Synopses & Reviews
As businesses continue to embrace digital tools and technologies to enhance customer engagement and develop digital channels, executives and leaders must understand the drivers of market success, the opportunities for change, and how enhanced leadership capabilities can help drive digital strategies.
Leading Digital Strategy explains what makes a digital operation successful and explores how to align organizational structure with wider goals and implement a customer-centric culture that supports multi-channel success. It covers key digital developments to help executives understand the consumer and media trends that are driving change.
Including strategies and input from 300 senior executives from major companies, Leading Digital Strategy gives readers the power to drive forward digital strategies and realize the lucrative opportunities for change.
Review
"Wake up and smell the differences in the digital world we now find ourselves in! Chris and James very successfully educate, challenge and stimulate smart thinking and practical actions. In particular, the excellent “killer questions” poke the reader into a thorough assessment of their business." Feilim Mackle, Sales and Service Director
Review
"This is for the executive who sees the opportunity in digital but who is frustrated or daunted by the practicalities of execution. Leading Digital Strategy provides us with a response, refreshingly framed in terms of the fundamental management and leadership disciplines required. It is a confidence-inspiring guide that reminds us that it is not technology, but established business best practice that drives success in the digital world. I wish I had read a copy three years ago." o2/Telefónica uK
Review
"This is a book for commercial leaders who are looking for a blueprint to drive their e-commerce strategy. It pulls together the key drivers for digital success into a handbook that is straightforward and easy to read. It will persuade you that e-commerce is an organizational more than a technical challenge." Alan South, former CEO - IDEO Europe
Review
"A book that demystifies “digital” for business leaders. No longer can senior business leaders afford to simply delegate digital leadership in their business, and this book provides a practical blueprint by which leaders can measure, monitor and drive their business irrespective of their technical knowledge - or lack of it!" David Langridge, Group Marketing Director - Fitness First
Review
"Moores law is not changing what is done in economy, but it is very significantly changing how things are done. For example, if you take modern cars today, more than 50 per cent of the budget for new cars is software. The same principle applies for selling products and services. Leading Digital Strategy is a must-read for those who want to stay relevant in the 21st century through strong e-commerce." Craig Hamer, Joint Managing Director - Dews Motor Group
Review
"A must-read for leaders of all levels, Leading Digital Strategy provides a clear leadership blueprint to ensure full commercial advantage is extracted from e-commerce strategy. It demystifies an area that most business leaders over thirty don't “get”. I believe most boards would benefit from reading this too, as it clearly pinpoints the key questions to ask to ensure value for money and the collection of key customer insights to underpin organizational strategy for the future. It is a handbook you will return to again and again." Jan Mühlfeit, retired Chairman - Microsoft Europe
Review
"For businesses to thrive in todays markets they need to engage effectively with digital. This book provides an effective framework that helps leaders drive their digital efforts in the right direction. It offers a blueprint that many leaders will find invaluable." Helen Pitcher, Chairman - Advanced Boardroom Excellence Limited
Review
"The speed of evolution in digital business is accelerating. However digitally savvy you may be, this is a useful blueprint for business leadership in the digital age." Paul Walsh, Chairman, Compass Group - former CEO, Diageo
Synopsis
Senior executives; customer service professionals; customer engagement professionals
Synopsis
For a business to thrive competitively in today's marketplace, it needs to have an effective e-commerce channel. Getting it right opens up new markets and opportunities; getting it wrong leads to declining revenues and profitability. To ensure effectiveness, business leaders and decision-makers must understand how e-commerce channels work to make the best strategic choices for their business. Drawing on experience in consulting to large complex organisations and ground-breaking primary research with senior executives from leading corporations, Leading Digital Strategy creates a convincing case for action and offers practical strategies, methodologies and models to improve the effectiveness of a company's online offering. It explores how to align organisational structure with wider goals and implement a customer-centric culture. With coverage of the key digital trends, tools and technologies affecting business today, it provides a practical framework for multi-channel success.
This book challenges leaders to become as fluent and creative in digital as they are in finance, sales and marketing, and equips them to choose the right strategy and the right people to make it happen. With strategies for improved operational performance and enhanced engagement from senior management, Leading Digital Strategy gives readers the power to drive forward effective digital initiatives and realise rewarding opportunities for change.
About the Author
Professor Christopher Bones is a people, organization strategy and change expert and an award-winning author of
The Cult of the Leader (Jossey-Bass). He has experience working with companies such as Cadbury Schweppes and Shell. Appointed the first non-academic Principal of Henley Business School in 2004, he is now Dean Emeritus at Henley, Professor of Creativity and Leadership at Manchester Business School, and Visiting Professor at the University of Aberdeen.
James Hammersley founded Good Growth, an innovative digital change consulting company, with Christopher Bones. Their clients include The Open University and Barclays Connector among others. Having worked on introducing digital performance to large organizations including Apple, he has witnessed first-hand the potential of digital to transform how companies listen to and respond to customers.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements Introduction
01 21st-century markets
Executive summary
Schumpeters gale
The retail sector
The sharing economy
Over-the-top propositions
Modern markets offer near-perfect competition
Why most organizations are not fit for purpose
The impact on sales and marketing effectiveness
A brave new world that needs embracing
The leadership agenda
Notes
02 Identifying the e-commerce opportunity
Executive summary
Why your new website is unlikely to fix the problem
The e-commerce credibility challenge
The organization as a root cause
Have consultants got better answers?
The dangers of data
The leadership agenda
Notes
03 Putting customers first
Executive summary
Customer insight
Test and learn
Deep data not just big data
Hypothesis creation
Customer to Action®
Who owns the digital channel?
The sales funnel
The leadership agenda
Notes
04 The new marketing model
Executive summary
The impact of technology on shopping
A convergent world
The marketing challenge
How digital changed spend
Why Google is the online high street
Traffic
The online brand
Content is king
Keywords
E-mail marketing
Social media: Role, opportunities and pitfalls
The leadership agenda
Notes
05 The business of e-commerce
Executive summary
So what does an e-commerce team do?
Commercial imperative
Managing the sales funnel
The leadership agenda
Notes
06 The growth organization
Executive summary
The organization model
Structures
The leadership agenda
Notes
07 Leadership in change
Executive summary
Engagement in a world of change
Being relevant to the workforce of the future
Leading change in a digital channel
So why wont people just accept it and move on?
The leadership agenda
Notes
08 Digital leadership in practice
Executive summary
Digital as a driver of growth
A route to a more focussed customer engagement
An opportunity to introduce new products and services
The importance of learning about customers
The challenge of changing customer behaviour
Talent is less about technical skills and more about business knowledge
The leadership challenge is change
And then, of course, theres the technology
The leadership agenda
09 The e-commerce leadership model
Executive summary
The e-commerce management model
Leadership choices
Final thoughts
Glossary
Index