Introduction to E-Business

2 “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

3 Electronic business or e-business is the use of ICT to improve business (from the use of 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

4 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

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

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 6 E-Business concepts

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 7 E-Business concepts (cont.)

Traditional Purchasing Process Flow 8 Source: ariba.com, February 2001.

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 9 E-Business concepts (cont.)

10 Source: Choi et al. (1997), p. 18. Dimensions of e-business/e-commerce

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 11 Dimensions of e-business/e-commerce

12 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

13 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.)

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 14 Evolution of e-business

Traditional Purchasing Process Flow 15 Source: ariba.com, February 2001.

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 16 Evolution of e-business (cont.)

17 Informate Interact Integrate Innovate Brochure-ware Order taking Order processing Business development Where do you want to Be and Go…. Levels of e-maturity

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 18 Evolution of e-business (cont.)

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. 19 Stakeholders

20 Major Players

21 Major business pressures

E-Business does not affect an organization’s fundamental goals, rather it provides a new ways to achieve them: – E-business adoption strategy and direction Vision must be communicated to all stakeholders – The interaction among stakeholders Smaller network, more flexible organizations, shifting priorities and roles – Information system and technology infrastructure Mechanism to improve, enrich, change, and deepen relationships with key stakeholders – Culture Need to adapt the new way, will impact on rules, belief, norms, and behaviours 22 E-business framework

23 Q & A Conclusion