Online Business Technologies - Term Paper Example

? Introduction The traditional business processes have constantly evolved to encompass supply chain and electronic business. E-business models detail a description from the work process that has been employed in virtual or electronic environments such as the world-wide web. These models outline that roles and relationships between customers, partners, consumers, and suppliers. Successful organizations have been at the forefront in implementing e-commerce to integrate business processes and enhance work operations within the organization. The changes heralded by ICT are likely to accelerate in the future and herald fresh technological developments within the digital economy that are likely to generate fresh fundamental approaches to e-business of economy, government, and society accompanied by social and political implications (Stephen 2005, p.2). The term e-commerce is employed to describe online transactions incorporating the buying and selling of goods and services over the internet. The advantages of e-business encompass: yielding enhanced precision, quality and time demanded to update and delivering information on products or services; awarding client s the possibility of accessing the catalogues and prices at all time. E-business allows adoption of a fast and immediate way of conducting transactions and allows the electronic delivery of products and enhanced market, competitor intelligence (Phan 2003, p.581). Indeed, e-business has led to expansion of customer base and rise within export opportunities. E-business pursues utilizing the Internet and linked technologies to integrate and redesign the organization’s internal activities, processes, and external relations, and generate fresh ways of working that are dramatically different from, and frequently superior to what was possible previously. E-business may encompass aspects such as electronic invoicing, electronic supply chain, and electronic marketing and promoting (Lawson 2001, p.377). Some of the conditions critical for e-business entail aspects such as configuration of all processes with the internet; significant revenue contribution from the internet; 24/7electronic infrastructure; and, profit and loss focus. E-business refers to the term employed to describe the mode of utilizing the internet to operate a business. E-commerce encapsulates the ordering, purchasing, slang, and paying for products and services by utilizing the internet. E-business only mirrors a fraction of the global business and can be highlighted as a leading sector that avail entrepreneurs with a suitable platform for entering the market (AMit and Zott 2001, p.493). E-business represents the strategic employment of internet tools and technologies with the aim of enriching all aspects of a business such as marketing, sales, or back-end activities. Background The internet has overtime become an increasingly critical part of people’s lives. Indeed, e-business is increasing permeating the mainstream business culture and becoming a medium connecting consumers and enterprises. Despite the increased growth of e-business, majority of the industries are yet to realize the full potential of the internet, and there are numerous opportunities that stand to be exploited (Stephen 2005, p.3). This should be undertaken in full knowledge of the fact that technology takes time to thrive and become broadly available. As such, the society requires time to adjust to allow all stakeholders abandon their previous ways of undertaking things, and start utilizing the new technology in such a manner that it actually generates value. Rapid development in infrastructure and services has been widely witnessed in both private and private sectors organizations. The growth that the ICT sector has witnessed has yielded to IT representing one of the biggest capital expenditure by companies/businesses. A significant part of government initiatives has frequently been targeted at increasing the investments within ICT. Information has overtime become one of the most critical resources upon which efficiency and competitiveness of all organizations are built on and the core source of value-added (Phan 2003, p.581). The new capacity is widely mirrored within the emerging strategies, business models, and organizational designs within private and public sectors. In the last two decades, the business environment has constantly undergone tremendous changes demonstrated by demographic changes, speedy improvement of education attainments, the rise of terrorism, development and opening of fresh markets, global and regional economic integration, reduction of trade barriers (both regionally and globally), and technological developments (Pateli and Giaglis 2004, p.302). The ICT revolution manifested in the last two decades has been manifested by a speedy increase in computational power and storage capacity, persistent proliferation of ICT in all sectors, explosive growth of the internet, and the convergence between media, telecoms, and computers. The internet avails global connectivity and an elastic platform that is essential for information sharing, generating fresh uses for information systems, and revolutionizing the function of information systems within organizations. Online