What is the biggest change the Internet has brought to business?

It has made it way too easy for businesses to act before they think—for better and for worse.

Curriculum Vitae

Codirector of the MIT Media Laboratory’s e-markets special interest group

Writes a bimonthly column, "Brave New Work," for Fortune

Editorial board member of Sloan Management Review

Cocreator of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Science for Development prize

Coinventer of PF Magic’s (now The Learning Co.) best-selling line of virtual pets

Books

Serious Play: How the World’s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate (Harvard Business School Press, 2000)

No More Teams!: Mastering the Dynamics of Creative Collaboration (Doubleday Currency, 1995)

Contact

Schrage is available for speaking arrangements through the Leigh Bureau at 908 253-8600. For consulting, contact Schrage directly at schrage@media.mit.edu.

Patricia B. Seybold

Customer-centric Web business strategy

Claim to Fame

Seybold’s book Customers.com made the BusinessWeek, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, BN.com and Amazon.com best-seller lists. With her e-business consultancy, the Patricia Seybold Group, she manages communities of business visionaries and technology pioneers that meet to exchange best practices. She also conducts workshops in which companies work with customers to design business processes and applications. She speaks frequently at conferences and executive briefings.

Words of Wisdom for Today’s Business Executives

"What’s the one factor that’s the best predictor of success or failure in e-business? It’s whether your company has a high-level executive who’s responsible for the quality of your branded customer experience. This executive needs to have enough clout to change business policies, pricing, channel strategies and product priorities for your entire business—not just your e-business."

Q&A

What are some common misconceptions about e-business?

Seybold: One is that e-business is primarily about customer acquisition and lowering the cost to serve customers. Successful e-business practitioners realize that e-business is about making it easy for customers (both prospects and existing customers) to do business with you, creating and sustaining a wonderful and seamless customer experience and building customer retention.

Another is that there are e-customers. There are no e-customers. There are only customers. Sometimes they want to do business with you online. Sometimes they want to interact with you face-to-face or by phone.

Who is the most influential person in the new economy?

Jeff Bezos at Amazon. He has the courage to continue to push the envelope despite rampant skepticism about his business model.

What is the biggest change the Internet has brought to business?

The Internet has turned the world outside in. Customers are now in control. There’s a customer revolution afoot. Customers, empowered by the Internet and mobile, wireless devices, are now dictating our business practices and policies, our distribution strategies and our product development agendas. It’s great!