Guiding the Flocks - - WebBusiness Magazine Aug. 1, 2000

<body bgcolor="WHITE"> <table width="730"> <tr><td colspan=3> <p align=right> <font size="-1" FACE="Verdana,arial,helvetica,geneva"><a href="0800_toc.html" target="_top">Aug. 2000</a> Issue of <a href="http://webbusiness.cio.com/" target="_top">WebBusiness Magazine</a></font> </P> <FONT color="black" FACE="arial,helvetiva,geneva" size="3"><B> <img src="http://webbusiness.cio.com/archive/images/wb_0800_guiding.gif " width="400" height="150" alt="Guiding the Flocks" border="0"> <BR CLEAR="ALL"> The CEO of Round Table Group explains why gurus are vital in the new economy. </B></FONT> <BR CLEAR="ALL"> <BR> </td></tr> <tr><td valign=top width=150> <BR> <BR> <B><font color="black" FACE="arial,helvetiva,geneva" size="3">BY EMELIE RUTHERFORD</font></B> </TD> <td width=40> <br></td> <TD valign=top width=370> <img src="http://webbusiness.cio.com/archive/images/letter_teal_serif_b.gif" align="left" width="30" height="35" alt="B">usiness gurus are everywhere. Schmoozers Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar are now touring the U.S. for Peter Lowe's Success 2000 conference, sermonizing to thousands and pocketing commissions in the tens of thousands. The July/August issue of <i>Brill's Content</i> dons a picture of Napster founder (and music industry foil) Shawn Fanning with the title "teen guru" emblazoned across his chest. And motivator Anthony Robbins rubs elbows with President Clinton and members of two royal families. But to find the highest concentration of gurus - mentors and entrepreneurs who have gained the respect of many - one needs look no further than today's web businesses. It is there that countless analysts, strategists, management consultants, investors, authors, architects and designers are clamoring to guide businesses on the path toward e-business. <BR><BR> Russ Rosenzweig has built a successful business out of this chaos. As the CEO of Chicago-based <a href="http://www.round.table.com" target="new">Round Table Group</a>, a consortium of e-business thought leaders, he brings together tactical business consultants and academic gurus who focus on new economy issues. Round Table draws on its stable of experts to build custom consulting teams for e-businesses. And every few months, Round Table calls all hands together for intense, three-day conferences, called E-commerce Bootcamps. <BR><BR> Rosenzweig talked to WebBusiness about the many types of gurus claiming an expertise in e-business, and which of those, in his opinion actually do what they say they can do. <br><br> <b>WB:</b> You and many of your Round Table employees have MBAs and consulting experience. Why did you choose to take a backseat at Round Table and focus your energies on spotlighting the work of academic gurus? <br> <b>ROSENZWEIG:</b> Because we saw a great opportunity. We sensed that these gurus are underutilized in business strategy. Why wouldn't an executive or entrepreneur want to hear from PHD faculty members who spend their lifetime working on the very issues they want to learn about? <br><br> <b>WB:</b> Why do you think there so many successful e-business pundits today? <br> <b>ROSENZWEIG:</b> We are in a very unique time in history, what [Intel's] Andy Grove calls a "strategic inflexion point." We have both foggy uncertain markets and new technologies. Business consultants and strategists don't necessarily have the answers. <BR><BR> You can view business strategy four ways. The first is strategy as positioning. When speed of change is slow and magnitude of change is incremental, a business management guru like Michael Porter can aptly advise companies how to position themselves. <BR><BR> When strategy is about discovery, however, like what's happening now in the biotech industry, the speed is not critical, but the magnitude of change is disruptive. In this second scenario, strategy is driven by the research. <BR><BR> The third common approach to strategy works when there's a high-velocity speed of change, and the magnitude is fast and incremental. Companies in this situation - working on semiconductors and cell phones, for example - simply speed up, and do what they're currently doing faster. <br><br> <b>WB:</b> So what view of strategy is most applicable to today's web businesses? <br> <b>ROSENZWEIG:</b> Now, while the magnitude of changes is disruptive and speed of change is high, strategy is about foresight. So there's much turbulence. The big five and the strategy consulting firms like McKinsey don't have the answer. It takes something different. That's where we think gurus come in. They have the foresight and visionary knowledge. <br><br> <b>WB:</b> Who are some of Round Table's gurus? <br> <b>ROSENZWEIG:</b> Prominent university professors like Mohan Sawhney, Erik Brynjolfsson and Hal Varian, who have demonstrated expertise in the practical application of their scholarship. <BR><BR> While they're great at presenting radical new models and paradigms, however, we don't think they have the complete solution. That's why we have VCs, management