Business Technologies The core objectives of value webs centres on maximizing value for customers a creating value for a certain group of companies through the adoption of a shared technological platform. Customer webs, on the other hand, detail ownership of customer relationships and customer segments. The strategic roles played by webs entail shapers, who establish and shape the standards through a focus on fluidity and opportunities to highlight and influence outcomes and shape the environment in ways enhancing their capability to create value (Turban, King, Lee, Liang, and Turban 2010, p.5). An example of a shaper entails the alliance between Microsoft and Intel that seek to strengthen architectural leadership and standard adoption. Success, in this case, emanates from the overall architecture instead of the features of the individual products as Microsoft manifests a long-term investment strategy that pursues to reinforce and differentiate the technological web. The other category of strategic roles in webs entail adapters, who exploit near-term web opportunities that deal with uncertainty by staying ahead of other players in responding to and predicting environmental changes. The success factors for shapers encompass that ownership is a critical platform that shapes the architecture and aids attainment of long-term lock-in (IBM vs. Microsoft/Intel). An example of adapter encompasses Dell that exploits the short-term product opportunities availed by the Microsoft/Intel vale web by sustaining a marketing focus on product excellence and differentiation. The success factors for adapters encompass early participation in gaining value webs so as to establish a formidable position within an attractive market. Aggressive competition for market share within the value web stems from strengthening of the relationship with shapers who can avail essential information. Webs can be broadly categorized into economic and technological webs, and represent set of companies that utilize a shared architecture to deliver independent elements of a general value proposition that gains strength as more companies join the set. The key characteristics of economic and technological webs encompass utilization of a technological standard that reduces the risks, allowing companies to make permanent investment decisions amid technological uncertainty (Turban, King, Lee, Liang, and Turban 2010, p.5). Some of the examples of economic and technological webs include desktop computing detailing highly specialized participants that assemble an intricate package of technological components and services. The other example encompasses online services detailing integrated services that are unbundled and specialized providers that supply each element of an online service platform. The Internet The internet represents a worldwide interconnection of computers. These computers form part of a massive public-access network that is linked through telecommunication and wireless technology. The internet technology represents the background of that entire manifest online such as the web, instant messaging, and file sharing (Daft, Murphy and Willmott 2010, p.65). The World Wide Web represents one of the dominant ways that individuals interact with the internet. The Web comprises of interconnected websites and WebPages that enable users to view formatted text, multimedia, and images via a computer program labelled as a web browser. The web plays a critical role for online business and is employed for business websites, online advertising efforts, social media profiles, and web-based software. The Areas of E-business Websites represent digital documents that are stored on specialized computers (web servers) across the globe and connected over the internet. As a business tool, websites act as a person’s representation and frequently serve as the hub of the person’s online efforts. The business website can be employed for marketing purposes, as well as selling products online. Web 2.0 details utilizing the internet as a platform for information sharing, user-centred design, interoperability, and collaboration and enables users to interact and collaborate with each other within social media dialogues of user-generate content within a virtual community (AMit and Zott 2001, p.494). This contrasts websites in which users (consumers) are limited to the passive examination of content generated for them. E-commerce E-commerce represents utilizing the internet as a sales channel and comprises of creating a website with shopping cart functionality enabling consumers to view purchase products online. Internet marketing, on the other hand, represents utilizing the capabilities of the internet and the web for marketing purposes. Some of the prominent e-business labels encompass e-commerce, k-business, c-commerce, and m-commerce. E-business embraces a number of aspects, namely: e-learning, e-banking, e-marketing, e-procurement, e-publishing, e-government, and e-ticketing. E-business involves up-stream and downstream extended enterprise working, disintermediation, web presence or “buying and selling” (e-commerce), impact/web design, critical focus on customer relationship, and insights on how to build and retain customers (Lawson 2001, p.378). The