Lecture 5

Question 1

Types of e-business

Answer 1

• Business tocusumer (B2C)
  
  • Businesses sell products or services to indivudual consumers
• Business to business (B2B)
  
  • Businesses sell products or servic to or businesses
• Business processes that support buying and selling activities
  
  • Businesses and other organizations maintain and use information to identify and evaluate customers, suppliers, and employees. In creasingly, businesses share this inforamtion in carefully managed ways with their customers, suppliers, employees, and business partners.
• Consumer tot consumer
  
  • Participants in an online marketplace can buy and sell goods to each other. Because one party is selling, and thus acting as a business, this book treats C2C tansactions as part of B2C electronic commerce.
• Business to government (B2G)
  
  • Businesses sell goods or services to governments and governmetn agencies. This book treats B2G as part of B2C electronic commerce.

Question 2

E- business strategy

Answer 2

• Low cost and therefore low price competitor
  
  • A ‘frictionless’ internet market implies that customers have almost perfect information and can compare prices around the world (by using intellingence agents to search out the best prices enhances this process).
• Differentiation strategy by finding a unique market position against competitors

Question 3

Methods of differentiation

Answer 3

• Gain speed & first mover advantages
  
  • A –> This provides a numver of first mover advantages including costs, meeting needs, lowering risk, and lower prices
  • DisA –> Firms need to be flexivle to be fast. Being fist increases risks and may require large amounts of capital to mainain advantages.
• Build brand Name
  
  • A –> Gives buers assurance when interacting with a site allows for easy name recognition.
  • DisA –> Requires a large amount of capital to obtain and maintain a brand name
• Protal development
  
  • A–> Allows for economies of scale and builds barriers to entry
  • DisA–> Requires large amount of capital pushing off profitability
• Pursue Niche Strategies
  
  • A–> Very good strategy for smaller or weaker businesses. Allows a business to focus and become an expert in one competitive areno
  • DisA –> Havong only one niche can be risky because all of the ‘eggs’ could be in one basket or with one customer
• Enhanced customer relationships
  
  • A–> Allows businesses to build barrier to entry. By staying close to customers business can meet needs better.
  • DisA –> Could result in a loss of power by the business supplying the product or service.

Question 4

E business strategy matrix

Answer 4

Question 5

Summary:

• Commerce
  
  • Negotiated exchange of goods or services
• Electronic commerce
  
  • Application of new technologies to conduct business more effectively
• First wave of e-commerce
  
  • Ended in 2000
• Second wave of e-commerce
  
  • New approaches to integrating internet technologies into business preocesses
• Using electronic commerce, businesses habe:
  
  • Created new products and services
  • Improved promotion, marketing, and delivery of existing offerings
• The global nature of electronic commerce leads to many opportunities and few challenges
• To conduct electronic commerce acreoos internation border, you must understand the trust, cultural, language, and legal issues