platitudes and theoretical jargon, Kurtzman and Rifkin focus on the transformation taking place inside real companies with real corporate battlefields to cross. Their diverse and eclectic list of cases, which includes GM, Enron, GE Plastics, Nortel Networks, Southwest Airlines, Staples, Progressive Corporation, and Victoria’s Secret, shows how these distinct players from many industries have surged ahead of the competition and are demonstrating extraordinary results online.

Here, you’ll see that with two key ingredients–passion and focus–you too can become a radical player. The authors demonstrate that the Internet doesn’t replace but rather reinforces excellence; rejects the old and outmoded; and rekindles excitement. Most important, they point out that the real New Economy is just now being shaped and it is not too late for companies to jump in and achieve e-business success.

As with any successful case study, lessons abound. Radical E suggests, for example, that the CEO must lead the e-business effort; that a clear plan to profitability should be conceived as the Internet blueprint is being created; and that radical companies must seek "disruptive customers" who lead them to needed change and advancement.

Radical E offers a view of e-business through the eyes of corporate visionaries like Jack Welch, Leslie Wexner, John Roth, and Jeffrey Skilling. Add lesser-known but no less visionary thinkers like GM’s Mark Hogan and Staples, Inc.’s Jeanne Lewis, along with unexpected Internet gurus like David Bowie, and you find a compelling mix of radical action items to bring up at the next Monday morning strategy meeting.

Whether your Web presence is well-established or you are seeking to create a larger, more profitable Internet agenda, Radical E provides you with the winning strategies to move quickly and deftly online.

REVIEWS

"The Networked Economy is not about overfunded, overvalued start-ups run by recently minted MBAs. It is about the biggest business opportunity in decades. Radical E skips the hype (thank God) and gets right to the strategies and ideas that matter. It’s packed with insider information on how smart managers are reshaping their thinking to take advantage of the Web, the most powerful business tool in our lifetime."

– James Daly, Editor in Chief, Business2.0 magazine

"In Radical E, Kurtzman and Rifkin invite us to 'learn from the best' nine players who did e-business right by combining traditional business methods with innovative thinking and ignoring the hype. The case studies are fascinating; the lessons, widely applicable. These nine did it right. In Radical E, Kurtzman and Rifkin show us how."

– Shailesh Mehta, CEO, Providian Financial

"Radical E is reason for rational exuberance. At last, a provocative yet pragmatic guidebook for global 2000 companies rushing to cross the chasm to bona fide e-businesses in one leap."

– Michael Ruettgers, Executive Chairman, EMC Corporation

"Radical E reveals the winning strategies of companies who have successfully embraced the Web. The authors examine exactly what it takes to survive in today’s competitive online economy–from the tough decisions to the amazing innovations. This book will help you learn today’s new rules."

– George Conrades, CEO, Akamai