Impacts of Business Firms Websites - Coursework Example

IMPACTS OF BUSINESS FIRMS’ WEBSITES By The and The Impacts of Business Firms’ Websites Introduction The business report is going to look into the matter of business companies creating websites for their organizations. Today, many firms are adopting the idea of developing sites with various objectives. Some of the business websites created are mainly for making people know about the organizations, while other websites are for enabling offering of some of the companies’ services on an online platform (Manyika, Chui, Bughin, & Dobbs 2013, p. 62). It is worth noting the impacts of these websites to the life of organizations since the internet technology that supports the idea is widely embraced in places today. The extensive use of the internet by many people makes business websites the best option to market products and operations (Castronovo & Huang 2012, p. 128). The aim of this business report is to make impacts of web sites clear to all the stakeholders in the entrepreneurial world. Many investors have shown interest in using the internet to advertize their services and popularize with the potential customers (Chitra 2014, p. 75). Therefore, there is a desire for them to be aware of the effects that come along with such a move. Thus, the central research question for this business report can be started as; what are the impacts of business websites to the firms? There are a number of objectives that this business report relied on to get the reliable findings from the research. The objectives were: i. To clearly elaborate the impacts of business using websites as part of their point of operation. Both the positive and negative impacts are important to note. ii. To illustrate the best ways of making a business website most effective in attaining its set goals. iii. To describe the possible future of businesses with the creation of websites. Literature Review Many of the studies have been done about the issue of businesses using websites to better their operations. An article written by Bravo and Matute says that it is evident that today many people ask for site addresses that they can connect to for them to get information about the business. The era of people asking for business cards have passed since most companies have their well developed online sites (Bravo & Matute 2012, p. 135). On these platforms, all the necessary information that one would need for the business are usually displayed. Therefore, instead of asking for business cards people are nowadays requesting for the website addresses where they can get more detailed information more easily. Studies have shown that, this technological move in the business world has been enhanced by the widespread use of internet in different aspects of people’s lives. It becomes easier to introduce the use of online sites in conducting businesses if the intended uses of the technology are already conversant with the use of the internet. Another relevant literature is a study done by Lim, Heinrichs and Lim on a mimic model of e-shopping site. Among the crucial factors that businesses must consider when using this technology in their operations is the quality of the websites they create (Aspire Internet Design 2012). It is even argued that a company with an inappropriately developed site is worse than that without any website (Lim, Heinrichs, & Lim 2009, p. 855). Some scholars have argued that this statement is controversial as it displays websites as threats to the success of a business. Since the idea is a modern technology, it is expected to be beneficial to all the stakeholders dealing with the business. However, a few studies have clarified the matter by explaining one significant impact of a wrong website. For instance, the first impression about an organization is easily created through the website. If the site is not organized in a proper manner, people visiting the site may generalize that the organization is not organized entirely. The prospect customers lose the interest in dealing with the organization in such a case. Therefore, not having a business website is better than having a bad one. Literature on the effect of social media marketing written by De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang indicate that, the introduction of the idea of using business websites also has other adverse impacts such as stiff competition in the industry, impersonality in the organization, and more security risks in the businesses’ operations. Companies have come up with attractive and efficient websites that make them more competitive in the market (De Vries, Gensler, & Leeflang 2012, pp. 83-91). Therefore, competition has become tougher with the introduction of this technology. Since many activities are done online with this new move, sometimes customers feel they are not attached to the organization due to lack of communication with a particular person in the group. Hackers also pose a significant threat to businesses that are operating through websites. On the other hand, having a well planned organizational website can be very useful to the organization’s performance. The first benefit of a good website is that it determines who the public and potential partners perceive ones business. The market that is targeted gets to see the business and its products as quality materials. The factor behind this is the excellent impression that is created by the well organized business website that these organizations have (Tuch, Presslaber, StöCklin, & Opwis 2012, p. 710). There are also some advertising benefits that organizations using websites enjoy. For example, these organizations have an online platform where they get to market their products efficiently. On such platforms, the firms get to reach a lot of people over a short period of forty percent of the global citizen is perceived to have access to internet. Therefore, with such websites companies can advertize new products efficiently and quickly. The long-term advantage of a website to a business firm is that it adds more value to the company as well as revenues (Schivinski & Dabrowski 2014, pp. 117-120). As the advertising base of the firms increase the possible sales that these companies also close increase. Thus in the long run the companies with this technology are expected to make more profits as sales will be higher with little cost incurred in running the websites. The value of a business also appreciates when the company is associated with an excellent and properly planned website (Lee & Wu 2011, p. 7770). Methodology Sample surveys and interviews conducted