New Book Tries To Crystalize CollaborationNew Book Tries To Crystalize Collaboration

The authors of a new book on collaborative business say companies can get bottom-line results from every relationship by using technology to bring customers--consumers, suppliers, or partners--into the design and development of products and services.

Jeffrey Shuman and Janice Twombly, who together run a consulting firm called the Rhythm of Business, got the idea for "Collaborative Communities: Partnering For Profit In The Network Economy" (Dearborn Trade, 2001) while analyzing the $45 billion salon-and-spa industry for a client. That client, ClubSalon.com, has since become a fast-growing B-to-B exchange that claims to have signed up more than 10,000 salons, beauty-product makers, and distributors since its December launch. "Jeff and Jan have several concepts in the book that are directly incorporated into ClubSalon.com," says ClubSalon VP Jeff Reichenthal. "Our intention is to dominate the entire channel by bringing in all members of the community."

"Collaborative Communities" promotes the notion that the value chain is a circle, and so it's no coincidence that much of the book revolves around the methods two women entrepreneurs used to build a company called Circles Inc. Originally focused on providing products and services for women professionals, Circles quickly expanded its business plan and was founded in 1997 as a sort of concierge service for businesses. Viewing both its suppliers and its corporate members as customers, Circles has become a profitable business, generating $20 million a year in revenue.

As Shuman and Twombly explain in the book, only by adopting an everyone-is-a-customer view of business can a company turn every relationship into a profitable one. The key to that approach, they say, is having an information architecture that lets members access consumer buying patterns, automate business processes, and share knowledge, all while preserving consumer privacy. SaysTwombly, "It's the free flow of information that makes it all work."