Electronic Commerce in Contemporary Business and Government - Essay Example

Assignment 1 Executive Report on Electronic Commerce in Contemporary Business and Government Executive Report on Electronic Commerce Name Date Table of Contest Activities and Scope of Electronic Commerce 4 Benefits and Costs of Electronic Commerce 7 Benefits of Electronic Commerce 7 Costs of E–commerce 8 Decision Regarding Electronic Commerce 9 Constitutes an Effective Electronic Commerce Strategy 10 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction The Internet has built an innovative economic system, the e-commerce market, as well as it has turned out to be a huge virtual street of the world. It offers a rapid and suitable method for exchanging products and services both globally and regionally. In the past few years, a lot of established e-commerce based businesses and governments have quickly stolen marketplace share from customary retailers and service providers, forcing these recognized customary players to organize their own commerce sites or to change business strategy in retaliation. This result is the majority pronounced in travel services and consumer electronics (WikiInvest, 2012). Normally, the phrase e-commerce is employed to explain the business operations that are performed over the web through the applications that depend on the Internet, similar to instant messaging, e-mail, web services, shopping carts, FTP, UDDI as well as EDI, among others. In addition, electronic commerce can be performed between two businesses transmitting goods, funds, services and/or data or between a business and a customer (Webopedia, 2012). Another definition says “e-commerce is the process of selling and buying services and products by businesses and consumers over the web. Normally, this process is divided into different categories such as business to consumer (B2C for instance Amazon), business to business (B2B for instance Cisco) and consumer to consumer (C2C for instance eBay) (InvestorWords, 2012). For this report I have selected the definition that is presented by (Qi & McGilligan, 2007). According to their viewpoint, the e-commerce is the business deals between and among organizations and individuals carried out through the digital technologies. Normally, it is acknowledged as the Internet-based electronic commerce. In this scenario, e-commerce offers numerous benefits for businesses to carry out business activities on the Internet. The reason I have selected this definition is that, it gives a proper overview of the e-commerce. It is clear from the definition we use digital technologies to perform business deals. Activities and Scope of Electronic Commerce All the business activities and the scope of ecommerce are also managed online. In addition, the transactions throughout the Internet could be either on services or products. In this scenario, the majority of people are aware of the buying services and products online from a number of websites similar to amazon.com or e-bay or some other Government websites. At the present, all the things from laptops to gym equipment, from apparels to jewelleries, can be bought online using this Internet based ecommerce. As well, using the Internet lawyers and business consultants are also presenting their services to their clients (RoseIndia, 2011; Norton, 2001; Shelly et al., 2005). Moreover, at the present customers also like to shop online, as it is a great deal hassle-free. In fact, there is sufficient freedom presented to them to move online, look for a service or product, as well as evaluate a few more of a wide variety of models, which are offered along with their prices. Another major perspective of e-commerce is that the clients are able to go to other online services and product review websites, and conversation forums. Once the clients like a service or product following the entire research, they are able to place an order for it online. In addition, the e-commerce has as well made it simple to pay. These days several means have evolved to pay our dealers via debit cards, credit cards, direct online money transfer, PayPal account and a lot of more. Once the payment is made, the dealers send off the services or product, which is delivered to the doorstep of the clients in a few days (RoseIndia, 2011; Norton, 2001; Shelly et al., 2005). In current years, a large number of researches have been conducted to determine the effects of the Internet on business. In fact, in an attempt to maintain the process of information distribution within and outside the business corporation for the supply chain; e-commerce could be an influential tool. In addition, with the e-commerce business is able to build up information integration systems like that Business-to-Customer (B2C) or Business-to-Business (B2B). These methods are used at different stages of the supply chain to instantaneously share as well as mutually incorporate information. The majority of empirical tests show that the use of e-commerce develops information integration when e-commerce is accepted for supply-chain management (Dekleva, 2000; Sha & Chen, 2010). In addition, Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce presents Australian consumers as well as businesses considerable advantages. In this scenario, consumers from Australia are capable to get the benefit of superior choice and expediency, augmented competition between suppliers and more information on the products and services they get. Moreover, the electronic commerce as well provides Australian businesses with the facilities to build up innovative marketplaces and to generate broader as well as deeper associations with their clients that were impossible in the past (Commonwealth of Australia, 2006; Noonan, 1999). Objectives and Goals of Electronic Commerce In this section I will outline the fundamental objectives of ecommerce for business or Government areas: Basic objective or goal of ecommerce is to overcome geographical limitations. For instance, if we are having a physical store, we are limited to the geographical region in which we can offer our service or sell products. With an ecommerce online site, the entire world is in our access. Moreover, the arrival of m-commerce (e-commerce through mobile) has also offered a great deal of support and comparability to enhance the overall productivity and performance of traditional business approach (Turban et al., 2005; Khurana, 2012). Another main objective of ecommerce is to attract new customers. In a physical environment retail is driven by relationships and branding. As well to these two drivers, online retail is as well driven with traffic from search engines. It is not strange for clients to follow a link in search engine results, and land