L8 - E-business Flashcards
What are the similarities between e-business and e-commerce?
In both cases, the e stands for “electronic networks” and describes the application of electronic network technology - including Internet and electronic data interchange (EDI) - to improve and change business processes.
Both address technology infrastructure of databases, application servers, security tools, systems management and legacy systems.
Both involve the creation of new value chains between a company and its customers and suppliers, as well as within the company itself.
What is the difference between e-business and e-commerce?
E-commerce covers outward-facing processes that touch customers, suppliers and external partners, including sales, marketing, order taking, delivery, customer service, purchasing of raw. It involves new business models and the potential to gain new revenue or lose some existing revenue to new competitors.
E-business includes e-commerce but also covers internal processes such as production, inventory management, product development, risk management, finance, knowledge management… Use electronic means to interact. E-business strategy is more complex, more focused on internal processes, and aimed at cost savings and improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost savings. But e-business has a higher payoff in the form of more efficient processes, lower costs and potentially greater profits.
Should all companies have an e-commerce and an e-business strategy?
All should have e-commerce (governments e-public service strategy)
Some e-business strategy: especially large companies that already have links to EDI networks or have completed major ERP implementations. These companies have already reaped some of the biggest benefits from ecommerce strategies. They’re also likely to experience organizational pain as conflicts develop among their ERP, EDI, supply-chain management and e-commerce strategies. And last, they have enough experience and knowledge in electronic-network technologies - and in process redesign and integration - that they have a chance of being successful in an e-business strategy.
Which new possibilities may E-business provide?
Businesses: (a) Increased competitiveness (and increased competition…), (b) Decreased costs through automation of business processes, (c) Expand market share by opening up markets and (d) Creates opportunities to increase the firm’s knowledge of their customer’s preferences
Consumers: (a) 24/7 access to a large number of goods and services, (b) No geographical boundaries, (c) Ability to deal with more companies than traditional avenues and (d) Access to on-line information services
What does Electronic Funds Transfers and Data Interchange (EDI) do?
Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) provide tools for transferring
documents or financial data between organizations
There is another way to categorize commercial electronic business, and it refers to the online versus offline structure of the organization. There are three main categories used, what are they?
Bricks and mortar: traditional organisations with physical locations
Bricks and clicks: traditional organisations with physical locations but that also operate an online business
Pure play (or click only): organisations with only an online business
What are 4 more general consequences of e-business?
Removing barriers (easily set up a business)
Extending reach (to customers worldwide)
Reducing transaction costs or costs of operation (by automating)
Innovation opportunities (upserve.com/swipely.com => data for BI)
What are 4 types of e-business?
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
Government-to-Constituent (G2C)
What is a business model?
Represents the way the organisation functions and creates value – how an organisation makes money. The business model often identifies the market that a business is in, the products or services that it offers, and the strategies and major activities it uses to seek competitive advantages in that market. Importantly, the business model should identify the organization’s key business processes and organizational capabilities that allow the business to generate revenues and profits.
What are 6 e-business models (B2B and B2C)?
Online retailing: Products and services are sold online. Logistics are essential.
Infomediary: Offers specialized information. No products or services are sold directly. The news value of data is essential.
Content providers: Offers content or relevant information. Revenue via ads or subscriptions. Relevance is essential
Exchanges/e-marketplaces: Offers a marketplace for sellers and buyers. Critical mass is essential.
Online community (social media): Platform to communicate
E-business infrastructure provider: Offers infrastructure HW, SW or service for e-business purposes.
What are 4 e-business enablers?
Easy-to-navigate website
Network bandwidth/reliability
Interoperability (the ability of heterogeneous systems to communicate with one another) is key to e-business success since by definition e-business allows individuals using a wide variety of platforms (PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, smart phones, etc.) to access businesses that also use a wide variety of platforms
Critical mass: that there are sufficient buyers to sustain the business of vendors, and sufficient vendors to attract buyers to the Internet. Network effects or network economies
What are two E-business impacts?
E-channel compression (disintermediation): impact on the downstream portion of the supply chain. E-channel compression refers to situations when the distribution chain is shortened by eliminating some or all of these
intermediaries between the focal firm (product producer) and the end consumer. Has led to major restructuring in several industries
E-channel expansion: the addition of intermediaries in an industry whose purpose is to aggregate and provide information or brokering functionalities. Facilitate bringing buyers and sellers together or bringing relevant info to buyers and sellers.
What are important design features for B2C e-business?
Security of the website, privacy practices, trust, navigation, checking out, accessing info, the overall look, non-technological factors (return policies, shipping, customer reviews)
What is the significant difference between B2C and B2B e-business (beyond type of player)?
The size of the market involved, B2B is significantly larger. In B2B, the organizations typically know their trading partners fairly well, and as a result, B2B is often relationship-based, except for marketplaces
What are 2 B2B e-business technologies?
Supply chain management: when organizations share knowledge electronically across the supply chain to facilitate inventory control, reduce time delays in billing, and improve customer handling, they are conducting B2B e-business.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the electronic exchange of information between two or more organizations using a standard format (important characteristic).
