Paul Misener of Amazon.com Speaks at 2005 Netcentricity Conference

Smith’s Fifth Annual Netcentricity Conference, “Exploring the Intersection of Social and Digital Networks,” featured keynote speaker Paul E. Misener, vice president for global public policy at Amazon.com. The conference was held on April 29 at the Smith School and was sponsored by Smith's Center for Electronic Markets and Enterprises (CEME).

The existence of the Internet has resulted in major changes in business, society and the economy, and companies today are doing things that weren’t possible five years ago because of the availability of information, and the rapidity with which information can be acquired. This year’s Netcentricity Conference focused on the interplay of digital and strategic networks connecting organizations and the social networks made up of the people within those organizations, examining the effects of the interaction from a strategy perspective.

“The information that flows between networks, both digital and social, have the potential to make the market more transparent, and therefore more perfect—and more competitive,” said Anil Gupta, Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization, chair of the management and organization department at Smith, and co-chair of the Netcentricity Conference, with Ritu Agarwal, Robert H. Smith Dean’s Chair in Information Systems, and Joseph Bailey, research associate professor of decision and information technologies.

Amazon.com, an Internet-only company with no bricks-and-mortar stores, has taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet to become not just a vehicle for commerce but a complex online community connected in myriad ways. “Netcentricity really is the core of our business,” said Misener. “Computers used to be instruments of calculation, but now they are instruments of communication.”

Amazon has had remarkable success in its strategies for building its own social network. One successful strategy has been to encourage other retailers and service providers, called associates, to link directly to Amazon from their Web sites by providing a small fee for purchases made from the associate’s site. This brings the associate’s social network into contact with Amazon. Associates receive a small commission for purchases made through the link. For example, books offered on the Smith School site contain a link to purchase the book at Amazon.com, and the commission for purchases made through this link is then donated to the school’s scholarship fund.

Individuals also have the opportunity to form their own networks on Amazon through a variety of self-created lists and book and item reviews. Amazon does post editorial reviews, but it also allows customers to post reviews, even when the review is distinctly uncomplimentary. Amazon also allows people to review the reviewers; people who read reviews can rate whether or not the review was helpful, allowing customers to see whose reviews are rated most highly and are considered most helpful by others on the site.

Misener compared this type of communication to the over-the-back-fence trading of information that used to be a common part of community life. “This is the kind of thing you’d have in your neighborhood if you just knew who to ask,” said Misener.

“Netcentricity can be an observation—‘this is happening;’ or it can be an aspiration—‘this is what we want to happen;’ or it can be an aphorism—‘this must happen,’” said Misener. “Netcentricity is really the core of Amazon’s business. We see that it is already happening, and we continue to aspire.”

The 2005 Netcentricity Conference also included forums on virtual communities in health care, public policy issues, and the impact of mobile technology.