In today's global business environment, smart companies are learning to collaborate more efficiently, connecting and interacting with ever-expanding communities of customers, suppliers and peers. And they are, in the process, unleashing a new model for operating that is helping to improve their productivity, profits and ultimately, their advantage in an ultra-competitive marketplace.
How are they doing it? According to Collaborate to Win, a new report produced by CFO Research in collaboration with Ariba, Inc. ARBA, the world's business commerce network, they are capitalizing on the convergence of recent technology trends, including cloud computing, mobility, social and business networks.
“Just as earlier forces such as desktop computers shifted the basis of productivity generation, so too are business networks changing how companies identify and work with all kinds of partners,” says Josh Hyatt, author of the report. “Businesses are learning how to collaborate more efficiently, digitally connecting and cooperating with people and entities both within and beyond the confines of their particular enterprise.”
Much as consumers tap into social networks to manage their personal connections, companies are with increasing frequency connecting to business networks to manage their trading relationships. Through more than a dozen in-depth interviews with executives, academics, consultants, and others, CFO Research sought to analyze how companies are leveraging these networks gain a competitive edge.
Their findings revealed that by communicating more freely with their employees, suppliers, and customers, companies can draw on previously untapped capabilities to address existing challenges and spot new opportunities. Doing so enables them to deliver value to every aspect of the business, from generating innovative product ideas to gaining valuable market insight. They can also incrementally increase profits.
“Mega-shifts in how technology is delivered, accessed, and used are heralding in a new era of knowledge sharing and collaboration,” says Tim Minahan, Chief Marketing Officer, Ariba. “Empowered by social tools and business networks, companies are now able to coordinate a virtual extraprise of partners into a shared community and execute processes in a more collaborative and informed way than in the past.”
This emerging form of collaboration, according to Hyatt, has the potential to reshape the competitive landscape. “Network-based collaborative tools have just begun to change how employees work together and how enterprises manage their outside relationships,” he writes. “But in an ultracompetitive era populated by lean businesses, collaboration can drive productivity and lift financial performance.”
Business networks have certainly opened the door to a new way of collaborating. And as Hyatt notes in Collaborate to Win, “They may be what differentiate the modern day competitor from competitors of the past.”
On October 2, Ariba will host the first in a series of global events at which industry thought leaders and executives will share their insights on how companies of all sizes can plug in to today's Networked Economy and leverage social tools and business networks to boost their productivity and profits.
For more information on these events, or to register, visit: http://www.ariba.com/community/events/commerce-summits
About CFO Research
CFO Research is the research affiliate of
CFO magazine, CFO.com, and CFO Conferences. CFO Research is part of CFO
Publishing LLC. CFO Publishing LLC, a portfolio company of Seguin
Partners, is the leading business-to-business media brand focused on the
information needs of senior finance executives. CFO Publishing's
award-winning editorial content and loyal, influential audience make it
a valued resource for its readers as well as an effective marketing
partner for a wide range of blue-chip companies. CFO Publishing has
long-standing relationships with more than 500,000 financial executives.
About Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. is the world's business
commerce network. Ariba combines industry-leading cloud-based
applications with the world's largest web-based trading community to
help companies discover and collaborate with a global network of
partners. Using the Ariba® Network, businesses of all sizes can connect
to their trading partners anywhere, at any time from any application or
device to buy, sell and manage their cash more efficiently and
effectively than ever before. Companies around the world use the Ariba
Network to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance the results
that they deliver. Join them at: www.ariba.com
Copyright © 1996 – 2012 Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, the Ariba logo,
AribaLIVE, Ariba.com, Ariba.com Network, Ariba Spend Management. Find
it. Get it. Keep it. and PO-Flip are registered trademarks of Ariba,
Inc. Ariba Procure-to-Pay, Ariba Buyer, Ariba eForms, Ariba PunchOut,
Ariba Services Procurement, Ariba Travel and Expense, Ariba
Procure-to-Order, Ariba Procurement Content, Ariba Sourcing, Ariba
Savings and Pipeline Tracking, Ariba Category Management, Ariba Category
Playbooks, Ariba StartSourcing, Ariba Spend Visibility, Ariba Analysis,
Ariba Data Enrichment, Ariba Contract Management, Ariba Contract
Compliance, Ariba Electronic Signatures, Ariba StartContracts, Ariba
Invoice Management, Ariba Payment Management, Ariba Working Capital
Management, Ariba Settlement, Ariba Supplier Information and Performance
Management, Ariba Supplier Information Management, Ariba Discovery,
Ariba Invoice Automation, Ariba PO Automation, Ariba Express Content,
Ariba Ready, and Ariba LIVE are trademarks or service marks of Ariba,
Inc. All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies or organizations in the United
States and/or other countries.
Ariba Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995: Information and announcements in
this release involve Ariba's expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans,
intentions or strategies regarding the future and are forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking
statements included in this release are based upon information available
to Ariba as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to
update any such forward-looking statements. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ
materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or
contribute to Ariba's operating and financial results to differ
materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to:
the impact of the credit crises on Ariba's results of operations and
financial condition; delays in development or shipment of new versions
of Ariba's products and services; lack of market acceptance of Ariba's
existing or future products or services; inability to continue to
develop competitive new products and services on a timely basis;
introduction of new products or services by major competitors; the
impact of any acquisitions, including difficulties with the integration
process or the realization of benefits of a transaction; the impact of
our disposition, including the potential disruption of our ongoing
business; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees; long
and unpredictable sales cycles and the deferrals of anticipated orders;
declining economic conditions, including the impact of a recession;
inability to control costs; changes in the company's pricing or
compensation policies; significant fluctuations in our stock price; the
outcome of and costs associated with pending or potential future
regulatory or legal proceedings; the impact of our acquisitions and
dispositions, including the disruption or loss of customer, business
partner, supplier or employee relationships; and the level of costs and
expenses incurred by Ariba as a result of such transactions. Factors and
risks associated with its business, including a number of the factors
and risks described above, are discussed in Ariba's Form 10-Q filed with
the SEC on May 4, 2012.
Ariba, Inc.
Karen Master, 412-297-8177
kmaster@ariba.com
or
CFO
Research
Josh Hyatt, 617-790-3256
joshhyatt@cfo.com
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