Consulting Firm Casts A 'Value Net'

Mercer Management consulting and authors David Bovet and Joseph Martha are promoting the theory of value nets via the Web site www.valuenets.com. A value net, according to Bovet and Martha, is a business design that uses advanced supply-chain concepts to achieve both superior customer satisfaction and company profitability. It benefits the company, its suppliers, and customers. Gateway, Dell, and Apple are among the companies that are discussed on the Web site and in the book Value Nets (2000, John Wiley & Sons). The authors say four trends make the concept of value nets timely and appealing: globalization, the expansion of digital technologies (particularly the Internet), fierce competition, and more demanding customers.