eBusiness value

Question 1

What is a supply chain?

Answer 1

The chain of activities that an organisation performs in relation to its suppliers (obtain goods/services from other organisations).

Question 2

Which are the five primary activities in a value-chain according to Porter?

Answer 2

1. Inbound logistics (receiving, storing, distributing raw material).
2. Operations (transforming inputs into outputs).
3. Outbound logistics (storage and distribution of finished products).
4. Marketing and sales ().
5. After-sales service (maintaining product value, eg. installation, testing, repair, customer service).

Question 3

Which are the four secondary activities in a value-chain according to Porter?

Answer 3

1. Infrastructure activities (support activities for the entire value-chain).
2. Human resource management (recruiting, hiring, training…).
3. Technology development (improving the product and the manufacturing process).
4. Procurement (purchasing goods/services at an acceptable price, quality…).

Question 4

What is the internal value-chain?

Answer 4

A series of activity systems by which the organisation produces value.

Question 5

What is the customer chain?

Answer 5

Those activity systems by which an organisation delivers value to its customers.

Question 6

What is the community chain?

Answer 6

Those social networks surrounding the business that support value generation between individuals and groups.

Question 7

What is the partner chain?

Answer 7

Those activity systems that support coordinated or collaborative value creation by two or more organisations to the same set of customers.

Question 8

What are tangible goods/services?

Answer 8

They have a physical form and can therefore not be delivered to to the customer electronically.

Question 9

What are intangible goods/services?

Answer 9

They do not have a physical form. They may be represented as data, sometimes called digital goods. May be delivered to customer over data communication networks.