consultants, and investment bankers on hand. And we have strategists who are disciples of those academic gurus, yet better for getting data and advice from sources and helping companies synthesize their businesses to implement strategies. <BR><BR> Web businesses who need to understand the big picture [that these gurus expound] work on a transactional methodology. They don't have much time, so they need to know what they can do in a short amount of time. <br><br> <b>Later this month:</b> A guide to twenty-one 21st century gurus </td> <td width=20> <br></td> <td width=150 valign=top><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <table width="150" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 bgcolor="#CDCDCD"> <tr> <td width="150" align="CENTER" valign="TOP" valign="TOP"> <br> <table border=0 cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0 bgcolor=#CDCDCD width=130> <tr> <td align="CENTER" valign="MIDDLE"> <table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 bgcolor=BLACK width=100%> <tr> <td align=center><font face="Arial,Helvetica" SIZE="-1" color=WHITE><b>Advertisers</b></font></td> </TR></table> </td></tr> <tr> <TD> <NOLAYER> <IFRAME SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/idg.us.cioarchives/;pos=right;sz=150x800;tile=4;ord=?" width="150" height="800" frameborder="no" border="0" MARGINWIDTH="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0" SCROLLING="no"> <A HREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cioarchives/;abr=!ie;pos=right;sz=150x800;tile=4;ord=?"><IMG SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cioarchives/;abr=!ie;pos=right;sz=150x800;tile=4;ord=?" border=0 height="800" width="150"></A> </IFRAME> </NOLAYER> <ILAYER id="layer2" visibility="hidden" width=150 height=800></ILAYER> </td></tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr></table> <br> <br> <TABLE BORDER=0 cellspacing=0 width=590> <tr><td valign=top width=150> <script language='javascript'>idgAd150x56('idg.us.cio.cio/webbusiness');</script> <BR CLEAR=ALL> <a href="http://www2.cio.com/archive/webbusiness/080100_guiding_content.html?printversion=yes" target=_top> <IMG src="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/1328/be7bc81ddae262/www.cio.com/archive/images/cio_serv_ctr_2.gif" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="13" BORDER="0" ALT="Printer Friendly Version"></a> <form method="post" action="http://www2.cio.com/archive/wb_email_article_form.cfm" target=_top> <input type=hidden name="filename" value="080100_guiding.txt"> <input type=hidden name="date" value="Aug. 1, 2000"> <input type=hidden name="title" value="Guiding the Flocks"> <input type=hidden name="folder" value="archive"> <input type=hidden name="by" value="Emelie Rutherford"> <INPUT type="image" value="submit" src="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/1328/57003afca89cac/www.cio.com/archive/images/cio_serv_ctr_3.gif" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="13" BORDER="0" ALT="Email Article to a Friend"> </form> <A HREF="http://subscribe.cio.com/archive.html" target=_top><IMG src="http://www.cio.com/archive/images/cio_serv_ctr_5.gif" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="13" BORDER="0" ALT="Subscribe to CIO"></A> <BR CLEAR=all> <BR> </td> <td width=30> <br></td> <TD valign=top width=410> <br><BR><BR><BR> <H4>On WebBusiness:</H4> <script language="JavaScript">  </script> <form name="selecter" target = "_top"> <select name="select1" size=1 onchange="go()"> <option value=none>Select Below <option value=none>------------------- <option value="http://webbusiness.cio.com">WebBusiness <option value="http://webbusiness.cio.com/metrics/">Metrics <option value="http://discuss.cio.com">Discussion Forum <option value="http://webbusiness.cio.com/insider.html">WebBusiness Insights Newsletter <option value=none>---- Research Centers ------- <option value="http://www.cio.com/research/behavior/">Cyberbehavior <option value="http://www.cio.com/research/ec/">E-Business <option value="http://www.cio.com/research/intranet/">Intranet/Extranet <option value="http://www.cio.com/research/career/">Web Professional ---Career--- <option value="http://www2.cio.com/forums/careers/wm_calendar.html">Events <option value="http://www2.cio.com/forums/careers/index.cfm">Jobs <option value="http://www.cio.com/xnet/">xNet </select> </form> <BR> <BR> <center> <br clear=all><P> <a target=_top href="http://www.cio.com/"> <img border=0 vspace=16 src="http://www.cio.com/images/cio_url_logo.gif" alt="http://www.cio.com/CIO"></a> <P> <FONT SIZE=-1><P>WebBusiness - Aug. 2000<br> <a target=_top href="http://www.cio.com/copyright.html"> &copy 2000 CXO Media Inc.</a><BR></FONT> <BR> <BR> <font size=-1> http://webbusiness.cio.com/archive/080100_guiding.html </font></i> </center> </td></tr> </table>   <LAYER SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adl/idg.us.cioarchives/;pos=right;sz=150x800;tile=4;ord=?" width=150 height=800 visibility="hidden" onLoad="moveToAbsolute(layer2.pageX,layer2.pageY);clip.height=800;clip.width=150; visibility='show';"></LAYER> </body>