Overview of Electronic Commerce Essay

Electronic mer toilettilism is the performance of buying, sell, or exchanging produces, services, and education via computer networks. E- moving in is a broader definition of EC that embarrasss not just the buying and selling of goods and services, but also servicing guests, collaborating with commerce partners and conducting electronic transactions within an organization. 2. Distinguish between slender and partial EC. Companies utilizing pure EC conduct totally of their melody online. Businesses utilizing partial EC conduct a portion of their vexation online and a portion of their calling off-line. 3. Define click-and-mortar organizations.These argon organizations that conduct e-commerce activities, but do their primary occupation in the physical world. 4. Define electronic markets, IOSs, and intraorganizational tuition systems. Electronic market An online securities industry where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods, services, money or cultivation. IOSs Com munication systems that admit routine transaction mathematical operationing and selective information flow between two or to a greater extent organizations. Intraorganizational information systems Communication systems that enable e-commerce activities to go on within individual organizations. Section 1. 2 Review Questions . List the study components of the EC fashion simulate. The EC framework is made up of the following components people, the public policy, technical standards and protocols, blood partners and support services. 2. List the major(ip) transactional types of EC. The major transactional types of EC include business-to-business, business-to-consumer, business-to-business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business, consumer-to-consumer, wandering commerce, intrabusiness EC, business-to-employee, collaborative commerce, nonbusiness EC, electronic government and exchange-to-exchange. 3. come across the major landmarks in EC history.The major landmarks in EC history bega n with the use of EDI to transmit business information. This was followed by a replete(p) public acceptance of the profits. The next major landmark was the development of several early electronic commerce situates online and the growth of the new parsimony. An some other major landmark is the winding down of m any(prenominal) of these new economy businesses. 4. List nearly EC successes and failures. Student answers willing vary. Section 1. 3 Review Questions 1. Define a business plan, business case, and business model. A business plan is a written document that identifies the business goals and outlines the plan to achieve them.A business case is a written document that is used by managers to gather funding for specific operations for projects its major emphasis is the justification for specific investment. A business model is a method of doing business by which a keep beau monde coffin nail generate revenue to put up itself. 2. Describe a revenue model and a value propo sition. Revenue model Description of how the company or an EC project will earn money. Value Proposition The benefits a company fuck derive from using EC. 3. Describe the following business models name your own price, affiliate selling, viral market, and product customization.Name your own price reverse auction where bidders submit prices they would pay, and the system attempts to match those prices with merchants Affiliate trade One firm helps advertise for another and takes a commission on sales from referrals Viral marketing Word of mouth marketing Product customization creating products based on individual needs 4. Identify business models related to to buying and those related to selling. Some business models related to buying include electronic tendering systems, receive the best price, group purchasing and supply fibril improvements.Some business models related to selling include online direct marketing, name your own price, affiliate marketing, buyer marketing, online auctions, product and service customization, electronic marketplaces and exchanges and supply strand improvements. 5. Describe how a linear supply chain sack be changed to a hub. By allowing all members and levels of the supply chain to interact directly with a central hub (private or third-party), members can more slow state back and forth slice improving and streamlining their overall processes. Section 1. 4 Review Questions . Describe some EC benefits to organizations, individuals, and society. EC benefits consumers by providing them convenience, speed, cost, customization, personalization and communities. EC benefits organizations by expanding the marketplace, creating a cost savings, improving business processes and promoting interactivity.EC benefits society by improving the standard of living and delivery of public services. 2. List the major expert and non-technological limitations of EC. These limitations atomic number 18 summarized in Exhibit 1. 5. Section 1. 5 Review Questions . Define the digital economy. A digital economy is an economy that is based on digital technologies, including digital communication networks, computers, software, and other related information technologies. It whitethorn also be called the Internet economy, the new economy, or the Web economy. 