applications of e-business can be categorized into three core sets, namely: (1) internal business systems detailing customer relationship management, human resources management, and human resources management; (2) enterprise communication and collaboration encompassing content management system, voice mail, e-mail, voicemail and business process management; and (3) electronic commerce detailing B2B or B2C such as supply chain management and online marketing. E-business and e-commerce are interconnected, but different concepts. E-commerce represents a subset of e-business and refers to electronic (commercial) transactions undertaken by business partners, either organizations or individuals. Presently, electronic business (e-business) plays a critical role within the world’s economy. Electronic commerce details the process of purchasing, transferring, or exchanging products, or information through computer networks inclusive of the internet. Electronic commerce can be beneficial based on a number of perspectives such as business process, collaborative, service, learning, and community (Pateli and Giaglis 2004, p.303). Based on the diverse forms of trading partners, there are several categories of e-business, namely: business to business (B2B); business to consumer (B2C), and consumer to consumer (C2C). Devoid of the utilization of face to face operations, all business operations are performed electronically through the employment of computer and computer networks. Significance of Outsourcing Knowledge-sharing demands an IT-supported knowledge infrastructure consisting of several levels, namely: connections (avail the resources to connect individuals whenever and wherever possible through networks, internet/intranet); communications (entails the provision of basic communications such as voicemail, email, video conferencing); conversations (brings about the richness and structure to communications); coordination (which is availed through such facilities such as workflow software or shared information bases); and, collaboration (enables close collaboration inclusive of aspects such as joint development of documents, and establishment of knowledge communities and virtual conferencing) (Daft, Murphy and Willmott 2010, p.66). The challenges linked to IT and management solutions encompass upgrades, support, maintenance, and training. With the rise of the internet, companies can now be able to outsource some of the aspects of production and distribution to third parties. The increased utilization of the outsourcing demonstrates a bold move towards the virtual organization (Kidd and Stanford-Smith 2000, p.75). In a virtual organization the core company link to Logistics Company, finance company, sales and marketing company, Design Company, and manufacturing company. Outsourcing is mainly employed by small/medium sized companies to outsource for e-business and fresh web technologies. Companies are expected to make a strategic decision regarding the utilization of either in-house, outsource, or buy off the shelf. Outsourcing can be tactical where it pursues to solve-problems and when managed right it can deliver significant success, and it can be a strategic weapon when it spotlights a total process by transcending divisions, departments and disciplines. Companies mainly outsource in pursuit of competitive advantage, minimize costs, enhance efficiencies, and re-focus critical resources (Abraham, Gale and Krell 2005, p.114). The strategic decision on whether to outsource or not demands that the entity weighs up of options, costs, contract details, and costs. Some of the tactical reasons for outsourcing encompass aspects such as minimizing or keeping control of operating costs and enhancing the availability of cash funds. The financial reasons for pursuing outsourcing encompass minimization of costs, enhancement of cost control, and restructuring of IS budget. The business and technical reasons for outsourcing encompass aspects such as enhancing technical service, gaining access to technical talent, focusing on the internal staff on core technical activities, and gaining access to fresh technologies. The political reasons for outsourcing encompass aspects such as a response to efficiency imperative, the urge to acquire new resources, reaction to the bandwagon, reduce uncertainty, and eradication of a troublesome function (AMit and Zott 2001, p.494). The prominent issues manifest in e-business systems projects encompasses outsourcing (lack of expertise), integration of front, back office and supply chain system, and software customization (off-the-shelf). Understanding the Business Understanding the business, plus the technologies details what awards in-house IT professionals to gain their competitive edge over the outsourcers. Hence, the only edge that the in-house profession can gain over the outsourcing details the capability to understand the business. The project drivers encompass: upgrades (operating systems, computer technology, and application); consolidation (detailing the need for a smaller “foot print,” increase utilization systems); decommissioning (obsolete technology systems, technology, legacy systems), and new services to deliver an entirely new service deliver service. The principle guidelines for outsourcing