Site.selection - Chief Executive Guide: Beyond the Internet - sample of interesting Web sites

Chief Executive, The, March 15, 1999 by Peter Haapaniemi

At last count, there were more than 100 million Web pages. Here are 50 or so to whet your appetite.

Not long ago, pundits, experts, and Internet aficionados could be heard urging CEOs - that notoriously technophobic group - to sit down at their computers and enter the strange new world of the Web.

Today, many chief executives have done just that, and witnessed the on-line revolution first hand by visiting not only their own companies' Web sites, but also such high-profile spots as Amazon.com, the Drudge Report, and Yahoo!

But you can do more than buy books or advertise your company on-line. You can also find a lot of information-and increasingly, it's good information, from reliable sources. What's more, the range of such information is constantly growing, as Web sites from all corners of business and the world continue to proliferate. In the following pages, we point you to sites of interest across several categories. This is not intended to be a Top 10, "best of' list - with millions of pages on the Web, and more coming all the time, such a list would be pointless. Instead, the sites gathered here are intended to direct your gaze beyond the mainstays and superstars of the Web, and highlight the growing range of worthwhile content that's waiting out there on-line.

MANAGEMENT

CEO Refresher >[www.refresher.com]

This monthly newsletter offers essays, commentary, and reviews focusing on the soft stuff of leadership. Each issue has a dozen or so articles: Recent offerings include "Igniting the Leader Within," "Stewardship," and "The 21st Century Corporate Board." An extensive archive is divided into categories such as "creative leadership," "change management," and "performance improvement." Articles generally provide a quick read - and if you need more, check Words of Wisdom, a collection of quotations for business leaders.

Society for Human Resource Management >[www.shrm.org]

People are your most important asset, right? To help you get the most from that asset, the Society for Human Resource Management offers a number of electronic publications, including HR News On-line, with daily updates on labor statistics, workforce issues, telecommuting, etc. and Workplace Visions, a forward-looking analysis of workplace trends. You'll also find selections from HR Magazine, including longer features exploring downsizing, HR executives' pay, HR best practices, and other topics from the world of human capital. Finally, the site also has a searchable buyer's guide to HR consultants and services and, for paying members, a collection of white papers.

Fast Company >[www.fastcompany.com]

"A global revolution is changing business," says Fast Company, and it intends to be the "handbook" of that revolution. Like its print counterpart, this site takes a lively, fast-paced look at the changing world of work, with articles grouped by Themes and Ideas-such as "leadership" or "competition" - or by magazine sections, such as Fast Companies, a collection of profiles and case studies, or Report from the Future, which covers emerging workplace tools and techniques. In addition to articles from print, the site offers a daily roundup of news, longer versions of interviews and articles, and a number of ways to interact with reporters, experts, businesspeople, and other members of the Fast Company community.

BUSINESS ADVICE

Leading Companies >[fed.org/leading_companies/]

Leading Companies is the e-zine of the nonprofit Foundation for Enterprise Development, a proponent of improving business performance by involving employees in decision-making and profits. The publication offers interviews with executives from various companies, and case studies of such innovative organizations as Southwest Airlines, Yahoo!, Procter & Gamble, and Bank of America. You'll also find a catalog of tools for assessing equity compensation, and an extensive, worthwhile library of articles and speeches on employee motivation and empowerment, trends in employee ownership, compensation strategies, etc.

KMWorld >[www.kmonline.com]

The focus here is on the technology behind knowledge management, and the companies that create those systems. A Daily Newswire section offers headlines, and the news is sliced further in several ways: "People" looks at executive career moves; "Bottomline" looks at stocks and investments in the industry; and "Dealmakers" looks at company alliances and contracts. Longer features explore on-line employee training, the reduction of product-development times, and knowledge management in the insurance industry. The site also offers links-along with ratings and descriptions - to other knowledge management-oriented sites.

American Productivity & Quality Center >[www.apqc.org]

The nonprofit American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) aims to help companies change and improve. and this site provides information in five key areas: benchmarking, knowledge management, measurement, customer satisfaction, and productivity and quality. Each section includes articles, training resources, and reports on studies conducted by the APQC. You can also find out about products and services offered by the center, and download a number of white papers and case studies. APQC members have access to additional features, including opportunities to network with executives at other organizations, and access to the APQC's database of best practices.