A Primer On Developing An E-Business Strategy

A Primer on Developing An E-Business Strategy

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Page

Doing Business on the Internet 1-3

Ð'* E-Business versus E-Commerce is there a difference

Ð'* The basics revisited

Ð'* The WWW and the changes in the environment of business

Ð'* Some E-Business statistics

Chapter 2

Is E-business for me? 4-9

Ð'* Some reasons for going online

Ð'* Brick and mortar versus click and mortar

Chapter 3

Preparing the online business 10-12

Ð'* Developing an E-business plan

Chapter 4

The Basics of E-Business Design 13-17

Ð'* Personalizing a Web site

Ð'* Basic rules in developing Web sites

Chapter 5

Marketing Strategies on the WWW 18-21

Ð'* Virtual societies

Ð'* Virtual society from a strategic perspective

Ð'* Need for localization

Ð'* Promoting your E-business

Chapter 6

Customer Relationship Management 22-24

Ð'* CRM Defined

Ð'* Why is CRM important

Ð'* CRM in the WWW environment

Chapter 7

Financial Transactions on the WWW 25-28

Ð'* Methods of financial settlement

Ð'* Financial transactions on the WWW- The issue

References 29

Glossary of Terms 30-31

2

Chapter 1

Doing Business on the Internet

E-Business versus E-commerce is there a difference?

The term E-business was initially crafted in a thematic campaign by IBM in 1997 and

subsequently defined as “a secure, flexible, and integrated approach to delivering

differentiated business value by combining the systems and processes that run core

business operations with the simplicity and reach made possible by Internet technology”

(http://www.ibm.com). Prior to the offering of this definition, the term E-business and E-

commerce were often referred to interchangeably. The offering of this formal definition

marked the coming of age of the adoption of the Internet and its technology to go beyond

the function of E-commerce and encompass other functionalities such as e-marketing, e-

franchising, e-mailing and many more. In a nutshell, E-business is the function of

deploying technology to maximize customer value while E-commerce is the function of

creating exchange (i.e., buying and selling) over digital media (Kalakota and Robinson

1999).

The Basics Revisited

As recognized above, the new paradigm of E-business that is being currently defined is

simply technology driven. This changes everything. Kalakota and Robinson map this

dramatic paradigm shift by presenting the following as the rules governing e-business:

Rule

Rule 1 Technology in no longer an afterthought in formulating business strategy,

but the actual cause and driver.

Rule 2 The ability to streamline the structure, influence, and control of the flow of

information is dramatically more powerful and cost-effective than moving

and manufacturing physical products

Rule 3 Inability to overthrow the dominant, outdated business design often leads

to business failure

Rule 4 The goal of new business designs is to create flexible outsourcing alliances

between companies that not only off-load costs, but also make customers

ecstatic

Rule 5 E-commerce is enabling companies to listen to their customers and

become either “the cheapest,” “the most familiar,” or “the best.”

Rule 6 Don’t use technology just to create the product. Use technology to

innovate, entertain, and enhance the entire experience surrounding the

product, from selection, and ordering to receiving and service.

Rule 7 The business design of the future increasingly uses reconfigurable e-

business community models to best meet customer’s needs

Rule 8 The tough task for management is to align business strategies, processes,

and applications fast, right, and all at once. Strong leadership is

imperative.

*Drawn