Introduction to E-Business

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“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”

Charles Darwin

“If you’re not changing faster than your environment, you are falling behind”

Jack Welsh, CEO of GE

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Electronic business or e-business is the use of ICT to improve business (from the use of email to facilitate administrative procedures in buying and selling through the Internet).

Electronic commerce or e-commerce is where business transactions take place via electronic communication networks, especially the Internet.

E-business and E-commerce

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The main difference between them is that - e-commerce defines interaction between

organizations and their customers, clients, or constituents.- On the other hand, e-business is broader term that

also encompasses an organization’s internal operations.

Electronic commerce describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information via computer networks including the Internet, where e-Business describes the broadest definition of EC. It includes buying and selling of products and services, servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and conducting other intra-business tasks.

E-business vs. E-commerce

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Three alternative definitions of the relationship between e-business and e-commerce

E-business and e-commerce

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E-business defined from the following perspectives:

• Communications: delivery of goods, services, information, or payments over computer networks or any other electronic means

• Commercial (trading): provides capability of buying and selling products, services, and information on the Internet and via other online services

E-Business concepts

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• Business process: doing business electronically by completing business processes over electronic networks, thereby substituting information for physical business processes

• Service: a tool that addresses the desire of governments, firms, consumers, and management to cut service costs while improving the quality of customer service and increasing the speed of service delivery

E-Business concepts (cont.)

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Traditional Purchasing Process Flow

Source: ariba.com, February 2001.

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• Learning: an enabler of online training and education in schools, universities, and other organizations, including businesses

• Collaborative: the framework for inter- and intra-organizational collaboration

• Community: provides a gathering place for community members to learn, transact, and collaborate

E-Business concepts (cont.)

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Source: Choi et al. (1997), p. 18.

Dimensions of e-business/e-commerce

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• Pure vs. Partial: based on the degree of digitization of:- Product- Process- Delivery agent

• Traditional commerce: all dimensions are physical

• Pure e-business: all dimensions are digital

• Partial e-business: all other possibilities include a mix of digital and physical dimensions

Dimensions of e-business/e-commerce

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Business-to-business (B2B)Business that sells products or provides services to other businesses

Business-to-consumer (B2C)Business that sells products or provides services to end-user consumers

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)Consumers sell directly to other consumers

Types of e-business

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Business-to-government (B2G)Government buys or provides goods, services or information to/from businesses or individual citizens

Business-to-employee (B2E)Information and services made available to employees online

Mobile commerce (m-commerce)E-commerce transactions and activities conducted in a wireless environment

Collaborative commerce (c-commerce)Individuals or groups communicate or collaborate online

Types of e-business (cont.)

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How it started

• Electronic data interchange (EDI) - electronically transfer routine documents (application enlarged pool of participating companies to include manufacturers, retailers, services)

• 1970s: innovations like electronic funds transfer (EFT) - funds routed electronically from one organization to another (limited to large corporations)

• 1990s: the Internet commercialized and users flocked to participate in the form of dot-coms, or Internet start-ups

Evolution of e-business

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Traditional Purchasing Process Flow

Source: ariba.com, February 2001.

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• 1997: Introduction of a brand new phrase – e-business

• 1999: The emphasis of e-business shifted from B2C to B2B

• 2001: The emphasis shifted from B2B to B2E, c-commerce, e-government, e-learning, and m-commerce

• 2004: Total online shopping and transactions in the United States between $3 to $7 trillion

• E-business will undoubtedly continue to shift and change

Evolution of e-business (cont.)

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InformateInteract

Integrate

Innovate

Brochure-ware

Order taking

Order processing

Business development

Where do you want to Be and Go….

Levels of e-maturity

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The Future

By 2008:• Number of Internet users worldwide should reach 750 million

• 50 percent of Internet users will shop

• E-business growth will come more from:• B2C, B2B, e-government, e-learning, B2E, c-commerce

Evolution of e-business (cont.)

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E-Business relationships are formed with the following types of stakeholders:

– Internal stakeholders: Management and staff– Suppliers and manufactures– Customers– Intermediaries– Financial institutions– Web service providers– Associations– Web communities– Etc.

Stakeholders

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Major Players

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Major business pressures

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E-Business does not affect an organization’s fundamental goals, rather it provides a new ways to achieve them:

– E-business adoption strategy and directionVision must be communicated to all stakeholders

– The interaction among stakeholdersSmaller network, more flexible organizations, shifting priorities and roles

– Information system and technology infrastructureMechanism to improve, enrich, change, and deepen relationships with key stakeholders

– CultureNeed to adapt the new way, will impact on rules, belief, norms, and behaviours

E-business framework

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Q & A

Conclusion