Electronic Commerce, A Business Strategy Checklist, by Jack Shaw

Unfortunately, it`s not that simple. Electronic Commerce is a strategic business management issue, not a technology issue. Do the I.S. people need to be involved? Of course they do. But the important decisions are the business decisions—and those require the understanding, commitment, and active participation of senior managers and owners.

First, let`s clarify what exactly electronic commerce is. It`s the use of digital (electronic, paperless) technologies to improve the relationship between an organization and its trading partners. For a gold course, trading partners include members and other customers, suppliers of goods (e.g., equipment, apparel, food and beverages), suppliers of services (employees, course construction and maintenance staff, pool maintenance personnel, etc.), banks, insurance companies, and governmental agencies.

Any outside entity with which your organization exchanges information in order for you to conduct business is a trading partner—and therefore a candidate for the application of electronic commerce technologies, which include bar coding, e-mail, CD-ROMs, electronic data interchange (EDI), and the Internet.

The challenge for golf course owners is to determine the best mix of technologies to use with their various trading partners to achieve their strategic objectives. All organizations must start by understanding the strategic impact of electronic commerce on their businesses. To help you do this, we have developed a checklist of questions, adapted from Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad. Here we try to show specifically what they mean for golf course owners:

Factors that may speed the use of electronic commerce in the industry are the benefits/increases in productivity, reduction in costs, acceleration of business process cycle times, and the opportunity to gain competitive advantage by providing a higher level of service to the marketplace. Factors that slow the adoption of electronic commerce may include lack of familiarity with the technologies, limitations on trading partners` abilities to implement the technologies, and unwillingness to change established business methods.

Who or what is driving the trend toward electronic commerce? Is it technologically minded members and customers looking for a higher level of service, golf course companies trying to increase their profitability, or competitors trying to gain market share?

Who is exploiting electronic commerce? Which golf course companies specifically are using electronic commerce to gain competitive advantage in the market? How well is it working for them now? What is their prognosis for the future?

What technologies are propelling electronic commerce, and how are they being used? Are golf courses using bar coding to track equipment sales and inventory? Are CD-ROMs being used to recruit new members? Is EDI being used to exchange purchasing information with key suppliers? Is the World Wide Web being used to let members book tee times?

What technologies are our competitors choosing? Who are our key competitors currently? How are they using electronic commerce now? How do they plan to use it in the future? What new competitors may appear as a result of their ability to use electronic commerce?

Which companies are in the lead? Will they stay there? Will they build on their lead or rest on their laurels? Who has the most to gain and to lose? Who may capture market share digitally that they haven`t been able to with old business methods? Who is currently dominant in the market who may suffer economically if they fail to modernize?

How will electronic commerce affect our members` and customers` needs and demands? As more golfers move to the Internet, will they use it to find us? Will they expect video tours of our courses and facilities? Will they expect to make tee times and dinner reservations? Will we be able to compete with on-line stores in price and service? How might it impact our business model? Where do we really make our money now? How might that change? Will pro shop sales continue to be profitable? Can we afford to continue to provide four-star meal service? Are swimming pools and tennis courts a thing of the past? What new product and service opportunities might electronic commerce create?

Can we outthink our competition? Can we come up with ways to use electronic commerce technologies to provide new benefits that will draw and hold more members and repeat customers? Can we offer products or services that weren`t practical previously that will augment our cash flow and profitability? And, finally, what are our options for learning more or influencing the use of electronic commerce?

There are many. Perhaps you should start by attending the author`s presentation called Electronic Commerce and Digital Business Transformation at the National Golf Course Owners Association Technology Conference in Atlanta, September 28, 1998.

There he will explain electronic commerce in more detail. He will review the results of surveys of electronic commerce use in the golf industry today and plans for the future, and he will show how you can develop a business strategy to let your organization gain maximum benefits from electronic commerce as we enter the Digital Economy of the 21st century.

copyright eCommerce Strategies, Inc., 1998