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Title:
The Caring Economy: Business Principles for the Digital
Age
Review:
As the Internet rapidly embraces e-commerce it has become
essential for a business to have a presence online. A recent survey of Business
and the Internet in the Economist quoted the following forecasts of Forrester
Research: inter-company trading of goods will go from 43 billion US dollars last
year, to 1.3 trillion dollars in 2003 (not counting value of services exchanged
or booked online), and business to consumer trade, from 8 billion dollars to 108
billion dollars. Even so, the digital economy is still in its infancy. Change is
the only constant, it is taking place at a breath-taking speed and on a
tremendous scale. Most businesses still have no clearly defined internet
strategy, however, even as they scramble to be present on the Web.
The Caring Economy is a book which is not about the economy
but about business principles for the digital age. Its author, Gerry McGovern,
is the CEO of NUA, an Irish Internet consultancy that is steadily making its
presence felt both on and offline. The central thesis of the book professes
that the Internet is not about technology but about people. Technology is only a
useful tool inasmuch as it facilitates human communication and interactivity.
Business in the digital age requires new ways of thinking (from that of the
industrial age) and new ways to communicate - by networking, establishing
community, and establishing trust through sharing information.
The book is 400 pages long. The chapters are a series of
lectures - quotes mingled with philosophical musings, anecdotes, personal
experiences and lexicographical deconstruction of words (like network and
information) to make a point. The book is not about methods - while it mentions
meta data and search engines, it does not talk about how search engines work or
how to create or index a website, for example. It discusses principles to help
understand how the Internet works, why networks are important, what Internet
branding means, what information is, how it can be used to advertise, generate
goodwill and establish trust, and why it is important to facilitate
interactivity and use the cyberspace medium to communicate with people. NUA
itself is known for its informative newsletters, and analyses of Internet
surveys and statistics that are available free at its site. The newsletters and
surveys have created brand recognition for NUA, they offer value and
communication with the internet community, and credibility to their target
market - developers of large websites.
McGovern, quoting research and experience, maintains that
for a business to be successful on the Internet, it should focus on the
long-term view and on people (through informing, communicating and networking),
rather than on cutting costs. He goes back to the fundamentals of what made the
Internet so popular to begin with - communication; co-operation and community;
open standards; and long-term vision - and feels that those fundamentals should
be upheld. Anyone attempting to formulate an Internet strategy should at least
have a look at the chapters entitled The Three Properties of Information,
Understanding the Internet, Think Network: People are the Network and Building
Brands Online (NUA's main expertise).
The Caring Economy is a very readable book and a useful
contribution to the development of business principles for the digital age.
While some points are belaboured and certain opinions debatable, its general
point of view makes business sense. In 1753, Adam Smith, in his treatise The
Wealth of Nations stated that "it is not from the benevolence of the
butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their
regard to their self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but
to their self-love, and never talk to them of our necessities, but of their
advantages." Likewise, success in business depends on how well it can serve
the self-interest of its consumers, staff and suppliers and other members of its
online community. In digital space that means quality information, good
communication, reliable goods, and excellent service. The internet facilitates
communication. It is our best marketing tool. If we show we care - we establish
trust. That is good for business.
In the steady churn of new software, enterprise network
systems, multimedia, myriad web site management tools, e-commerce solutions, and
the need for constant hardware and software upgrades, it is so easy to lose the
focus of why we are doing what we are. The Caring Economy helps put things into
perspective.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Crystal Sharp is co-director of CD Sharp Information
Systems, a business research and consulting company in London, Ontario, Canada.
She specializes in business research, especially Canadian business research, and
technology's influence on business and social practices. She has three main
research interests: social, business, and economic issues concerning women, new
models of operation and management of libraries, and the effect of information
technology on economic development. She can be reached at
Purchase options:
Readers Comments:
In her review of The Caring Economy etc., Crystal Sharp, in quoting Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, seemed to argue that Smith's theory was based on self-interest.
It is important to put Adam Smith into the correct historical context - that of the Scottish Enlightenment. He was a close friend of the philosopher and man-of- letters, David Hume, who in turn was a disciple of a professor of moral philosophy - Francis Hutcheson. Hutcheson argued against Hobbes's claim that all human action is self-interest. If Hume's ethics were largely Hutchesonian then it could be agrued that he tried to influence Adam Smith in the same direction. The self-interest Smith may have had in mind was 'enlightened' in the sense in which it would have been understood in the Scotland of the 18th. century.
It has to be remembered that Scotland at this time was solidly Presbyterian, and that the leaders of the Enlightenment shared ideas with Church of Scotland Ministers. Gershom Carmichael was decribed as an exponent of the philosophies of Grotious, Pufendorf, Leibniz, Descartes, Locke and Newton, however, he remained wrapt in Calvinism. The ides of the Enlightenment were given a Presbyterian interpretation.
So that the self-interest of which Adam Smith speaks must be put into that context. It was a theory which was put forward with many qualifications, which can also be found in his writings.
Malcolm MacRae, The Link Study Unit, Stirling, Scotland.
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