"Principles" describes tools and methodologies to change a "management-led" and supply driven company into a "customer-led" company. This part is illustrated by real word examples like Toys-R-Us Direct and Hewlett-Packard. "In a customer-led environment everyone in the company is responsible for the customers experience". The principles part also contains a very clear description of Internet failures and the six most common mistakes companies make online. It also explains the natural development from brocureware Internet sites to real e-business. There is also a definition of different e-customers the transparency of the Internet.
"Practice" is the translation of the principles into practice. What does a company have to do to change into an e-business. There is a practical list of changes the company has to make and agenda's of meetings to organize those changes.
"Prototypes" contains a number of examples business categories like grocery stores, magazine publishers, steel fabricators, real estate clearing house, book superstore, software company etc. These examples use real-life examples as starting point, and show the many possibilities to improve the customer influence by the Internet.
"Predictions" shows speculative future scenario's in which Internet is no longer a tool but a platform for work, community-building and individual empowerment. The examples are fictional but very insightful and expiring. They show the possible developments into the year 2010 of the different roles of people like job seeker, homemaker, breadwinner, teenager, student, patient etc.
For retailers the prototypes of a grocery store and a book store are very interesting. "Futurize your Enterprise" does not touch the challenge of fulfillment of online retailing, but there is much attention for the possibility to add information to merchandise, and the importance to focus on different customer groups. For groceries these different customer groups might be households with young children, different religions with there own food restrictions, people with allergies etc. For bookstores Siegel does a good job trying to improve Amazon.com.
"Futurize your Enterprise" is focused very much on the culture, the mindset, the approach and the customers.
Siegels book is in my opinion a must for every manager who is planning to develop E-strategies. It bridges the huge gap between "Internet evangelists" and "How to"-books. The book is now the number one present for clients of my company.
If you currently work to build websites for a company that hasn't quite gotten it, this book makes a good bolster, friend, and consultant you can send off to your executive team to help them see the path ahead.
At the very least, business folks can direct their executive teams and marketing and customer service groups and -- well, everybody -- to the Web Boot Camp Siegel hosts on the amazing companion website. That site, again targeted to busy business professionals, is a great service to web developers of all kinds.
If you can't get anybody at your company to look at the site or read this book and at least consider this sensible approach: Run, dear reader. Run like the wind. There are other companies out there who want smart people like you to help change the world.