helped a lot in giving information that were useful in developing this report. A sample of five food stores was picked randomly. The sample chosen was composed of food stores that at one point operated without a website but they now have the platforms. The survey was done using this example because it is easier to analyze the effectiveness of a policy by checking performances when it is implemented and when not in the same environment (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin 2012, p. 36). Therefore, the impact of a business organization having its website can be best illustrated by analyzing the business both when the site is operating, and when it is not (Sharma & Carney 2012, pp. 233-242). The research studied the performance of the businesses now that they have an online platform for conducting their activities and compared it to the performance before implementing the idea. Questions that the managements of the companies forming the sample were asked in the conducted interviews include; how is the website being used to conduct business activities? How did your customers and staff receive the concept of having a company website? Will the management be willing to make more future investments in this technology? Findings The research that was conducted to aid in the composition of this business report was qualitative since it is the best way of studying value (Czinkota & Ronkainen 2012, p. 45). The report is keen at looking at the impacts that business websites have on the value of the companies. The first result was from comparing the current operations of the picked sample with the past activities. It was noted that these companies can now reach the markets more quickly than before. The firms use their websites to connect to customers and potential clients. Back then, the businesses had to launch serious campaigns that took many days to make sure a product reaches the target market. Such strenuous marketing strategies cost many companies a lot of cash if not regulated (Shapiro & Varian 2013, p. 67). The sales of the five stores also improved due to the use of the business websites. There was a notable increase in the volumes of products that these food stores sold when they introduced the use of websites in their businesses. The improvement can be attributed to the fact that the enterprises could now reach a wider market over a short period compared to the previous days when the technology was not yet introduced. The operational costs of these stores were also affected by the introduction of the use of business websites. For instance, the firms are not forced to spend a lot of cash in marketing as was the initial case. Without the websites, for the stores to advertise their products effectively over a wide area they had to employ a bigger pool of marketers (Llach, Marimon, del Mar Alonso-Almeida, & Bernado 2013, pp. 23-31). The advertising policies that these businesses used were also expensive since they had to make sure the targeted people are reached at the real time before competitors take over the market (de Grosbois 2012, p. 901). However, with the online platforms the food stores can now easily sell their products cheaply over a wider area. The firms have also reduced the number of employees because some services can now be operated from the website without necessarily having people handling them. Changes Caused by Creating Company Websites Store Approximated Percentage Increase in Sales Approximated Percentage Decrease in Operating Costs A 15% 9% B 18% 3% C 18% 12% D 23% 7% E 24% 11% The food stores also complained of their business becoming more competitive with the introduction of the use of websites. Competitors can now come up with more strategic moves to take charge of the food industry in the area. Therefore, these entrepreneurs are forced to make improvements after a short period for them to remain competitive in the market (Tsai, Chou, & Leu, 2011, p. 15500). Conclusion The study done here has answered the research question that guided the study. Illustrating the impacts of business websites is what this research targeted and the business report has clearly indicated the effects. Both the positive and negative impacts of using websites in a business have been highlighted. One of the main advantages of the websites is increased sales that the businesses can now make (Kapoor, 2014). This shown in the findings as all the five elements forming the sample recorded an increase in the sales. It is also revealed that the operational costs of the companies are reduced by using online platforms to conduct business (Oulasvirta, Kärkkäinen, & Laarni, 2005, p. 780). From the findings all the food stores recorded a reduction in their operational costs though store B recorded a small a change. Introduction of websites into the world of business also has negative impacts. From the literature review, there are some disadvantages attached to the idea. Competition is made stiffer by these websites; some clients are not always comfortable with impersonality created by the e-commerce, and insecurity risks caused by internet hackers (Luo & Lee, 2011, p. 830). From the findings it is also noted that the managements of all the food stores complained that business has become more competitive with the websites. Therefore, it is a wise move to launch a website for the business organizations to carry out their activities. It becomes easier for firms to coordinate their activities through the website than if they were operating in the traditional manner (Bruhn, Schoenmueller, & Schäfer, 2012, p. 780). The positive impacts of the websites are felt than the negative implications that they have (Chen, Fay, & Wang, 2011, p. 87). Furthermore, the negative implications are more of just risks which can be avoided with cautious moves (Lin, Wu, & Chang, 2011, p. 278). It is therefore recommendable to have these websites in our business firms. References Aspire Internet Design. (2012, August 31). 6 Criteria for an Effective Business Website. Retrieved April 28, 2015, from Aspire Internet Design: http://aspireid.com/web -design/6-criteria-for-an-effective-business-website/ Bravo, R., & Matute, J. (2012). Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vehicle to Reveal the Corporate Identity: A Study Focused on the Websites of Spanish Financial Entities. Journal of Business Ethics, 107(2) , 129-146. Bruhn, M., Schoenmueller, V., & Schäfer, D. B. (2012). Are social media replacing traditional media in terms of brand equity creation? Management Research Review, 35(9) , 770 -790. 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