BusinessWeek Issue 1035 — Lead Story: Joining forces with e-commerce’s army of ants, Terry Gou sets his sights on becoming an internet “flying tiger.”
Taiwan’s most globally powerful manufacturer is undoubtedly Foxconn. To build a new strategic layout, Foxconn has been in negotiations to cooperate with Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce platform — leveraging internet commerce to capture what matters most in the digital age: information and personalization. Four years ago, Foxconn expanded upward from its original three C’s (Computers, Communications, Consumer Electronics) by adding three more (Automotive Electronics, Channels, Content). Now, by bridging the gap between virtual and physical worlds, Foxconn has officially entered the internet industry.
As someone born in the latter half of the 1970s, I lived through the era of the dotcom bubble. Back then, coverage of the internet — in outlets like Business Next Weekly — was dramatic to the point of absurdity, filled with sensational neologisms engineered to capture attention. Yet what cannot be denied is that if you took those reports and placed them ten years later — today — almost everything they predicted has come true. The bubble burst, but many companies rebuilt themselves, found the right business models, and created new value.
Today I can find tens of thousands of resources online, shop in virtual stores, and write blogs to share my thoughts and feelings. In the span of a decade, the internet has become a basic necessity of life — when I come home and can’t get online, something feels missing.
As the internet deepens its role in daily life, the entire internet industry has entered a phase of high growth. The time to think carefully about all these transformations is now. History’s great current is sweeping us into an entirely new era. Let’s observe carefully.
Key points from the article:
Two forces to master in the internet economy: Information and Personalization.
“The winners of the internet aren’t determined by scale, but by capability and flexibility.”
Integrating content and information, connecting logistics and payments, creates new value.
7 Stages of E-Commerce Transactions:
- A (Access): Connect to the internet
- B (Browse): Search for products and exchange information
- C (Credit): Complete payment
- D (Delivery): Get products to the buyer
- E (Enable): Installation and training
- F (Fix): Maintenance services
- G (Guarantee): Warranty
A to C is the virtual world; D to G requires the physical world. Bridging C and D creates entirely new value.
Three Keys to Success:
- A winning strategy
- An unshakeable commitment to win
- A scientifically grounded direction of development
Winning team theory — The Barrel Theory: A team’s true strength is not determined by its strongest member, but by its weakest. You must help the weakest member grow while learning to recognize others’ strengths.
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