include not outsourcing strategic systems, sustaining the capability for business innovation with the IS, negotiating the outsourcing contract with enhanced care, and overseeing and closely managing the delivery of outsourced services (Kidd and Stanford-Smith 2000, p.76). Points to take into Account in Using Technology The decision to pursue e-business should be shaped by the realization that technology is never a result in its self, but rather a means to an end. Indeed, technology should underlie a business need. When seeking to adopt technology, one should pursue the appropriate technology instead of the latest version. The core focus should rest on what is right for the business needs to deliver optimal results. In the same way that a technological solution increases in complexity, so do overheads as the ongoing issues such as training, upgrades, integration, and support are likely to add to the complexity. In spotlighting the business, companies may employ their business networks or utilize their e-marketplaces (hubs). E-tendering In the contemporary business world, the competitive procurement bid procedure for local authorities and private companies is mainly electronic within published websites. Entities are expected to submit to the diagnostic process and ensure that they satisfy the set criteria. The pre-process encompass finding bid online, appraisal competition, probing the viability, laying down the policies in advance, registering interests, building reputation prior to write bid, and selling value-added. The decision to bid or not to bid draws from the time-frame, costs, geography, risk, criteria, and capacity. Winning a bid/tender depends on aspects such as pricing, expressing social value, resources/expertise, and building relationship. E-Learning Technology possesses a considerable impact on the corporate and educational sector and holds significant promise for change on the corporate and educational sector. Technology has had a significant impact on education by availing sophisticated tools to support virtual learning. The new features provided by technology have heralded a rise of virtual university. The change witnessed in working and learning practices has yielded to changes within the business models within the education. Technology has heralded new tools and features have heralded innovative learning practice. The tools employed within education such as education blackboard are increasingly been employed by the business world, where companies are offering their own course through e-platform. E-learning, as well as other structured forms of training and development is critical to guarantee that employee possesses the knowledge and skill needed to satisfy their roles. The employment of e-courses and programmes has heralded fresh opportunity for new models to develop, introduced fresh innovations within learning and teaching, heralded new ways of learning, attained a global reach, gained access to expertise across the globe, and enabled cost saving, accessibility and flexibility. E-learning is supported by open source journals, e-journals, e-books, and rental models for e-books, which opens up fresh opportunities. Significance of Knowledge Management Knowledge management aids to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Knowledge is an essential resource for facilitating organizational growth and sustaining competitive advantage, especially for organizations that are competing within uncertain environment. Within knowledge-based economy, knowledge, competence, and related intangibles can be regarded as the key drivers of competitive advantage in attaining organizational objectives. The rationale for knowledge management centres on fostering the reuse on intellectual capital, allowing better decision making, and generating the optimal conditions for innovation. Knowledge management avails people, processes, and technology to aid knowledge flow to the right persons at the right time to ensure that they can act more efficiently and effectively. Ultimately, knowledge management within the organization yields to enhanced levels of innovation and enhanced performance. By merging the potential of the internet with a clear-cut approach to commercializing its knowledge, nearly every organization can generate K-business opportunities. The overlapping factors of knowledge management encompass people, technology, and organizational processes (culture). Tacit knowledge can be highlighted as what makes knowledge management a distinct management theory Knowledge management cycle encompasses deriving knowledge, gaining knowledge, sharing and leveraging knowledge. Knowledge management encompasses a number of actions such as sharing of knowledge, re-cycling, creating fresh knowledge within the organization, facilitating knowledge development, and capturing organizational “know how.” The advantages of knowledge management include promoting innovation, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness, enhancing customer service, and generating enhanced productivity. The challenges associated with knowledge management entail getting employees on board, not all information translates to knowledge, failure to possess a business goal, and not appreciating that knowledge management