CEO have to particularly careful

CEOs have to be particularly careful in the area of 13213 technology. According to "eMarketplace Hype, Apps Reality," a report from Forrester Research, many 13213 exchanges run on inferior software that fails to support the procurement processes required to make such exchanges truly paperless or hands-free for purchasers or sellers. The most successful 13213 exchanges so far have been those run by buyers to connect themselves with their primary trading partners, and they are mostly private.

That has prompted the Big Three U.S. auto makers and several foreign car companies to join forces in building their own electronic marketplace for buying auto parts. Leading Old Economy companies in industries ranging from chemicals to aviation to consumer products are pursuing similar initiatives. However, the Federal Trade Commission is taking a close look at the auto industry plan with an eye out for anti-competitive overtones, an issue that will likely shadow all such private B2B exchanges for some time to come.

One problem virtually all CEOs managing a transition to technology enabled commerce face is finding, hiring and retaining qualified personnel. According to a new survey from human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates LLC, nearly two-thirds of traditional companies believe their e-business activities trail those of their nontraditional competitors, such as dot.coms and startups. They cite people issues as one of the main reasons why.

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed in the Hewitt study singled out people issues such as attracting talent, motivating employees and managing people as among their top challenges to achieving e-business success. "It's not just about technology and speed to market," says Bob Gandossy, global practice leader at Hewitt. "Companies are finding that people are a key element to achieving success in today's eworld."

While it takes many things to attract and keep the best talent in the New Economy, Jim Kelly, CEO of United Parcel Service Inc., says that the message emanating from top management is an important and often overlooked factor.

"We have to provide our employees with a challenging and exciting environment, a sense of purpose, a sense of what we as a company are trying to achieve and how they are involved in that effort," Kelly says. "We are very fortunate in that we have very little turnover, and the consistency of our message is one reason why."

UPS has taken one of the largest blue collar work forces in the United. States and transformed it into a technology enabled New Economy powerhouse, with surprisingly little resistance. Forbes magazine said of that transition, "UPS used to be a trucking company with technology. Now it's a technology company with trucks." Equipped with a wireless computerized clipboard called a DIAD (delivery information acquisition vehicle), UPS drivers are playing a key role in the company's New Economy strategy.