E-Business Strategies - Case Study Example

Swarna1 Word count:1262 P.Swarnalatha ID # 5448 Order 175692 d 08.07.2007     e-Business Strategies  One of the major revolutionary changes that have transformed the world in all fronts is in the form of e-business or electronic business. It has fastened the progress of work to a greater extent, may it be general administration or commerce. The e-business strategies have been implemented for efficient local administration of the city of New Orleans, Lousiana. New Orleans has a major portion of the nations refinery and production of petroleum and is well known for its cultural tourism. Presently, the city is in the top twenty of the most visited cities in the United States, and tourism is a major staple in the areas economy with an average annual visitors of 10.1 million. Similarly, the Port of New Orleans is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled and second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana. There are a substantial number of energy companies that have their regional headquarters in the city, including Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company. Similarly, the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is located in the eastern portion of Orleans Parish. The positive extent of influence of e-business strategies on local governance of New Orleans can be found with the launch of NOLA1. NOLA is city’s new, high-tech emergency notification system that will assist in delivering real-time messages via cell phone, email or pagers in the event of an emergency. NOLA will send messages to the city’s first responders, local government officials, business owners, visitors, and registered residents of New Orleans. Hence this system also allows for shared emergency information with surrounding parishes, across Louisiana and the country. 1 : City Gets "NOLA Ready" For 2007 Hurricane Season. Http://www.cityofno.com/ Major diversification of its economy was witnessed with launch of tax incentives for movie production companies in 2002. This has lead to a substantial increase in the number of films shot in the New Orleans area under nickname of "Hollywood South". The e-business strategies influenced the growth of several companies in the sectors of health, infrastructure and tourism. Hoteliers experienced phenomenal growth with hotel occupancy rates over the past several years, but the trend got reversed later. Reports confirmed the negative occupancy rates for 19 of the top 25 metro areas, with significant drops reported in New York, Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans (Max Starkov and Jason Price, 2001). The implementation of new e-business strategies helped in enhancing the occupancy rates of hotels in New Orleans. The e-business strategies like marketing and eDistribution, made any lodging company or independent hotel to successfully compete with the major brands amidst this softened economy. Hospitality is not all about rooms and F&B. eDistribution and eProcurement became the focus of attention of hoteliers under new e-business strategies. Cost-effective online distribution is what increases occupancy rates, improves the bottom line and gives hotels sustainable competitive advantage. Developing a long-term eBusiness strategy is the main key to gaining competitive edge not only over your peers, but over many major brand hotels. It faclitated the hoteliers to react instantly to the changing market conditions by dynamically adjusting pricing and availability of inventory. Overall, the hotel industry got tremendously benefited due to the implementation of e-business strategies. Similarly the online booking as encouraged by e-business strategies aided in reducing the costs of the customers which in turn aided in enhancing the number of customers and occupancy rate in hotel industry in New Orleans, Lousiana. Hospitality eBusiness Strategies (HeBS), www.hospitalityebusiness.com, a leading Internet Distribution and Marketing consulting firm for the hospitality industry, and National Trust Historic Hotels of America (HHA), www.historichotels.org, recently announced renewal and expansion of their strategic consulting services agreement (Hotel online, 2004).  HeBS is expected to continue consulting with HHA to assist in implementing a robust direct online distribution strategy. Expanded services like brand building strategies, website optimization and search engine strategies, keyword search and email marketing, best practices and professional development would certainly form major component of e-business strategies through out the United States. The purpose of the study is to help HHA assess how well its members are utilizing the Direct vs. Indirect Online Distribution Channel, and establish a benchmark on how members are performing in Internet distribution and marketing.  Many hoteliers in New Orleans witnessed success by creating the right mix between a direct-to-consumer and indirect online distribution strategy as a successful Internet strategy. The benefits were substantial. Developing a robust total online distribution and marketing  strategy strengthened both direct channels and the right indirect channels that in turn avoided price and brand erosion, controlled distribution costs, and enabled hotels to maximize revenues by better managing their inventory.  The information and technology played crucial role in e-business strategies for New Orleans. The traditional way of dealing the natural disasters like Katrina make residents angry as it offers no solution for recovery and it is time consuming process. However the e-business strategies with information and technology as core component changed the situation tremendously. It has made the consensus about community planning very simple and easy which was otherwise always difficult during the occurrence of disasters like Katrina in a city like New Orleans. The information and technology revolution helped in getting public feedback early that helped planners and developers avoid costly roadblocks (Stephanie Overby, 2006). The launch of e-business strategies also helped in content management systems, group-ware, mapping software, survey systems and audience response tools which in turn aid in engaging residents oh New Orleans in community redevelopment programs. The e-business strategies have helped in solving the Distributed Data Protection Problems of New Orleans. This has helped in the changing corporate environment where more and more business-critical information is generated and stored outside of headquarters. It has ensured the growing need to protect data for compliance, customer assurance, and business continuity reasons. Moreover, the e-business strategies have increased the efficiency of supply chain management and customer relationship management in city New Orleans significantly. The main objective is to respond to the immediate demands of customers through fast access of information. The supply chain management of New Orleans was facilitated by information and technology in four important ways (Tracy Mayor, 2007) i.e. 1. Look Beyond the Shop Floor, 2. Share Lots of Data, 3. Put Timely Data to Work and 4. Get Close to Your Partners. The automobile industry and aerospace industry of new Orleans got tremendous benefit due to this supply chain management. For example, GKN Aerospace North America (East), a supplier of engine parts for aircraft and aerospace vehicles, knows-down to the hour and minute-the needs and wants of its largest customer: Boeing. Conclusion: 1. The implementation of e-business strategies has helped in equitable and efficient economic development of New Orleans. It has helped in sectors of health, aerospace, tourism and automobile industries significantly. The role of information and technology in supply chain management and data protection definitely aid in efficient administration of local government in New Orleans. However, the e-busiess strategies have to be reoriented to address the changing needs of the customers or residents for better local governance in future References: Hotel online. 2004. Hospitality eBusiness Strategies Renews and Expands Consulting Services for Historic Hotels of America®. HeBS to Provide Internet Consulting to Boost Online Reservations and  Conduct Commissioned Study of HHA Members. Dated November 9, 2004. http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2004_4th/Nov04_HeBSHistoricHotels.html. Max Starkov and Jason Price. 2001. Independent Hoteliers: eBusiness Levels the Playing Field.Hospitalitynet.Dated10thAugust,2001.http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4008785.search?query=e. Stephanie Overby. 2006. IT Helps Rebuild New Orleans. CIO. Dated March 01, 2006. http://www.cio.com/article/17924/IT_Helps_Rebuild_New_Orleans. Tracy Mayor. 2007. The Supple Supply Chain. http://www.cityofno.com/ Dated June 13, 2007. Read More