LECTURE 4 - E-BUSINESS NETWORKS

Question 1

Network

Answer 1

A structure of ties/relationships (exchange of goods, knowledge or information etc.) among actors/nodes (individuals, organizations, industries etc.)

Question 2

Corporate network

Answer 2

Long-term arrangement among distinct but related for-profit organizations

Question 3

Virtual partnership

Answer 3

Operate as integral elements of a greater organization but retain their own authority in major budgeting and pricing matters

Question 4

Fluid organization

Answer 4

A networked enterprise that allows reorganization on the fly, depending on the innovation challenge and task at hand. (less long-term arrangements)

Question 5

Characteristics of networked organizations

Answer 5

• the links between network participants are based on various types of exchange (e.g. economic goods, money, information and knowledge);
• networks have a distinct boundary with their environments;
• network participants pursue a common goal;
• business collaboration - outsourcing, insourcing, rightsourcing (best choice for your goals);
• all network participants have nevertheless their own diverse, specific goals too;
• networks consist of relations characterized by mutual investments or interdependences, i.e., not just simple transactional links.

Question 6

Stable networks

Answer 6

o Long term, stable relations between limited number of selected suppliers, producers and distributors.
o Designed to service mostly predictable markets by linking specialized organizations along given products or service value chains.
o Partial outsourcing, strive to introduce flexibility into the overall value chain

Question 7

Dynamic networks

Answer 7

o Temporary alliances between organizations in order to respond to actual market focuses.
o more than a single project or customer orderCompanies along the value chain of a specific product are coupled contractually for perhaps no

Question 8

Tightly coupled networks

Answer 8

o Relatively stable networks of trading partners with shared planning and control cycles.
o This entails organizing business activities along a virtual value chain to attain a shared goal.
o They may involve predefined interaction patterns, such as trading protocols requiring detailed agreements on cross-organizational business processes.

Question 9

Loosely coupled networks

Answer 9

o Independent trading partners who can
 unilaterally decide to change their internal business processes and information systems
 without influencing one another to the extent that the collaboration is disabled

Question 10

Advantages of networked organizations

Answer 10

• Reduction of total costs
• Reduction of inventory
• Improved fulfillment cycle time
• Productivity increase
• Improved capacity
• Avoidance of problems of effort duplication & inefficiency
• Increase of intellectual assets
• Delivery improvement
• Diversified business and trading
• Competitive advantage
• Untapped markets
• Enhanced speed and efficiency

Question 11

Integrated supply chain

Answer 11

• Multiple enterprises within a shared market segment
• Collaboratively plan, implement and monitor the flow of goods, services & information
• Aim to increase customer-perceived value and optimize efficiency

Question 12

Industry 4.0

Answer 12

New level of organization and control over the entire value chain of the life cycle of products
The goal is to:
o create an integrated, automated, & optimised production flow.
o produce increasingly individualized customer products.
- The cycle begins with the product design & extends to development & manufacturing, all the way to the product delivery for the end customer, upgrades & maintenance.
- It is based on the digitization of the entire production environment:
o availability of all relevant information by connecting all instances involved in the product value chain;
o gathering & analyzing data across manufacturing plants, collaborative production networks, machines & sensors to enable faster, more flexible & more efficient processes to produce higher-quality goods

Question 13

Social network analysis

Answer 13

Statistical analysis of for example properties of a person (age, income, education etc.) to put them into categories (Low income households, generation X). With this empirical data, theories can be develop to explain patterns (influence in corporate companies, diffusion of technology in a network, changing relations in terrorist groups). It’s about the relationships between people. As long as we live, we create and behave in social networks, these affect are identity and perception of the world.