STUDY SHOWS COMPANIES VIEW INTERNET BUSINESS DIFFERENTLY

Nearly eight out of 10 telecommunications executives say interactive multimedia is dramatically altering the way their companies market and sell products and services. Telecom leaders plan to use interactive multimedia to conquer markets, but their vision may be less clear to their employees handling the day-to-day impact of huge technological, regulatory and market changes.

These findings come from a survey of U.S. and Canada (North American) executives on interactive multimedia technologies use by business, government and other organizations. Conducted by the Alliance for Converging Technologies, the survey, drew responses from 2,000 executives in 10 industries, including 145 leaders in telecommunications.

The Alliance surveyed executives from local and long distance telephone companies, cellular and paging services. Among the key findings:

• While telecom companies are lean and attentive to customers, they are less likely than other organizations to convey a clear vision of the business to employees—a vital imperative in an industry characterized by constant change.

• Six out of 10 telecom executives, 60%, believe their organizations will rely on on-line services to sell products and services. Seven out of 10 telecom executives, 65%, say their companies will rely heavily on on-line services to promote and advertise their services by the end of 1997.

• In contrast, only three out of 10 (34%) of all other executives from a variety of industries believe their companies will sell on-line by the end of 1997. Product promotion fared better, with nearly five out of 10 (45%) executives saying their companies will market and advertise on-line.

• Despite their enthusiasm for on-line marketing and sales, telecom executives are only slightly more receptive than other industry leaders to using the Internet as a primary market for their services. Thirty-four percent of telecom executives value the Internet as a primary market, versus 29% of other industry leaders.

At the outset of Web-mania, telephone companies were slow to compete against Internet service providers. Realizing their mistake many are now rushing to sell Internet access, and to develop Internet products and services.

Four organizations will perform differently in a networked economy: Internetworked Enterprises, Forced March, Titanic and Industrial Age.

Internetworked enterprises have interactive multimedia strategies and high performance characteristics including a management vision, internal culture promoting continuous learning, and an environment empowering employees to make decisions that meet customer needs.

A second group is engaged in a “Forced March” to implement multimedia businesses, but scores low on high performance management characteristics. “Titanic” companies enjoy smooth sailing thanks to high performance characteristics, but risk being sunk by more nimble competitors that are making a strategic shift to networked interactive multimedia. “Industrial Age” organizations, rooted in the smokestack era, lack both commitment to new technologies and healthy management practices.

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