Business in a Virtual World Exploiting Information for Competitive Advantage

Information undoubtedly represents one of the key competitive weapons of the next decade, whether it takes the form of tracking the shopping habits of individual customers or changing the price of airline tickets minute by minute to take advantage of changes in demand. The implications for management are huge yet most companies are still at the early stages of trying to understand how they can extract maximum value for their information assets. This book looks at the impact of this information revolution and shows how companies can exploit information for competitive advantage.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction: Information and the Virtual Business PART 2: THE VIRTUAL ECONOMY The Information Revolution Comes of Age Information is the Raw Material of the Future What Do We Mean by the Virtual Business? PART 3: BUILDING A VIRTUAL BUSINESS The Economics of Difference Who Owns Your Customers? Electronic Commerce Exploiting Your Products' Infosphere Prosumption Knowledge is your Only Asset Keep it Complex The Virtual Value Chain Reducing Time to Market Them That Have, Get: Achieving New Levels of Business Performance PART 4: MANAGING A VIRTUAL BUSINESS Valuing Your Information Asset Dealing with Technology Organising Your Organisation

FIONA CZERNIAWSKA is Founder and Managing Director of Arkimeda, specialising in research and consultancy for consulting companies. She is also Director of the Management Consultancies Association's Think Tank in the UK, and lectures at London Business School and other European business schools. As a management consultant of long-standing experience, she has worked with many top companies. She is the author of Management Consultancy - What Next?, Management Consultancy in the 21st Centuryand Corporate Speak.

GAVIN POTTER is a partner in Coopers & Lybrand's management consulting practice where he specialises in assisting clients with the business aspects of information technology. He has a particular expertise in ensuring that information technology solutions serve the needs of the business and was responsible for the development of Coopers & Lybrand's benefits realisation methodology.