Thursday, September 04, 2003

Y'know who I'd like to see post a few thoughts to the John Edwards blog? John Edwards. 10:50:40 AM    comment []

Journalists get ideas from each other all the time, that’s a good thing. Just look how closely this Business 2.0 story on Krispy Kreme recapitulates the focus of a Baseline article from last year. Baseline’s second graf: “The company has grown from 100 stores in 1999 to 249 stores in 2002, but has only added 14 information technology workers in that time (total tech head count is now 26). And while companies in the restaurant industry tend not to spend much on information technology—the industry average is just 0.78% of revenues— Krispy Kreme is especially frugal, spending 0.5% of revenues.” From Biz 2.0’s lede graf: “The…chain, which already has 300 stores in three countries, is in the midst of an international expansion, with another 53 outlets expected to open by the end of the year. To nurture that growth, CIO Frank Hood has built a supply-chain system that's the envy of his industry -- with only a 26-person IT staff and a budget of less than 0.5 percent of the company's $491 million in revenue.” I’m not saying anyone did something wrong here. On the contrary, Biz 2.0 is figuring out what the Mad Genius knew two years ago when he launched Baseline – business/tech journalism these days has to be about measurable performance, not product hype. 10:45:57 AM    comment []