Productivity and customer engagement are like eating right and exercising to stay fit. It is never too late to start such movements, nor is ever appropriate to shed such habits or lapse into ways of lesser business health. No corporation can afford to ignore optimal deployment of resources or its customers.
We are happy to start a new weekly series on financial health tips. How can organizations stay fit in business terms? How can investors spot such stocks, so that they too enjoy the fruits of good health? Drop in at this web page every Tuesday, and work out in our mental gym.
The focus for this first of a new series is on e-commerce. Why should stock investors bother with such an operational detail? The answer lies in the preponderance of the Internet, and its growing importance as well. There is scarcely time to learn the ways of new hardware and systems before the Internet makes the next giant leap.
The benefits of e-commerce are clear, so what is the big deal for stock investors? The analogy is of a person who breaks diets and exercise routines for the flimsiest of reasons. Stocks will not benefit from e-commerce unless traditional expenses are brought to nearly zero. Does a company with web conferencing still spend large amounts of extravagant executive travel? Are savings from Internet marketing lost in mass media spending as in the past?
It is no longer a matter of generating profits alone, but of using less capital in the bargain as well. Securing market share is old hat: how much does a company spend in the process? Pick stocks which use e-commerce for better business results and not just for fashionable window dressing.
Let us hear your thoughts below:
