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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2000)
Technology has always both created and destroyed jobs. Think of the pony express riders rendered obsolete by the comple tion of the transcontinental telegraph in 1861. As the dejected riders were leading their horses to pasture, a new job market was emerging for skilled telegraph operators. But the effect of new technologies on busi ness is more profound than just the jobs created to support them. The telegraph's significance as a communication device, for example, had ram ifications far beyond the fates of pony riders and Morse code experts. Writing in the 1930s. econ omist Ronald H. Coase cited use of the telegraph as a contributing factor in the development of the vertically integrated, geographically scattered business firm. This new structure, in turn, required a larger set of administrators whose new responsibilities included overseeing specific departments and processes within the firm. In effect, the telegraph helped create management as we know it. Substitute the Web for the telegraph, multi ply expom utially the effects on business, and you see the process occurring again. "What's more significant is not the multitude of these new Internet jobs, but rather the new organizational structures they are imposing on traditional com panies," says Walid Mougayar. an ebusiness strat egy consultant, author of Opening Digital Markets, and Business 2.0 columnist "If you haven't organized entire departments to operate like an Internet company, you're not effectively competing in the New Economy." Business 2.0 set out to find 10 examples of jobs created by this technological shift—10 innovative ways companies have responded to the opportunities, or threats, the Web represents. The tasks and responsibilities of these new jobs vary, but they share some qualities shaped by their common Web heritage, and these charac teristics are rapidly becoming the new funda mentals of working in the Digital Age. In par ticular. the distinctions between job categories and descriptions are collapsing. Instead of being pegged to a clearly delineated role, more of today's workers straddle departments and shoul der multiple tasks within an organization. That’s why workers with the broadest skills and expe rience often thrive in new positions. What's more, skilled technical workers are no longer only an IT department resource. As technology moves into the core of business operations, tech nical expertise is required in key management roles to help shape a company's strategy and development. "In the past, the IT department was the last From email channel specialists to chief community strategists, the Internet i creating new workplace roles. place you'd go to find a [business] strategy guy, and vice versa," says Geoffrey Champion, a man aging director for recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International. "Now technology and strategy are inextricably linked." The downside to these new jobs is their massive time and energy require ment. and the toll that takes on family and per sonal lives. But as compensation, pioneering workers often enjoy an unprecedented freedom for experimentation and self-determination. Many are simply inventing their own jobs—con ceiving new ideas, developing the business and technical systems to launch them, and then man aging those operations. Creativity is king. I.New Metrics Analyst This numbers guru digs beneath the surface of page views and traffic reports to create a detailed picture of what's really happening on a Website. By spotting patterns in user behavior data, such as visit frequency, visit length, and who's shop ping at certain times (and what they're buying), a new-metrics analyst helps Web companies set advertising rates, identify cross-selling opportu nities, reduce churn, and develop new marketing strategies. This analysis also helps the company make crucial decisions about strategic alliances and acquisitions, for example, by putting a dollar value on the traffic they will generate. "1 move us away from the gut [instincts] and toward the quantifiable," says Ted Wham of his role as Excite’s director of consumer activi ty analysis. The position didn't exist at Excite until six months ago. Now Wham, with a small staff of analysts, works frequently with Excite's product managers and business development executives, and to a lesser extent with higher executives such as the CFO and COO. For example. Wham's analysis of user activity in its community sites has helped Excite determine the return it's get ting from the 1998 purchase of community-build ing technology company Throw. Evolution: Classic database marketing updated for the Digital Age, in which data are richer and more varied than ever before. This type of deep user analysis, and the informed deci sions it leads to, are essential to the maturing Web industry. Skills needed: Ability to perform quantita tive analysis and database experience are neces sary. But above all. Wham says, you must have a strong business sense. "You can spin Oracle databases all day long, but if you can't sit down with someone and translate that data into a use ful course of action, you'd die in this job." Favorite part of the job: "Creating value for the business. 1 can say. 'Because I did this [analy sis]. things will change.'" Toughest aspect of the job: "You spend a lot of time alone, manipulating data. If that's not some thing you find personally satisfying, it would be a drag." Salary: $80,000-$ 110,000 manager; $60,000 $85,000 basic analyst To subscribe to Business2.0 call 1 800 234 0804. Ask for the special jobpOStingS rate of only $12 for 2B issues!
