What is Business Developement? It seems like a catch-all for many
aspects of strategy and execution, but I would like to have a better
idea of what it encompasses because I am interviewing for a BD
position.

Aiko-Aiko --

You are correct that business development's kind of a catch-all.  It's
used generically to describe new business acquisition, often with
senior partners in professional services firms being given the
assignment as part of a "sell new clients" strategy.

Inasmuch as replicating a strategy for new business is the lifeblood
of a firm, it's no surprise.

First, some personal experience.  I've been in companies where it has been used
for:
*  new channel exploration (for example, adding programs to develop
and education market within a multi-channel company)
*  international business development.  Each country uses slightly
different distribution models, so BD people would be given the task of
initiating that work.
*  taking a technology outside a core market area.  An Internet
company may have developed code that is licensable to other segments
of the software business, as one example.
*  partnering programs between two companies: such as Intel and
Microsoft working together to develop products specifically for
consumer electronics.
*  use of technical expertise in consulting, with the aim of finding
new 'standard' product areas that can be sold.  
*  developing new technology jointly.  


JOB DESCRIPTIONS
=================

Culpepper is a firm that tracks compensation by job category.  Here's
their very succinct definition of what a BD manager does:
http://www.culpepper.com/pay/jobs/templates/BriefDescription.asp?txtJobCode=5982

At the opposite end, you'll find that U.S. online job search sites can
be a good resource for a position description.  Obviously there will
be a wide range of duties for what's termed business development at
any of these popular sites -- and note that the higher level positions
have broader scope and many of the low-level positions should really
be titled "sales".

Monster.com Home page
http://www.monster.com/

DICE Home page
http://www.dice.com/

Craigslist Business/Management jobs
http://www.craigslist.org/bus/

Hotjobs Search
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/

You may also wish to check the Wall Street Journal and certain
professional publications to see what's being done in your industry
segment.

But the smartest strategy is probably to be prepared with some of
these various job descriptions -- then use the interview process to
see the fit for you.  If you're more knowledgeable, there's a good
chance that you can expand the scope of the job and possibly even the
salary range!

Now for some broader perspective.


WHAT IS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
==============================

This is a very high-level view of setting up business development,
focusing on partnering programs:
Vista Consulting
"Building High Impact Alliance Programs"
http://www.vista-consulting.com/Articles/Article_HighImpactAlliance.htm

MBDI, a consulting firm in the BD arena, attempts to define the process here:
MBDI
"What's This Business Development Stuff?" (Sharpe, June-July, 2003)
http://www.mbdi.com/customers/102082413351775/filemanager/Whats_This_BD_Stuff.pdf 

Contractor Resource, a website serving the construction industry, has
a surprisingly good step-by-step definition of how to implement
business development within any type of company :
Contractor Resource
"Why Start a Business Development Program in Your Company?"
(Humrickhouse & Roper, undated)
http://www.contractorresource.com/cgi-bin/article_display.pl?art_id=39



BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CASES
=============================

You probably can't look at an e-commerce space and co-marketing
without looking at what Amazon.com has done to go from being an online
bookseller to an online department store.  This article pre-dates most
of the moves (and investments) that Amazon.com has made in the space:
CIO.com
"Jeff Bezos Takes Everything Seriously" (Aug. 1, 2000)
http://www.cio.com/archive/080100_bezos.html

This updates somewhat the Amazon partner model:
CIO.com
"Amazon.com: software vendor" (Varon, Oct. 15, 2003)
http://www.cio.com/archive/101503/tl_ec.html

(CIO.com is generally a good resource on e-commerce and Internet
issues.  There are over 650 references to business development, if you
do a site search on their web pages.)

If Amazon.com's business model is close to what you're seeking, I
might suggest drilling down into their contracts with partners.  You
can see the tip of the iceberg in the company's work with
Drugstore.com -- what's paid for advertising and marketing rights, as
well as Amazon's interest in investing in e-commerce partners here:
"Sephora.com and Beauty.com" (Omnivorous-GA, Jan. 13, 2004)
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=295542



BEST PRACTICES
===============

The Information Technology Association of American (ITAA)  has a
series of "Best Practices" pages for technology companies.  In it they
have a section on strategic alliances, often the core of business
development strategy.  The ITAA page has 7 different perspectives on
alliances, including those of Bob Herbold, former chief operating
officer at Microsoft:
ITAA
"Accelerating Growth Through Strategic Alliances" (undated)
http://www.itaa.org/software/act/acgwsa.htm



BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & E-COMMERCE
=====================================

A Google search turns up a very interesting article by Donald La Vie,
Jr. of Integrated Concepts that treats the process for e-commerce
companies.  It turns out that you might have to use the Google HTML
link to read this interesting paper, as the original link is not now
available:

"Writing Killer e-Commerce/IT Proposals that Win New Business" 
http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:SusZgzsQxhsJ:www.stc.org/proceedings/ConfProceed/2000/PDFs/00117.PDF+%22establishing+business+development%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8



SOME OTHER RESOURCES:

Here's an IT manager who set up a business development function to
track the real needs of in-house departments within Johns-Manville:
http://www.cio.com/archive/070100/serve.html

A consulting company's services in online partnering or business
development help define the functions:
01 Consulting
"Alliance Services"
http://www.01consulting.net/02_services_e_alliances.htm

Another example of a consulting firm performing a business development
role with a lighting company:
YTKO
"Sentec --  New Company Spin Out and Launch" (2003)
http://www.ytko.com/portfolio/venture/YTKO_venture_Sentec.pdf

One of the well-reviewed books on e-commerce is May & Orchard's "The
Business of Ecommerce : From Corporate Strategy to Technology,"
Published by Cambridge University Press in 2000.  At Amazon.com, the
book listing allows you to look at the table of contents and other
information.


Any Google search strategy has to go beyond the term "business
development" because those 2 words alone will turn up hundreds of
thousands of websites with every person having the title.  So, here
are some of the ways to narrow the search:
"what is business development"
"Business development" + definition
"business development" + "e-commerce"
"business development" + "job description"
"business development" + "best practices"
"business development resources" + e-commerce
"alliance programs" + "business development"

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Very thorough and very quick - thank you.