SBANC Newsletter
May
10,
2005
Issue
371-2005
QUOTE
"Information and communications technology unlocks the value
of time, allowing and enabling multi-tasking, multi-channels,
multi-this and multi-that."
-- Li Ka Shing
FEATURE
PAPER
The
Entrepreneur's Guide to the Strategic Use of the Internet
This
paper was presented by Harriet B. Stephenson, Diane L. Lockwood,
and Peter Raven of Seattle University at the 2003 Small Business
Institute Conference in New Orleans.
Abstract
Internet use is growing exponentially and the value of a Web site
for small businesses is becoming increasingly clear. Many small
businesses can use the Internet to develop their customer base,
to enhance public relations campaigns, to add value for customers,
and to meet firm objectives. There can be little doubt that almost
every small business should consider having a Web presence, but
what kind of presence and for what purpose(s) need to be articulated.
This paper is of potential use to Small Business Institute (SBI)
student consultants, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) participants,
entrepreneurship and small business instructors, SBI clients,
entrepreneurs, and small business owners in general. It identifies
potential uses of Web sites for small businesses, some Internet
strategies that have been especially effective for small businesses,
Introduction
Why should a small business consider an Internet presence, especially
after the "dot.bomb" episode of 2000? The short answer
is because the Internet is growing rapidly, even in the United
States. A longer answer includes the fact that global growth
is even faster. A recent report by the Department of Commerce
indicates that the rate of growth of the Internet in the U.S.
is about 2 million new users per month (National Telecommunications
and Information Administration [NTIA], 2002). More than half
the U.S. population is now online (143 million in September 2001).
Read the Entire Paper...
TIP
OF THE WEEK
The
Art of Disciplined Leadership
Question
and Answer with Fred Smith, FedEx CEO
What does it take to be a leader who creates a company and
the rides it to become a $25-billion-a-year business? Not many
people have all those skill sets.
The most important thing is continual learning and education and the discipline
to apply those lessons to your operation. The literature is all out there.
There's what you need to do to manage a company at start-up and then what you
need to do when it's transitioning into a medium0size company and so forth.
You just have to spend the time and effort to benchmark and learn the lessons
of history and then have the discipline to apply those lessons.
At your Strategy Management Committee meetings, you have people
who have been successful CEOs themselves. How do you create an environment
where you keep the best talent in the room?
There are three aspects to it. First, they remain CEOs. I don't look over their
shoulder. They have the authority to do what they need to do and the freedom
and the flexibility to do what they need to do. Second, I think they enjoy
being part of a very small group that now controls a company operating worldwide
and producing revenues north of $25 billion. That's a joy to them. Third, we
try to make it a very attractive financial arrangement for them.
How long will it take before you get this right in terms of integrating
the technologies of the various operating companies and making the
cross-selling happen just right?
Well, it is but we're a long way down that road. I would never say that we
have gotten to the end of the journey, but we certainly are on the downhill
segment of it. The technology integration has come an enormous way in the past
few years. The sales and marketing and customer experience issues are quantumly
better than they were a couple of years ago.
What are the new technologies that are going to take you to the
next level?
The profundity of the Internet is only beginning because it is providing, for
the first time in human history, a standardized, low cost, written and visual
medium that people can use to sell and source things without regard to time
and place. The kind of spontaneous combustion of economic activity that the
Internet provides bodes very well, absent some horrible thing in the terrorist
sector, for a lot of growth for a long period of time.
It seems that you're positioned very well as the whole pattern of
American manufacturing is changing with more going offshore.
There's no question about it. And essentially, what has happened is that in
the high-tech and high-valued-added sectors, in particular, but increasingly
in the lower valued-added sectors as well, the location of production is almost
irrelevant. It's simply just a cost/time trade-off, that's all. Because you
can make the stuff in Guadalajara or you can make it in Raleigh-Durham or you
can make it in Guangzhou. It doesn't make any difference. It's just a matter
of being able to calculate the cost and the transit cost because all that's
now visible. That's never been true before.
How big can FedEx be?
Well, it can be a lot bigger than it is today. One of my favorite
little stories was about Pogo the Possum who said, "If you want to be a great leader,
find a big parade and run in front of it." That's what we've been doing,
just running in front of the enormous fences.
How much longer are you going to do this job?
I like what I'm doing at FedEx for a very fundamental reason. It is an important
industry that sits right at the middle of almost everything else that's going
on. I'm a great admirer of Michael Dell. If he was sitting here, he would
tell you that absent the transportation abilities that FedEx and our able
competitors have pioneered, the business model that has changed the world
would not have been possible. Sam Walton and I talked about that on more
than one occasion. He didn't know if he was a good retailer, but he thought
he was a pretty good logistician.
