Virtual Business Book by John Girard, Cindy Gordon & JoAnn Girard

John Girard, Cindy Gordon, and JoAnn Girard have joined forces to write a new book that features virtual business successes and a few failures too! As business leaders look to the future, especially in troubling economic times, many are considering how to remain competitive in an era of scant resources.  For most, it seems likely that capital projects will be scarce and the idea of growing the workforce will be a distant dream. So what to do? Some savvy leaders are recognizing the potential of virtual business in general and more specifically how to implement a strategy to build a real competitive advantage. A Leader’s Guide to Virtual Business: Strategies for Building Real Competitive Advantage combines academic theory with real-world practitioner success stories to provide executives a summary of current best practices.

Despite several false starts, the concept of virtual business is finally coming to fruition. This new reality is driven by a convergence of three critical enablers: social technology, uncompromising leadership, and a culture of collaboration.  This so-called TLC of virtual business has suddenly combined to create exciting and uncharted business opportunities waiting to be harnessed.  Fortunately, some pioneering leaders have blazed the path and demonstrated the untapped potential of this amazing domain.

This book will examine five virtual business strategies that are showing unprecedented opportunity.  The Any Place, Any Time strategy focuses on providing high quality service 24/7 by ignoring traditional geographic challenges.  The Stay at Home Moms and Dads strategy harnesses untapped human capital while minimizing most conventional infrastructure costs. The Strangers in the Night strategy provides access to unlimited innovation by acknowledging that no single company has all of the great ideas.  The Power of Story strategy recognizes how narrative, especially consumer-generated micro-stories, spawns astounding awareness.  Finally, the Everyone has a Stake strategy, which considers the stakeholder view of the organization, guides leaders in tapping this vast store of wisdom.

As with all innovative strategies, some potential pitfalls will demand the attention of virtual business leaders.  The first of which is developing a social media policy that creates a collaborative culture while guarding corporate intellectual capital – this is often a difficult balancing act.  Equally important and just as challenging is the difficult issue of not succumbing to the forces we plan to tap. Social technology is a double-edged sword and an angry consumer group can quickly become a network army with incredible power – witness the Twitter Moms who took on a large corporation and won.

Throughout the book, we will present a collection of best practices derived from our case studies of real virtual business successes.  We plan to include a healthy dose of not so successful stories to remind us that these strategies are not a quick win, but rather the product of sound strategic planning. Finally, we gaze into a crystal ball and consider what is on the horizon.  This uncharted territory will be of great interest to early adopters who are looking for the next big thing.