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Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities
Hagel has co-authored two especially important books (with Arthur G. Armstrong III and Marc Singer, respectively), the other being Net Worth "which builds on a number of the themes originally developed" in this volume. As Hagel and Armstrong point out, Net.Gain "systematically [analyzes] the economic drivers for value creation that exist on networks. It [uses] one particular business model -- the virtual community -- to illustrate the unique capabilities of digital networks and how these might be harnessed to create a substantial business with very attractive economics." The material is carefully organized within three Parts: The Real Value of Virtual Communities, Building a Virtual Community, and Positioning to Win the Broader Game. Hagel and Armstrong also provide a "Management Agenda", followed by excellent suggestions for further reading.In the Preface, Hagel and Armstrong acknowledge three inevitable limitations in writing Net.Gain: "The first arises from the profound uncertainties associated with evolving electronic networks and the myriad business models emerging in the primordial brew known as cycberspace....Second, the need to be concise has led us to make some generalizations about the likely evolution of virtual communities and the key principles for success....Third, we do not expect virtual communities to be the only 'form of life' on public networks. Indeed, many other commercial and non-commercial formats (including dictionaries, market spaces, 'web'zines,' corporate sites and game areas) will thrive on these networks as well." Working within these limitations, Hagel and Armstrong succeed admirably when describing the power and potential of the virtual community concept. Also, when explaining (a) how to target the kind of community to start-up; (b) the principles of a successful entry strategy, emphasizing the need to generate, engage, and lock in traffic over time; (c) characteristics of community organizations; and (d) criteria by which to select the right technology. Then in Part Three, Hagel and Armstrong shift their attention to explaining the fundamental ways in which the emergence and spread of virtual communities will alter traditional business.My strong recommendation is that this book be read first, then Net Worth. My further recommendation is that both books be used to formulate the agenda for a workshop or what is generally referred to as an "executive retreat" (preferably for two days and located offsite) with all participants required to read both books in advance. In their Epilogue, Hagel and Armstrong suggest that "the most radical potential impact of the virtual community may well be its impact on the way individuals manage their lives and companies manage themselves. Communities will serve to connect, much like the postage system and telephone before them. But they will go several steps further than the telephone or fax, as they help the individual to seek out and find. Souls in search of relationship, colleagues in search of teamwork,, customers in search of products, suppliers in search of markets: the virtual community might have a place for them after all." Those who share my high regard for Hagel's two books (co-authored with Armstrong and Singer, respectively) are urged to check out Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline as well as O'Dell and Grayson's If Only We Knew What We Know. Both can also help with the planning and implementing of the off-site workshop recommended earlier.
Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities
Many networked industry managers probably still do not know what they are doing, and this book points them to a clear direction¡XVirtual Communities. Contrary to the concept that the internet industry belongs to the high-tech sector, this book tells us the opposite. In other words, doing business in the vast ocean of the cyberspace cannot count on technology alone, because what is really important here is not how good your R&D ability is but how good your marketing ability is.This, in my opinion, tells almost everything. When the Internet was still in its infancy, technical research and development should be done to improve its function, but when it comes to commercialization, things become much more different, and complex. What we must deal with now is not only some computer languages or a set of codes, but also people without clear identities from places we cannot know all. From this point of view, nobody can claim a share only because they are technically competent. Marketing becomes crucial, however, marketing is a great challenge itself.From this perspective, this book is helpful in that it explains why managing virtual communities is crucial to any internet companies, gives good ideas as to how to come close to the desired targets and achieve market shares step by step, and backs up the writer¡s argument with economical theories and examples taken from experienced companies.
Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities
If you want to know how to create a virtual community this book cannot lack in your shelf. This is the first book that deals with the matter in a way it really ripens. The authors defend the thesis that you need to do three things: To generate the traffic, to concentrate the traffic and later to maintain the traffic of visits to your community. This book is for who is really working with a digital business or wants to set up one. Besides discussing each one of these steps, it finishes with a list of what to do for the management of a project. A must read!
Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities
If your objective is to gain a solid understanding of why and how the Internet has become what it is today then this is the text for you. In clear terms it explains the key components of a successful Web venture (commercial or otherwise) through the identification of browsers aggregating towards communities. That growth on the Net is not subject to marketing gurus or advertising execs but rather through an organic evolution. Sounds a bit esoteric? Not at all, the real benefit of this book is that it breaks down each statement and supposition into clear, defined terms that can be verified through real-life examples, examples which the reader can investigate on the Net for themselves (hey, you learn by doing!). There is a very useful section on the lifecycle of a Web community and how to create one. It stresses quick entry onto the Web and gives clear advice on what the entrant should aim for at each stage of the creation of their 'community'. Best of all, through what the authours call 'Fractal Breadth' it lays out how a 'community' can expand and branch out. The Final sections of the book are especially useful in that they outline how a traditional company's infrastructure should change to accommadate a Web presence. Clear, conscise, non-insulting to the intellect and focused. Great value for money.
Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities
Excellent ideas on Internet marketing and business strategies but did not need to write a book, ten pages would have been enough. Read a well condensed summary is less time consuming for the same amount of great information provided by the author.
Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities
Discounting for the excruciating style of management gurus in particular and McKinsey consultants in particular - the breathlessness, the weird taxonomies and the unnerving confidence in their own ingenuity - there is much to enjoy in this book. The logic of "virtual community" as a recipe for success on the Internet unassailable; even if there are inherent contradictions between the authors' definition of a "virtual community" and its role as a "business model". The authors' lack of economics qualifications is also painfully obvious. Nevertheless, for those interested in doing business on the 'net, there are many good suggestions; for those in a position to create a true "virtual community", the book provides a model worth aspiring to.