2. List the collar characteristics of the digital revolution cited by Choi and Whinston. These characteristics include a tolerant concoction of digitized products, financial transactions be conducted digitally, and microprocessors and network capabilities embedded in physical goods. . List the major business pressures faced by organizations today. The major business pressures faced by organizations can be divided into markets, societal and technological categories. 4. List the major organizational responses to business pressures. Organizations respond to business pressures by using strategic systems, continuous improvement systems, business alliances, electronic marke ts, increased efficiencies, employee empowerment, supply chain improvements, and mass customization. 5. Describe how EC supports organization responses to business pressures.EC, and engineering science in general, show organizations with ways to operate their businesses more efficiently by providing services and functions that in the late(prenominal) have been performed by employees at less than optimum efficiencies. Section 1. 6 Review Questions 1. Define intranets and extranets. An intranet is an infixed collective or government network that uses Internet tools, such as Web browsers, and Internet protocols. An extranet is a network that uses the Internet to connect multiple intranets. 2. What is a corporate entry?A corporate portal is a major gateway through which employees, business partners and the public can enter a corporate Web site. 3. Identify EC transaction models (e. g. , B2B) in Exhibit 1. 9 (page 27). These would include ? exchange online ? Selling digital goods ? Online auctions ? Reverse Auctions ? Supply chains Answers to EC Application nerve Questions EC Application Case 1. 1 Voice-Based 511 Traveler Information Line Questions 1. disgrace tellme. com and find more information about this case. sum the benefits to the users. Student answers will vary. workrs obtain a number of benefits, but the largest is the ability to quickly and easily gravel travel information from a single number. 2. What is the role of Tellme? What Internet engine room is used? Tellme is the technology provider that uses a voice portal to introduction a number of Web sites and databases. 3. Can this finishing be classified as m-commerce? As l-commerce? Why or why not? This application is m-commerce since it is irritateed with a mobile device. It is not l-commerce, since no location sensors (GPS) are used. EC Application Case 1. The Success Story of Campusfood. com Questions 1. disunite this application by EC transaction type. This is a hybrid business mode l combining B2B and B2C elements. The business acts as an intermediary to other businesses (restaurants) and then resells these products to students (food). This business could be described as B2B2C. 2. Explain the benefits of Campusfood. com for its students and for the restaurants it represents. both parties received benefits from this relationship. Campusfood. com is able to create a market and revenue by reselling restaurants food to students.The greater variety of restaurants that they represent, the better possible market for students (and thus higher revenues). Restaurants benefits from the surplus marketing and sales volume generated by Campusfood. com 3. Trace the flow of digitized information in this venture. Campusfood. com receives restaurant menus and enters them into their EC site. Consumers view this information on the Internet and place electronic orders to Campusfood. com. The orders are then forwarded digitally to the restaurant. 4. How does the outsourcing of mar keting activities sum up to the business?By outsourcing marketing activities, the business is able to benefit from the firms expertise in this area. Additionally, the business is able to concentrate on its force abilities. EC Application Case 1. 3 Orbis Group Changes a Linear Physical Supply range to an Electronic Hub Questions 1. Identify the benefits of the ProductBank system to the supply-chain participants. The hub model is beneficial to the participants in the supply chain because it eliminates unnecessary travel in the process, and by doing so lowers overall cost and increases the speed of the process. 2. Where does the cost decline in the ProductBank process come from?The cost reduction comes from several locations. The first area of reduction is the ability for the retailer or their advertising agency to immediately view and select an appropriate envision without the use of a courier. When an image is selected it can be immediately pulled from the database instead of b eing sent out for scanning. 3. Where does the cycle time reduction come from? The cycle time reduction comes from two locations. The first area of reduction is the ability for the retailer or their advertising agency to immediately view and select an appropriate image without the use of a courier.When an image is selected it can be immediately pulled from the database instead of being sent out for scanning. 