Case Study: DiscoveryWorld: web strategy reality check

Title
DiscoveryWorld: web strategy reality check 

Author
Soicher, A; Beswick, C 

Pages
17 

Product Type
 

Reference #
904-019-1 

Teaching Note
 

Institute
Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand 

Setting
South Africa 

Year
2004 

Keywords
Internet strategy; IT; Organisation design



Summary/
Abstract
t was December 2000 and John Robertson, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Discovery, a healthcare finance and life insurance company, had to decide what to do with DiscoveryWorld, the group's e-commerce problem child. The project had been conceived at the end of 1999, in the full flush of dotcom optimism. It was an attempt to put into action a grandiose plan to dazzle Discovery's customers by creating an exciting site that they would enjoy visiting. At the same time, Discovery wanted the site to position the company as more than just another healthcare company. Now the project was a source of ever-increasing conflict and dissension within the group. Operating as a separate division that reported directly to the board, it was gobbling money and rubbing other members of the group up the wrong way with an arrogant and dismissive attitude. Moreover, DiscoveryWorld had not delivered on its promises, although there was definite potential in some of the functionality that it was developing. There had been high expectations of DiscoveryWorld when it started out, but the devil seemed to be in the implementation. Was the project worth salvaging? If so, what was the best way to do this

 

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