1. SME (Small and Medium Size Enterprises)
SMEs and e-Business
SME (Small and Medium Size Enterprises)

2. Types of SME (graph as cited in KITE, 1999 http://kite.tsa.de)

3. Classification of SMEs
Gazelles are growth-oriented companies that have achieved a minimum of 20% compound sales growth each year over the past five years, starting from a base of at least 100,000 euros. They are primarily medium-sized enterprises.
Baby gazelles are micro- and small enterprises that have been identified as having the greatest potential to become gazelles.
Mice are micro- and small enterprises comprised of quality-of-life companies. Owners of mice have little or no interest in growing or creating a large company that would eventually have a high value.
Gophers are micro- and small enterprises that are more enterprising than mice, but still value quality of life over growth.
KITE

4. Adoption steps of e-business services
Adoption steps of e-business services (Chaffey)

5. Competitive threats acting on the e-business
Competitive threats acting on the e-business (Chaffey)

6. Grid of product suitability against market adoption for transactional e-commerce (online purchases)
Grid of product suitability against market adoption for transactional e-commerce (online purchases) (Chaffey)

7. Strategic options for a company in relation to the importance of the Internet as a channel
Strategic options for a company in relation to the importance of the Internet as a channel (Chaffey)

8. SMEs and business issues
What happens where there is no e-business strategy?
Missed opportunities for additional sales on the sell-side and more efficient purchasing on the buy-side
Fall behind competitors in delivering online services – may become difficult to catch up, e.g. Tesco, Dell
Poor customer experience from poorly integrated channels

9. Ten strategic options for retailers
Information only
Export
Subsume into existing business
Treat as another channel
Set up as separate business
Pursue on all fronts
Mixed system
Switch fully
“Best of both”
Revitalise and buck the trend
E-shock

10. E-Business benefits to organisations
Expands marketplace to national and international markets
Decreases the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing and retrieving paper-based information
Ability for creating highly specialised businesses
Allows reduced inventories and overhead by facilitating “pull”-type supply chain management
Enables expensive customisation of products and services
Reduces the time between the outlay of capital and the receipt of products and services
Initiates business process reengineering projects
Lowers telecommunications cost
Other (improved image, improved customer service, compressed cycle and delivery time, reduced transportation cost, flexibility)
Turban15

11. E-Business benefits to consumers
Enables shopping/transactions 24h a day, all year round
Removes any location constraints
Provides more choice
Facilitates quick price comparisons
Allows quick delivery
Allows instant retrieval of product information
Virtual auctions
Virtual communities
Facilitates competition, which results in substantial discounts
Turban16

12. E-Business: wider benefits?
To society
Enables teleworking/teleshopping resulting in less traffic therefore less air pollution
Allows less affluent people to buy more and increase their living standards
Provides people in rural areas and Third World countries to have access to products and information, even learn professions and acquire college degrees
Facilitates delivery of public services such as health, care, education and distribution of government social services at a reduced cost and improved quality
Turban16

13. E-Business: some technical limitations
Lack of system security, reliability, standards, and some communication protocols
Insufficient telecommunication bandwidth
Difficulties in integrating the Internet and EC software with legacy systems, existing applications and databases
Vendors requirements include special Web servers and other infrastructures in addition to any network servers
Incompatibilities between e-business software and hardware, operating systems or other components
Turban16

14. Activity