4. Explain the benefits of electronic collaboration between the catalog owner and the ad agency. Electronic collaboration between the two parties allows them to communicate more quickly and efficiently than traditional methods. The retailer is able to participate more fully in the process of the selection of photos, while the ad agency is able to more quickly process their customers requests. EC Application Case 1. 4 The Internet and the Intranet Shorten Time to Market for New Drugs Questions 1.How does the computerized drug application system avail collaboration? This applicati on system facilitates collaboration because it provides full and easy access to the information needed. In addition, the information can also be easily searched and specific facts retrieved quickly. 2. How is cycle time cut down? Cycle time is reduced because pharmaceutical and FDA employees are able to concentrate more fully on the review of the drug in question. This is accomplished by the ease of searching online databases for facts and information as conflicting to wading through hundreds of thousands of pages of paper documents.Answers to Discussion Questions 1. Compare and contrast viral marketing with affiliate marketing. In both viral and affiliate marketing of business, relying on a third party to assist in its marketing effort is necessary. With affiliate marketing, individuals or firms are paid based on the amount of special business they can send to the selling firm. With viral marketing, individuals are encouraged to market the product to others without any financial gain. 2. Carefully examine the nontechnological limitations of EC. Which are company dependent and which are generic?All of the listed nontechnological limitations are generic concerns with EC with the exception of Lack of trust in EC and in unknown sellers invalid buying. This limitation may be overcome by well-known and established merchants who will bring with them some level of customer confidence. 3. Compare brick-and-mortar and click-and-mortar organizations. Brick-and-mortar organizations only maintain a social movement off-line. Click-and-mortar organizations maintain a presence both online and off-line. 4. Why is it said the EC is a catalyst of primal changes in organizations?EC causes fundamental changes in organizations because it requires business models and processes to be redesigned and streamlined. This is required for firms to have successful EC. 5. Explain how EC facilitates supply chain management. EC facilitates supply chain management by exposing the inner wo rkings of the supply chain and indicating which areas contribute the greatest value. These indications, coupled with a firm understanding of the chains workings, provide the necessary information for supply-chain optimization. 6.Which of the EC limitations do you think will be more easily overcomethe technological or the nontechnological limitations, and why? Student answers will vary. In most cases technical limitations are easier to overcome, with customer p parts taking more time to adapt. 7. Explain how EC can reduce cycle time, improve employees empowerment, and facilitate customer support. EC can reduce cycle time by eliminating move in business processes. The steps may be redundant or can be replaced with more efficient technology solutions.The elimination of the steps speeds the overall process and reduces cycle time. EC can provide employee empowerment by providing employees with greater and easier access to information provided by the employer. EC facilitates customer sup port by providing a wide range of technological solutions and communication opportunities. Additionally, EC supports self-help customer service so consumers can answer their own questions. 8. How does EC facilitate customization of products and services? EC facilitates customization by allowing customers to see the full range of options available for a given product.Customers are then able to select the options that they desire and these options may be sent directly to the manufacturer or service provider. This provides a more direct link between the customer and the firm that will at last fill their custom order. 9. Why is buying with a smart card from a vending instrument considered EC? EC can be be as the application of technology toward the automation of business transactions and workflow. Because a smart card uses technology to automate a process (creating greater efficiencies and ease-of-use) it can therefore be considered EC. 0. Why is distance learning considered EC? EC c an be defined as the application of technology toward the automation of business transactions and workflow, as well as a gathering place for community members to learn, transact and collaborate. Distance learning fits both of these definitions because it provides the technology solution for workflows (education) while also creating a learning community. Internet Exercises (Note URLs may change over time please learn the Internet Exercises on the Turban Web site for possible updates www. prenhall. com/turban. ) 1.Enter bigboxx. com and spot the services the company provides to its customers. What type of EC is this? What business model(s) does Bigboxx use? This company provides a large supply of office products, as well as other products and services to customers in the Hong Kong market. This company focuses primarily on B2B sales. This company makes the mass of its revenue through the direct sale of items. 