Hello, again!
 
Let's talk business.  Let's talk market advantage.  Let's talk
developing opportunity.  Let's talk leveraging the learning,
leveraging our business, leveraging our industry.  Let's talk -- I'm
not looking for anything from you!  (Hey -- if BusinessWeek shows car
hucksters going bye-bye, what fun is there?!)
 
If you were in my CMED Internet presentation in November (and stayed
awake!), you may have given this idea -- which I raised then -- some
thought. If not, just stay with me on this.
 
Feb. 26 issue of BusinessWeek has Intranets as its cover story.  Any
current issue of a computer/internet magazine is running stories
about intranets.  Find one article and read it.  Basically an
intranet is a self-contained Internet/WWW set-up for a company,
building, etc.  For convenience and security reasons, intranets are
being set-up/used for many of the same reasons that some of us are already
using the WWW:  information -- easy access and easy dissemination.
But an intranet enables a company to control  external access to sensitive
documents and internal access to external "stuff".
 
OK -- let's get to the business part.  Many of us are setting up WWW
pages for our centers.  (You'll note that over 65 centers have pages
linked via my "University-based Centers for Management and Executive
Development" page -- with more being developed all the time.)
 
All well and good for the World to be able to learn about us via the
Internet, but some of our major clients are setting up intranets
which can preclude their people from being able to access our sites.
 
Why not offer your Web page to your major clients for inclusion on
their intranet?!  You've already got the page 99% developed -- only
the hotlinks won't work.  You just put it (with any graphics, etc.)
on a disk and let them have it.  You can update as appropriate.  You
could even suggest that they copy your page from the Internet and
place it into their intranet.
 
This should be win/win.  You could be a hero to their HR department.
It lets their people access information about proven programs from
a proven provider.  There's an implicit endorsement.  You can offer
your complete "catalog", a tailored version, or, for an in-house
client, a specific offering.
 
I'm sure your imagination is going faster than mine, but give it some
additional thought.  Consider the possibilities.  Raise the question
-- maybe a major client would like to work with you in developing
something for their intranet, etc.
 
Colleges and universities (and junior/community colleges, regional
campuses) have some competitive advantage with local and regional
clients.  Maybe schools will cooperate/collaborate in this arena.
For those of us dealing nationally and internationally, this option
may be less appropriate.
 
Your school/college/university may even develop a "complete" set of
pages for major organizations' intranets -- within which you'd be
included!  (Let them do the work?!)
 
The AMA's of the World will be right behind (ahead of?) us!  And for
you non-techies, we don't have to learn the technology to be able to
make use of it!
 
Brainstorming anyone?
 
Bric
Bric A. Wheeler, Director
Center for Management Development
Richard T. Farmer School of Business Administration
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio  45056-1675
     Voice:  (513) 529-2132;  Fax:  (513) 529-6992
  Internet:  [log in to unmask]
       WWW:  http://www.muohio.edu/~wheeleba/