is not static. The issues or challenges that arise in e-learning entail issues regarding credibility of certification, acceptance, risk, senior manager resistance, acceptance, and motivational issues (Abraham, Gale and Krell 2005, p.115). The capability of blended learning is immense and embodies a naturally evolving process from conventional forms of e-learning to a personalized and focused development path. Principles of Strategic Position The principles of strategic positioning encompass: strategy ought to start from the right objective; strategy ought to allow a company top deliver a concise value proposition; strategy should be mirrored in distinctive value chain; strategy encompasses continuity of direction; strategies manifest trade-offs; and, strategy outlines how all the elements of what the company involves in does fit together. The strategic direction that a company pursues should align with Porter’s five forces model detailing fresh market entrants, suppliers, customers, substitute products and services, and direct competition from other firms. IT together with the internet possess significant influence on these competitive forces as they stimulate new entrants, substitute products, yield a reduction in supplier power and enhance customer bargaining power such as through aggregated purchasing. One of the prominent tools for comprehending strategy at the business firm level entails value chain model, which is an effective tool for comprehending strategy at the business firm level. The primary activities within the value chain model revolve around the production and distribution of a firm’s products or services. The support activities facilitated by ICT are designed to of primary activities possible. This also comprises of the organization’s infrastructure, technology, human resources, and procurement (Meier and Stormer 2009, p.48). Primary activities encompass aspects such as inbound logistics through automated warehousing systems; operations featuring computer controlled machining systems; sales and marketing facilitated via computerized ordering systems; service enabled through equipment maintenance systems; and, outbound logistics encompassing automated shipment scheduling systems. The support activities, on the other hand, entail aspects such administration and management through electronic scheduling and messaging systems; human resources facilitated by workforce planning systems; technology (through computer-aided design systems; and procurement (through computerized ordering systems. ICT s aid in the movement from value chain to value web is facilitated by inter-linkages between the industry, customers, suppliers, and strategic alliance and partner firms. The growth in the utilization of ICT within the business world has given rise to internet-enabled web of cooperating firms and customer-oriented network of independent firms. Firms are now able to coordinate value chains in their production of goods and services. Indeed, technological web manifests several strengths, namely: reduction in the overall investment requirements; highlighting investments with regard to areas that they are most likely to succeed, and foster numerous suppliers to surpass bottlenecks components. The Significance of Web Strategy The adoption of e-business innovation demands a framework shaping sustainable business development. The core elements of the analytical framework are grounded on a number of issues such as coordination, cooperation, customers’ value and core competence. For most businesses, e-commerce presents the advantages of minimized information search costs and transaction costs (which enhances efficiency of operations). Web strategy has been central to the management of risks and generates innovation in intricate and rapidly changing environments. Web strategy minimizes risk via focus, enhancing returns and enhancing flexibility. Similarly, web strategy accelerates investment within technological platforms and stimulates innovation via distributed information flows. Web strategy also facilitates participants to unbundle their business and highlight their competitive advantages and heightens functionality, service, and customer adoption. Web strategy presents a new mind-set by establishing fresh ways of thinking within industry structures, linkage between companies, value creation mechanisms, and strategic positioning (shaper vs. Adapter). This allows unbundling and outsourcing of undifferentiated business activities and maximizing value for the whole web, rather than the company (Daft, Murphy and Willmott 2010, p.65). The organizational implications for web strategy entail outsourcing of non-essential activities; flexible organizational design through the creation of new structures and processes; fresh ways of working and production systems; and, fresh logistics and supply chain mechanisms. Leadership commitment to investment in technology is imperative for success. In cases where there is a powerful commitment at the level of executive management to alter organizational culture, an organizational is capable of generating the values that yield to knowledge sharing across boundaries (Singh and Waddell 2004, p.2). The challenges of implementing change encompass people being suspicious of corporate agendas, resistant to change, and people may be motivated by self-interest. The biggest challenge for a company adopting fresh business practice centres on how to manage the change that is necessitated by e-business. The core change levers for e-business may hinge on the market- e-business model, business process, technology infrastructure changes, and organizational infrastructure changes. Securing change demands that the entity demonstrate commitment in overcoming cultural barriers, altering people’s habits, and facilitating sustenance of new behaviours. Organizational change can be divided into two: anticipatory change encompassing pro-active change to enhance efficiency and attain competitive advantage (Canzer 2006, p.40). Reactive change, on the other hand, centres on direct response to change within external environment. Some of the concerns associated with internet-enabled commerce entail enhanced security risks compared to conventional business systems, securing the privacy and confidentiality of the data, challenges in establishing authenticity owing to the ease with which electronic data can be manipulated, safeguarding data integrity and access control to the data. Common security measures for guaranteeing security of the e-business centres on areas such as physical security, data storage, application development, data transmission, and system administration. The competitive threats impacting on the adaptation for e-business entail sell-side threats (customer threats and intermediary threats), buy-side threats (supplier threats and intermediary threats), and competitive threats (new-business models, new entrants, and new digital products) (Singh and Waddell 2004, p.3). Although, there is no agreed definition of E-learning, the term embraces evolution of distance learning shaped by the emergence of electronic learning tools, stimulate global “reach,” anytime anywhere learning, response to customer expectations demands, and potential cost reduction (Canzer 2006, p.41). The potential for e-learning within organizations is immense and has made organizational learning grow at a fast rate. Indeed, e-learning is likely to herald a dynamic workplace, fresh models, shapes, and forms, and a variety of choice of physical or virtual learning/training experiences. Conclusion Information systems presently occupies a centre stage as a “strategic resource” and is gaining ground in the production and distribution in all industries, and sectors in line with the premise of creating value (creating fresh knowledge and capturing its value). ICT investments should be accompanied by considerable behavioural and cultural changes based on the ways in which information, and ICT are employed in business functions such as marketing, servicing, and sales. In order to realize the potential that ICT hold, organizations should seek to recruit talented persons who can highlight the opportunities that ICT can avail and appreciate their function in shaping competitive advantages. The advantages of e-leaning entail minimized costs, enhanced access to experts within the field, enabling anytime, anywhere learning, facilitating the notion of life-long learning, geographical reach, and fostering in-company programmes. Businesses should keep up with the fresh developments in the same as competitor. Firms should utilize technology in creating new strategies for the business and should be creative in utilizing technology in spearheading fresh developments. The success factors for e-business systems encompass well defined objectives; top management support; good communications; high level maturity; incremental development; and, good security/partner trust. References List Abraham, D., Gale, J., & Krell, T. (2005). Organizational transformation and e-business implementation, Bradford, England, Emerald Group Pub. PP.114-115. AMit, R. & Zott, C. (2001). Value Creation in E-Business, Strategic Management Journal 22 (1), pp.493-520. Canzer, B. (2006). E-business: strategic thinking and practice, Boston, Houghton Mifflin. PP.40-42. Daft, R. L., Murphy, J., & Willmott, H. (2010). Organization theory and design, Andover, South-Western Cengage Learning. PP.65-66. Kidd, P. T., & Stanford-Smith, B. (2000). E-business: key issues, applications and technologies XA-DE, Amsterdam, IOS Press. PP.76-78. Lawson, B. (2001). Developing innovation capability within organizations : A Dynamic Capabilities Approach, International Journal of Innovation Management 5 (3), pp.377-400. Meier, A., & Stormer, H. (2009). EBusiness & eCommerce: managing the digital value chain, Berlin, Springer. PP.48-50. Pateli, A. & Giaglis, G. (2004). A Research Framework for Analyzing E-Business Modles, European Journal of Informaion Systems 13 (1), pp.302-314. Phan, D. D. (2003). E-business Development for Competitive Advantages: A Case Study, Information & Management 40 (1), pp.581. Singh, M., & Waddell, D. (2004). E-business innovation and change management, Hershey, Idea Group Publ. PP.2-3. Stephen, C. (2005). Strategic Management of e-Business, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons. PP.2-5. Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. (2010). Electronic Commerce 2010 A Managerial Perspective. 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