Product Description

In B2B Exchanges, the authors analyse the nature of the revolution that is occurring in 'Business-to-Business' (B2B) transactions as a result of the recent acceptance of the Internet by corporations. The book makes the startling claim that 'the Internet changes everything in B2B' and that most corporations will have to reinvent themselves over the next five years to remain competitive in the new economy. B2B exchanges, which are developing at Internet speed, are catalysts for this change and represent a tectonic shift in the way that business buy and sell from each other. The authors explain the development of these new exchanges and why such exchanges are the Killer Application in the B2B Internet Revolution. Table of Contents: Contents Preface Foreword Part 1 - Defining the B2B Market Space Chapter 1 What are B2B Exchanges? Chapter 2 B2B is Where the Profits Will Be, On-line Chapter 3 Why B2B Exchanges are Developing on the Internet Chapter 4 "It's NOT About the Technology, Stupid!" Part II - Anatomy of a B2B Exchange Chapter 5 Membership and Ownership Models Chapter 6 Trading Models Chapter 7 Strategic Partnership Models Chapter 8 Revenue Models Part III - Seven Secrets for Success for B2B Exchanges Chapter 9 Secret #1 Stay Focused - Specialize on a Vertical Chapter 10 Secret #2 Play to Win - the Need to Dominate Chapter 11 Secret #3 Maintain Commercial Neutrality Chapter 12 Secret #4 Ensure Transparency and Integrity Chapter 13 Secret #5 Add Value by Building a Virtual Community Chapter 14 Secret #6 Make the Right Strategic Partnerships Chapter 15 Secret #7 Operate as a Virtual Corporation Part IV - Future of B2B Chapter 16 2B or Not 2B On-line?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1706270 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Amazon.com Review
Business-to-business cyberdeals--or B2B transactions, in the parlance of the New Economy--are widely seen as the Next Big Thing. But Arthur Scully and William Woods, securities and investment professionals who have specialized in B2B for the past four years, believe the Net itself encourages an offshoot that will ultimately revolutionize the procurement, pricing, and distribution of goods and services. Today's technology enables complementary commercial enterprises to participate in a kind of online bazaar, they contend, "where multiple buyers and sellers can come together in a virtual trading space." In B2B Exchanges, they describe the makeup of several such existing networks and analyze the phenomena for prospective participants. To do so, they focus on four primary derivations: Trading Hubs ("buyer and seller communities for multiple verticals that have not yet embraced the Internet"), Post and Browse Markets ("a sophisticated Bulletin Board ... where parties negotiate a deal between themselves"), Auction Markets ("in which multiple buyers or sellers bid competitively on a contract") and Fully Automated Exchanges (offering "centralized ... competitive bidding between multiple buyers and sellers, with automatic matching of orders"). Recommended for businesses that appreciate the possibilities and want to take early advantage of them. --Howard Rothman

Review
Read this book cover to cover as it will change your company's whole on-line strategy. -- Dr James Martin, Author of Cybercorp

Read this book cover to cover as it will change your company's whole on-line strategy. --Dr James Martin, Author of Cybercorp

Stock exchanges are often revered as bastions of free markets, but the reality is that virtually all of them have been adept at squashing competition from anyone who would challenge their privileged position. Ever since the first stock exchange was founded in Amsterdam in 1611, these bodies have been owned by brokers who control the trading on the floor and make sure their interests are taken care of first.

For a taste of the clubby collusion that defines this world, consider the agreement that formally created the New York Stock Exchange in 1792. The brokers solemnly pledged that "we will not buy or sell from this day on for any persons whatsoever any kind of public stock at less rate than one-quarter percent commission." They also promised they would give preference to each other in negotiations.

Most other stock exchanges around the world have similarly operated as exclusive clubs of and for their members. Not until the mid-1970s did the New York and London stock exchanges relinquish their treasured fixed commissions, and only then because they were prodded to do so by the regulators overseeing them.

The chummy world of brokerage-owned exchanges is now being challenged like never before, as Internet technologies make it easier than ever to bypass the middlemen. The old ownership model for exchanges is no longer tenable in the Internet Economy, a point persuasively made by Arthur Sculley and W. William Woods in their book B2B Exchanges.

That truth has not been lost on the hundreds of entrepreneurs who are forming the new marketplaces on the Web that are at the core of the b-to-b phenomenon. Armed to the teeth with high-powered venture capital, they're creating independently owned online exchanges for every conceivable product, from cashews to industrial chemicals.

While these markets are wildly diverse, they operate on some common principles. For instance, most industries will accommodate no more than one Internet exchange. Whether plastics or medical supplies, this game is winner take most, if not all.

But to do that, an Internet exchange will need to have a neutral ownership structure that resists control by the industry giants. This is an imperative that runs contrary to exchanges in autos, steel and other markets that are currently dominated by large players.

Sculley and Woods' book clearly and comprehensively lays out the models for various types of Web exchanges. It's a confusing landscape, even for people who are immersed in it. B2B Exchanges offers an easy entry point for those in need of a primer, and it's a useful attempt at offering a deeper understanding of the exchanges at the heart of the b-to-b craze.

But the book has a few flaws. It doesn't offer any penetrating new insights into Internet exchanges, and it fails to adequately discuss the obstacles faced by the new generation of exchanges. A section on the impact of b-to-b exchanges, for example, fails to note that they make commodities out of products, a phenomenon that's creating great skepticism among many producers.