How do you maintain work-life balance?
That's been part of the discipline I told you that you have to bring to your
job. Anybody who works themselves into exhaustion or incoherence doesn't
have the discipline to do their job to begin with. So I don't take the job
home with me and worry beads or anything like that.
And I have a very great, full family life. I have grandchildren. I still have
children in college. I have some kids who are athletes. I love to go to their
games and watch them play, as I have for all of the children. I play a lot
of tennis, trying to get my heart rate up. And I read a lot, particularly history.
The biggest influence on my management style comes not from current CEOs but
from historical figures whom I admire.
For more, go to www.chiefexecutive.net.
Price,
Robert, ed. Annual Editions: Entrepreneurship. 5th ed. Dubuque: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin,
2005. 30.
CONFERENCES
Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC)
The Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC) is holding its 2005
Conference at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower Portland,
Oregon
on May 21-22, 2005. FERC is developing a community of scholars interested
in the conduct of research on family firms. The conference aims to enable
scholars to design & develop
research projects that are theoretically sound, empirically rigorous,and
of practical significance to family firms.
For more information, visit: http://www.familybusinessonline.org/programs/ferc/
Promotion Marketing Association, Inc. (PMA)
Promotion Marketing Association, Inc. (PMA) will hold "Star Power
Agenda: Where Brands Are the Stars" at Universal Studios Cinema
at Citywalk and Universal Studios Hollywood at the Globe Theater in
Los Angeles, California on June 14, 2005. Focus will be placed on integrating
entertainment into your brand name.
For more information, visit: http://www.pmalink.org
International Council for Small Business
(ICSB)
The International Council for Small Business (ICSB) is
holding its 50th World Conference at the
Crystal Gateway Marriot in Washington, DC, USA
on June 15-18, 2005. "Golden Opportunities in Entrepreneurship" will
be the theme of the conference.
For more information, visit: http://www.usasbe.org/conference/2005-ICSB/index.asp
World Association for Case Method Research and Application
(WACRA)
The World Association for Case Method Research and Application (WACRA)
is holding its 22nd International Conference hosted by Mendel University
in Brno, Czech Republic on July 3-6, 2005.
For more information, visit: http://www.wacra.org/
Academy
of International Business (AIB)
The Academy of International Business will hold its 2005 AIB Annual Meeting
at The Québec City Convention Centre Québec City, Canada
on July 9-12, 2005.
For more information, visit: http://aib.msu.edu/events/2005/
CALL
FOR PAPERS
The CIBER Research
Institute
The CIBER Institute will hold its 2005 European Applied Business Research
(EABR) Conference and the European College Teaching & Learning (TLC)
Conference in Athens, Greece at the Marriott Hotel on June 13-17.
Submission Deadline: May 14, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.CIBERinstitute.org
International
Academy for Business and Economics (IABE)
The International Academy for Business and Economics (IABE) will hold its
annual conference at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
on October 16-19, 2005. All papers will be double-blind reviewed for publication
in
IABE journals
as
well as
for presentation at the IABE-2005.
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.iabe.org/
American Society for Competitiveness (ASC)
The American Society for Competitiveness (ASC) will hold its 16th Annual
Conference at The Double Tree Hotel in Falls Church/Tysons Corner,
Virginia on
November 10-12, 2005. Topics include, but are not limited to: traditional
business topics (including international trade, economics and finance,
human resources,
etc.) and competitiveness-focused
topics (including competitiveness issues pertaining to firm/industry/country/region,
outsourcing, and global competition).
Submission Deadline: June 6, 2005
For more information, visit: http://ecobweb.ecob.iup.edu/asc/Call%20for%20Papers%202005.htm
The National Collegiate
Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)
The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) will hold
its 10th Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon on March 23-25, 2006. The theme
for the meeting will be: "Strengthening
the fabric: Building capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship".
Submission Deadline for Session Proposal: June 10, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.nciia.org
North American Case Research Association (NACRA)
The North American Case Research Association (NACRA) will hold
its annual conference at the Sea Crest Oceanfront Resort & Conference
Center in North Falmouth, Massachusetts (Cape Cod) on October 27-29,
2005. Suggested topics include: Case Research for Theory
Building and Testing, Teaching with Cases, and
more.
Submission Deadline: June 13, 2005
For more information, visit: http://www.emich.edu/nacra/website/capecod1.htm
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Minority and Women's Division of USASBE invites you to submit
proposals for Coleman Awards of $500. These awards are intended to
continue an initiative
of the Minority and Women's Division of USASBE to generate teaching cases
focused on women and minority business owners.
Proposals should consist
of an outline of no more than two pages in length, and should cover
the
following:
