1. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Electronic Business in Service Industries Dr Sherif Kamel The American University in Cairo

2. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Outline Online broker-based services. Online travel tourism services Online job market Electronic real estate market Trading stocks online Cyberbanking Online publishing Role of infomediaries

3. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Broker-based services Brokers work as intermediaries between buyers and sellers Agents basically make the markets and provide services Most of the value-added tasks of brokers can be automated Major electronic agent-based services: travel employment real estate Stocks electronic auctions home banking insurance

4. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Service Industries versus manufacturing and product’s retailing Service Industries –pure electronic business  substantially reduced cost –bank and brokerage houses  possible digitization of the entire process –travel and real estate agents  viewing an online video clip or seeing photos of a hotel or a house for sale Manufacturing and product’s retailing –physical delivery cost may be high Broker-based services (Cont’d)

5. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Travel and tourism services By 2003, over 31% of all business-to customer Internet commerce will be related to tourism. The Internet is an ideal place to plan, explore, and arrange almost any trip.

6. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Services Provided Information and booking of airlines, hotels, cars, and even golf courses Fare comparisons 360 degree video tours of top destinations Electronic Travel magazine Tips provided by people that experienced certain situations (like a visa problem) Pictures of major attractions Providing maps Information about entertainment and ticket purchasing (such as www.ticketmaster.com) Converting 200 currencies Travel and tourism services (Cont’d)

7. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Travel and tourism services (Cont’d) Worldwide business and places locator E-mail to intermediary Chat rooms and bulletin boards Major international news Weather watch Experts’ options Shopping for travel accessories and books Special interest vacations Current status of flights (real time) Fare tracker (free e-mail alerts on low fares) Bed and breakfast recommendations Restaurant reviews Special discount information Frequent flier deals Travel news Driving directions in the US

8. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Travel and tourism services (Cont’d) Benefits Free information is tremendous Free information is accessible anytime Substantial discounts Limitations Not all people use the Internet It may take a long time to find what you want People are still reluctant to provide credit card numbers

9. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Employment placement market The Internet job market The Internet offers a perfect environment; it is especially effective for technology-oriented jobs. –Job seekers –Job offerings –Recruiting firms –Government agencies and institutions

10. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Advantages of the electronic job market For job seekers Ability to find very detailed and timely information on a large number of jobs world-wide Ability to quickly communicate with potential employers Ability to post resumes for large- volume distribution Ability to search for jobs quickly from any place at any time Obtain several support services at no cost Find employer profile and industry guides –www.valuereports.com –www.skill-link.net –www.careeregypt.com For employers Ability to advertise to a large number of job seekers Ability to save on advertisement costs Lower the cost of processing (using electronic application forms) Ability to provide greater ‘equal opportunity’ for job seekers Ability to find highly skilled employees Ability to conduct tests quickly, online Ability to change and update ads quickly Ability to fill up positions rapidly Interviewing from distance

11. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Limitations of the electronic job market Many people do not use the Internet Security Privacy Lack of face-to-face contact Major Services Available on the Net Finding a job Writing and posting resumes Career planning Newsgroups The Intranet Job Market Most companies organize an internal electronic job market Openings are posted for employees to look at, and search engines enable managers to identify talents even if the people were not actively looking for a job change Employment placement market (Cont’d)

12. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel You can view many properties on the screen You can sort and organize properties You can find detailed information about the properties You can search, compare and apply for loans Real estate and virtual reality

13. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Example of Online Real Estate Agents There are a number of companies in Egypt that provide such services including: www.edar.com www.betna.com Real estate applications To find mortgage interest rates online use: l www.bankrate.com l www.eloan.com l www.quickenmortgage.com To rent an apartment or a house try www.rent.net.www.rent.net

14. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Trading stocks online No waiting on busy telephone lines No oral communication, less chance for errors Place orders from anywhere, anytime, day or night No biased broker to push you Considerable amount of free information

15. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Saves time and money for users Offers an inexpensive alternative to branch banking Using the Extranet Imaging Systems Pricing online versus offline services CyberBanking

16. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Online Publishing The electronic delivery of newspapers, magazines, news, and other information through the Internet Online Publishing Today and Tomorrow Today— mainly used for disseminating information and for conducting sales transactions interactively Tomorrow— include more customized material that the reader will receive free, or will pay for Publishing Modes newspapers, magazines, news, textbooks, music, artwork, video clips, and movies

17. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Knowledge Dissemination Virtual learning Many universities are offering limited courses and degrees but use innovative teaching methods and multimedia support MBA program in Hong Kong –lectures are delivered as an interactive TV (iTV) –students can decide what and when they want to ‘attend’ the lecture –lecture, support material, exercises etc. are provided on the Web Online consulting Medical advice— provide consultation with top experts Management consulting— provide accumulated expertise from knowledge bases Legal advice— delivery of legal consultation services to business has considerable prospects Financial advice— offer extensive financial advice Other service online –insurance, healthcare, future exchanges, matchmaking, venture capital, finding a college, digital delivery of documents, and electronic stamps

18. Copyright © 2003 Sherif Kamel Role of Intermediaries “Infomediaries” Changing role of agents Assist in comparison shopping from multiple sources Providing total solutions by combining services from several vendors Providing certifications and trusted third party control and evaluation systems Issues of concern… The success of intelligent agents in travel, job matching… Customer attitudes are important - If you have good experience with online insurance or stock purchasing, or with virtual travel agencies would you ever return to use a human agent? New roles of electronic marketing intermediaries To extend what we are familiar with in physical markets to the virtual world (e.g., search services and electronic malls) To extend payment clearing functions into the Internet (e.g. electronic cash and digital credit card services)