That reticence by suppliers, in turn, is one reason that b-to-b exchanges are struggling to achieve liquidity, or a critical mass of deal flow. Obtaining liquidity is probably the single biggest problem facing all Internet exchanges. But while this book recognizes that "liquidity is king," it doesn't address the topic in adequate detail.

Internet exchanges still have to prove they can deliver on their great promise for creating a more efficient interaction of buyers and sellers. It's a pretty good bet that at least some of them will get there.

From the Back Cover
"This definitive analysis of B2B exchanges shows the enormous impact they will have in revolutionizing the global economy." Ira Magaziner, Former Senior Policy Advisor to President Clinton for Policy Development

"An insightful early warning system for the B2B tsunami about to hit the economy." Rakesh Sood, Senior Analyst, Goldman Sachs Investment Research

"Read this book cover to cover as it will change your company's whole on-line strategy." Dr. James Martin, Author of CyberCorp

"This book provides a solid analysis of the emerging business-to-business E-commerce market and clearly identifies the role of B2B Exchanges in the market." Steven Kaplan, Neubauer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago

"B2B Exchanges are a truly exciting investment opportunity. This insightful book is destined to be an influential strategy guide for anyone thinking of setting up or investing in Internet based exchanges." Charles Finnie, B2B Senior Analyst, Volpe Brown Whelan & Co.

"Every CEO should read this book to understand the profound change that the Internet is effecting on business-to-business transactions in every industry, from industrial age manufacturers like General Motors to sophisticated financial services like insurance and reinsurance." David Brown, Former CEO of Centre Re and co-Founder of the Wired Atlantic venture capital fund

"Required reading for MBA students and business school professors interested in the future of E-commerce." David M. Cromwell, Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital, Yale School of Management

Customer Reviews

"Must read" for beginners
Beginners in B2B, read it now, before it is too late! This book is published at the right time - as B2B takes centre stage in the new economy (previously dominated by B2C or C2C). BUT THIS BOOK HAS A SHELF LIFE! Since the world is moving so fast. It is a good book for beginners (which explains why so many I know who bought this book are consultants and students trying to learn about B2B exchanges): 1. Business models in B2B world outlined 2. Critical success factors 3. Formula for creating a B2B

However, for those already in this line of business, you might find this book: 1. poorly written (errors, ideas begun but not developed) 2. too focused on trading exchanges which does not handle physical goods (e.g. equities, insurance, credit)

It would be a FANTASTIC book (perhaps in 2nd edition) if the authors could delve into the difficult ares of a B2B: 1. fulfillment of goods and services 2. settlement of payments through different financial instruments (e.g for bulk trades of paper/chemicals...) 3. PROVIDE non-US examples or case studies, especially for Asia

Caution: some of the internet terms/definitions used do not seem consistent with others I have read elsewhere. Just stick to the authors definitions to get thru the book.

Know your exchange, don't bother about the technology
As the title says, the book is about exchanges, i.e. neutral, many-to-many electronic marketplaces that focus on a particular industry or business area - very much like the stock markets.

It is a basic book about business concepts that does not require prior knowledge of the field. It explains the basics of B2B exchanges in terms of elements, revenue models, and success factors, but it does not provide any details about enabling technologies or about how to actually build an exchange. Instead, the reader is advised to outsource technology development and to form partnerships with technology providers. The authors have some background in Finance and provide references to the financial markets (Nasdaq etc.), which are very interesting and useful. The appendix outlines a number of recent examples of B2B exchanges in detail, such as Chemdex, MetalSite, or the National Transportation Exchange.

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an introduction to B2B exchanges as they are currently emerging. Readers with a technical background looking for information on how to stitch together the basic modules to actually build an exchange, however, might find the focus of this book being too limited.

There are better books to read......
If you are somewhat famailiar with B2B, this book will not tell you anything you do not already know. If you know nothing about B2B, this book will not give you enough solid info to fix that problem. This book was recommended to me as a good basic text on B2B. I read it and several others and I was very dissapointed in this book. The writing is clear enough, but the content is completely superficial. It is a retrospective look at what has already happened in B2B and offers the reader no intellectual model or frame of reference to understand why B2B has evolved the way it has, or how it might evolve in the future. It is written from the perspective of some gentlemen who set up the Bermuda stock exchange, relaized that they had just just set up a B2B net marketplace, and wrote a book about their exchange and some other people's exchanges. Frankly, you can learn a lot more about B2B eCommerce by reading the web sites of Ariba, Commerce One, and an article called "How It Works" that appeared in the Feb 2000 edition of Business 2.0. (available on their web site in the archives). After visiting these sites, you'll have more up-to-date, real-world information than you will get from the book

If after reading these sites, you want to get a more intellectual understanding of B2B, the best book that I have read is Digital Capital by Tapscott, et. al. It provides an excellent frame of reference for understanding what is going on in B2B, and gives you enough of a balanced understanding that you can discuss the subject intelligently. It also avoids the use of exclamation points, hyperbole, breathless prose and hand-waving that I have found in far too many books on this subject.

Again, if you're going to read only one book on B2B eCommerce, DON'T MAKE THIS IT! This advice also applies if you're going to read only 8 or 10 books on eCommerce. ;)