InformationWeek

Here's how each of these factors contributes to your success:

A champion: If you don't have a strong leader who owns the E-transformation process at your company, you need to recruit one. This individual is a visionary, is energetic, and is passionate about the transformation of the business. He or she is not just a participant in an event; the champion will spearhead the entire journey.

A vision: This is perhaps the most critical component. A clear vision of the task ahead can be imparted to your company directly by the champion, but it can also be developed by the senior management team with active participation by the champion. What's most important, though, is that the vision is simple enough for everyone to understand. All of your constituents should associate your business' E-transformation process with a clear view of the end game.

A healthy corporate culture: At Tandy, we've timed the creation of an energized corporate culture to occur simultaneously with our E-transformation process. This has allowed people across the company to participate in defining the people practices and business processes that will make us the "best company to work for in America." That's a pretty bold statement, but it fits in with the boldness of our vision for an E-business future. There's opportunity in this new type of culture for open and honest communications, vertically and horizontally, across the company. Without that kind of networking, we could not realize the level of integration that a successful E-transformation process requires.

A plan: This factor is tightly integrated into all the other elements listed. Part of it is Project Management 101, but it also reflects the clarity and understanding of the values, the culture, and the roles and responsibilities of the company. The plan needs to exist in a document form; it must include milestones and metrics that describe and bound the E-transformation journey, and it should be reviewed by the champion and senior management at regular intervals. The plan's degree of resonance throughout the company will make it a success--or something less.

A communications strategy: It's important to have a vertical and horizontal communications strategy as well as a mechanism to elicit feedback from constituents. When developing your communications strategy, ask yourself: Who are the target audiences? What messages do they need about the E-transformation process, and around which milestones? Then you need to elicit timely and actionable input from each of the constituencies. Likewise, you need to know if the vision is clear to them and if they can see its progress. Your constituents can provide valuable information that will help your ability to successfully E-transform your business.

If none of these critical success factors is new, why are they so relevant?

What is and will continue to be "new" is the ever-increasing speed with which a company needs to seamlessly integrate adjustments to each of these factors. The drivers of change will continue to be rapid and broad market acceptance of new hardware, software, and communications technologies. If a business isn't aware of these changing technologies, or more importantly, the impact of these technologies on its vision of the future, the business may not have a future.

Good luck on your journey!

Evelyn Follit is senior VP and CIO of Tandy Corp. and can be reached at efolli1@tandy.com. She will be a featured speaker at the InformationWeek Spring 2000 Conference, which will be held March 5 to 8 at Amelia Island, Fla. For more information on the conference, point your browser to informationweek.com/events.