upon an eCommerce business website that they have never perceived of. These extra sources of traffic could be tipping point for a number of ecommerce businesses (Turban et al., 2005; Khurana, 2012). Another major objective of ecommerce is to minimize the operating expenses of business products. One of the major tangible positives of ecommerce is the lesser cost. A fraction of these lowered expenses could be passed on to clients in the form of inexpensive prices (Turban et al., 2005; Khurana, 2012). The basic purpose of implementing an e-commerce system is to eliminate travel time and cost. In view of the fact that it is not easy for customers to travel long distances to arrive at their chosen physical store. In this scenario, the e-commerce permits them to visit the similar store virtually, with a small number of mouse clicks (Turban et al., 2005; Khurana, 2012). Benefits and Costs of Electronic Commerce Benefits of Electronic Commerce The fundamental advantages/benefits of e-commerce are stated below: (EcommerceEducation, 2007; Stair & Reynolds, 2003) Ecommerce permits people to carry out businesses without facing the barriers of distance and time. For instance, one is able to log on to the Internet at some point of time, be it night or day as well as sell or purchase anything one desires at an only click of the mouse. The straight cost-of-sale intended for an order taken from a website is lower as compared to customary means (paper based, retail), as there is no personal interaction throughout the online electronic acquisition order process. As well, electronic selling virtually gets rid of processing errors, plus being faster as well as extra convenient intended for the visitor. Ecommerce is perfect for niche products. Clients for similar products are typically few. However in the huge marketplace. One more significant advantage of e-commerce is that it is the easiest way of performing business. The everyday pressures of the market have performed their fraction in reducing the opening intended for businesses to invest in enhancing their competitive place. Costs of E–commerce The basic costs of e-commerce are stated below: (Sawhney, 2012). Security: In an e-commerce working and operational arrangement security carries on to be an issue for online businesses. Customers are more and more concerned with the security of information data and business transactions. Data Integrity: Data protection and the integrity of the system that holds the information and data are serious fears. In addition, the computer viruses are out of control, with latest viruses discovered daily. Moreover, viruses cause needless file backups, delays, storage problems, as well as other related difficulties. System Scalability: A company expands an interactive interface with customers by means of a website. Eventually, statistical analysis decides whether visitors to the website are recurring or one time customers. In this scenario there is no exact way to manage and handle such issues. Besides we have a number of issues and aspects regarding problems of ecommerce: DOS attacks Network hacking System hacking Online fraud Credit card theft Spam Phishing Attacks Decision Regarding Electronic Commerce In this section I will outline a number of aspects through which a CEO makes a decision regarding whether his/her company should engage in electronic commerce. In this scenario the first aspect that needs to be analyzed is the nature of business. Then CEO also needs to assess the functions of a business that should be automated. In addition, the CEO also needs to analyze the business working and operational aspects. In this scenario, one of the main areas that need serious attention is the eCommerce business model that business needs to assess for application of online websites. After this analysis a business CEO can decide about the application of online ecommerce business. Constitutes an Effective Electronic Commerce Strategy Constitutes an effective electronic commerce strategy should include: (Island, 2011) Low Price Greater services More informative Enhanced support Error correction Management interaction Customer relationship management Speak your customer language Driving traffic to your store Conclusion The e-commerce is the business deals between and among organizations and individuals carried out through the digital technologies. At the present, the business organizations have started realizing that without using the Internet effectively they cannot survive in this ever-increasing competitive world. This report has presented a detailed analysis of electronic commerce in today’s business and government. In this report I have outlined some of the important aspects of the electronic commerce in today’s business and Government sector enhancements and efficiency. This research has presented some of the advantages and costs associated with electronic commerce. This research has also tried to outline some of the main aspects of the electronic commerce application in Australia. This research has also assessed the components of effective electronic commerce strategy and aspects regarding “How a CEO makes a decision regarding whether his/her company should engage in electronic commerce”. References Commonwealth of Australia, 2006. The Australian Guidelines for Electronic Commerce. [Online] Available at: http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1083/PDF/australian_guidelines_for_electronic_commerce.pdf [Accessed 22 March 2012]. Dekleva, S., 2000. Electronic commerce: A half-empty glass? Communications of the AIS, 3(18), pp.2-99. EcommerceEducation, 2007. Benefits Of Ecommerce. 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An investigation into E-commerce adoption profile for small and medium-sized enterprises in bury, greater manchester, UK. In EC-Web'07 Proceedings of the 8th international conference on E-commerce and web technologies., 2007. Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg. RoseIndia, 2011. Scope and popularity of e-commerce. [Online] Available at: http://www.roseindia.net/tutorial/ecommerce/scopes-ecommerce-business.html [Accessed 22 March 2012]. Sawhney, M.S., 2012. Advantages And Disadvantages Of E-commerce. [Online] Available at: http://www.manjeetss.com/articles/advantagesdisadvantagesecommerce.html [Accessed 22 March 2012]. Sha, D.Y. & Chen, P.K., 2010. The best scope of e-commerce diffusion in a supply-chain operational environment: A global empirical study. [Online] Available at: http://web.cc.chu.edu.tw/sha/files/honor/JIOS.pdf [Accessed 22 March 2012]. Shelly, Cashman & Vermaat, 2005. Discovering Computers 2005. Boston: Thomson Course Technology. Stair, R.M. & Reynolds, G.W., 2003. 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