Network and Communication

Every successful shopkeeper is an expert at sizing up a customer as soon as he or she walks in the door, making them feel welcome and comfortable, steering them in the direction of what they are most likely to buy, then guiding them towards a purchase. It’s called personal service and there’s nothing unusual or special about it. It's the sort of thing every shopkeeper does instinctively, without really thinking about it. It's also the sort of thing that's quite easy to do in real life but, until now, has been incredibly difficult to replicate online.

For organizations, the Internet is an integral strategy and a fundamental consideration when meeting business objectives. In fact, it has revolutionized how organizations do business. More than just a source of corporate information, the Internet is now an extension of business processes and communication strategies. As we have moved into the era of the customer, new requirements are forcing customer-facing organizations to rethink how to engage and inspire online audiences.

Organizations face many challenges when creating a network of global Web sites. They need to maintain brand consistency while allowing for variations that reflect local cultures. Creating truly localized Web sites can be a daunting process in which corporate and local marketing teams need to collaborate to provide relevant information to different target audiences.

There is a theme in this paper which states that, to use online banking effectively, a financial institution must offer three things: integration, personalisation and relevance. Now I know that you, the reader, the seasoned and sceptical professional who has been there, done that and seen it all before will read that first line and yawn. I know that, because that’s what I did. Because we’ve heard it all before. How often have we talked about multichannel integration? How often have we pondered the issues of a consistent customer experience? How often have we discussed the ability to leverage online capabilities through branches and vice versa?

Flexible working for efficiency and effectiveness Following the May 2010 general election and resulting budget cuts, the UK public sector faces the toughest challenges in decades. Adoption of leaner, more agile work styles, implementation of mobile and flexible working solutions and some strong executive leadership will be called for if the sector is to continue delivering the required levels of public services while producing the many billions of efficiency savings that will be expected of it.