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Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?

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Subject:  Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?
Author:   textor:   view profile | all posts by this author | add to favourites
Date:   11:13:04 20 April 2006
 
You are surprised because?

As long as e-commerce was a fringe activity that the company was taking a punt on, sure it could fly by the seat of its pants.  But once the e-commerce activity becomes a major mart of the bottom line it is inevitably going to be brought into the main management structure and management controls.

These controls are mainly counter-productive of course, and often are pointless and frustrating.  However the root cause of them if you dig deep enough is the desire of the organisation to protect itself against rogue management.  In that respect it is no more different to a bank that wants to protect itself against a rogue trader, or a software house that wants to protect itself from rogue sales people.

I recall my experience with a major software house that shall of course be nameless.  in the early days it was known  as the yuppie software developer -  young and upwardly mobile.  Then with growth came loss of control, and I witnessed project managers taking home a 3 inch thick tender document and pricing it over a weekend.  I personally had to run a project that was so grossly underbid we ended up settling out of court.  

The controls that were subsequently  put in place were nothing less than a survival strategy.  I am sure that now ten years or more later, people have forgotten what the background was, and many of those controls have long lost their meaning and just become pointless form-filling exercises.  It is the job of management to rework and rebuold those processes from time to time.

Back to your manager jumping ship.  You already proved the lack of management professionalism in the organisations you cite because apparently there was no succession planning.   

This is an inevitable step in the maturity of the industry.  These organisations are going to go through a very painfull leaning process.   Embrace it - welcome it - it's more business for us.

Bob
 
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  • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, Ashley , 19 Apr 14:03
    I've been talking to a lot of digital marketers recently - all very talented and experienced online marketers (mostly 'Head of E-commerce', 'Head of Digital', 'Digital Marketing Di ...
    • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, textor, 20 Apr 11:13
      You are surprised because? As long as e-commerce was a fringe activity that the company was taking a punt on, sure it could fly by the seat of its pants.  But once the e-commerc ...
      • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, DomWynn, 20 Apr 18:12
        On 11:13:04 20 April 2006 textor wrote: Back to your manager jumping ship.  You already proved the lack of management professionalism in the organisations you cite because appa ...
        • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, WillRowan, 25 Apr 09:23
          Hi I'm not sure if we aren't just seeing the move of ecommerce marketing from the 'new & expert' fringes, into the mainstream. It's a mixed blessing. On the downside, it mea ...
          • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, anne_onymous, 25 Apr 10:48
            Im one of those people that Ashley is referring to. Im posting this anonymously as I dont want to offend/highlite the business that i left. The reasons that I left are similar t ...
            • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, RussellGould, 25 Apr 14:50
              Ashley look what you have started! My take - Integration has to happen and I for one look forward to the challenges it brings. I view it slightly differently in that it is ...
            • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, DomWynn, 25 Apr 15:56
              On 10:48:41 25 April 2006 anne_onymous wrote:  Great to see you reply! Just a couple of observations Incompetence/Frustration - those in charge were unable to identify the tr ...
              • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, JonBov, 25 Apr 16:10
                Is this a multichannel discussion? i dont think it is purely. I think its an industry growth issue. Ignore the multichannel aspect of the discussion and focus on the fact that peop ...
                • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, DomWynn, 26 Apr 01:36
                  On 16:10:49 25 April 2006 JonBov wrote: Ignore the multichannel aspect of the discussion and focus on the fact that people are getting pissed off and leaving because the people ...
                  • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, JonBov, 26 Apr 10:14
                    So you are saying that some of the best people in the industry are leaving  and going to Google, because they dont want to play by the rules? Sounds like the rules are wrong. Googl ...
            • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, textor, 25 Apr 16:49
              Above a certain magement level in any large business it stops being about technology, or business reality and starts being about people - i.e. politics.  People get on not becau ...
              • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, Colin Cooper, 26 Apr 10:28
                One of the themes of the last 2 Emetrics conferences in London has been about getting buy-in from the business and being able to demonstrate results. What we are talking about here ...
            • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, DeriJones, 28 Apr 16:13
              I like the cut of your jib! Words like measurement, ROI, analytical  - that's exactly what is needed IMHO. Certainly looking at my clients, the 'fuzzy' ones are not very good ...
    • Are we heading for a backward step in E-commerce?, Loz, 26 Apr 15:08
      I'm in a similar situation, the difference being I'm not a 'Head' but a humble Web Manager. I think it would be useful for me to be reporting to a Head of Online rather than the ...
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