2. Enter Amazon. coms site (amazon. com) and locate recent information in the following areas Student information will vary based on when this question is completed. a. identify the five top-selling books on EC. b. Find a review of one of these books. c. Review the customer services you can get from Amazon and describe the benefits you receive from shopping there. Amazon. com provides several services for customers. These benefits include free transportation on large orders the ability to track orders the ability to combine orders the ability to send orders as guests special answers will vary d. Review the products directory. Amazon. com provides a wide variety of products including books, electronics, music, travel services and many others. . Enter priceline. com and identify the various business models it uses. Priceline. com uses the name your own price or reverse auction business model. This model allows consumers to place bids for different services with several third-party companies through priceline. com. If the amount paid by the customer m eets the third-party companys minimum sales price, the customer purchases the product or service at that price. 4. Go to ups. com and find information about recent EC projects that are related to logistics and supply chain management.UPS provides a variety of EC business products and solutions. Many of the solutions allow companies to easily ship, track and receive packages through UPS. In many of these cases, UPS provides software and services that allows customers to link UPS information to their existing information or e-commerce systems. The systems then allow greater visibility of the supply chain creating easier understanding of problems and opportunities in logistics. 5. Go to mixonic. com and create a CD. then go to nike. com and design your own shoes. Next visit iprint. com and create your own business card.Finally, enter jaguar. com and configure the car of your dreams. What are the returns of each activity? The disadvantages? Each of these sites provides the ability of individual customization for various products. The major advantage of this system is the ability of the consumer to create and purchase a product that meets their individual specifications. The disadvantages of the systems are the limitations and possible customizations and the additional cost and fulfillment time associated with customized products. 6. Enter chemconnect. com. What kind of EC does this site represent?What benefits can it provide to buyers? To sellers? This company provides an Internet-based exchange for the buying and selling of chemicals and plastics. This site provides benefits to both buyers and sellers. Buyers are able to evaluate pricing, availability and other information from a variety of sellers. Sellers are able to present their products for sale to a wide variety of buyers. 7. It is time you try to sell or buy on an online auction. You can try eBay. com, auction. yahoo. com, or an auction site of your choice. You can participate in an auction of almost an y country.Prepare a short report describing your experiences. Reports will vary based on the auction site used by the student. In many cases students will comment on the overall experience of listing and purchasing products. Points of reference would include the ease-of-use of the site, the ease in searching and gathering information, the ability to compare products and the ease in finish transactions. 8. Try to save on your next purchase by using group purchasing. Visit letsbuyit. com, shop2gether. com, and buyerzone. com. Which site do you prefer? Why? Opinions will vary based on student preferences. . Enter espn. com and identify all sources of revenue there. I was able to identify Advertising (pop-up) Advertising (co-branding MSN) Advertising (banners) Advertising (internal, for ESPN) E-Commerce (sales) group Assignments and Role Playing 1. Assign each team two failed or failing Internet companies (e. g. , musicmaker. com, comdex. com). Use startupfailures. com to identify com panies that are in distress. Fortune. com is a good source of details for particular business failures. work each team prepare a report on why is the companies failed or are failing.Responses will vary based on the businesses chosen by students and the source of their information. 2. Each team will explore two EC success stories. Members of the group should examine companies that operate solely online and some that extensively expend a click-and-mortar strategy. Each team should identify the critical success factors for its companies and present a report to the other teams. Responses will vary based on the businesses chosen by students and the source of their information. Answers to End-of-Chapter Real-World Case Questions E-Commerce Supports Field Employees at MaybellineQuestions 1. IVR systems are still popular. What advantages do they have over a system in which the reps mail or fax reports? Information comes in faster, and in a machine understandable format. 2. Explain why th e MSP application is an e-commerce application. Compare it to the definitions and classifications in the chapter. The MSP application is an e-commerce application because it uses IT to directly enable communications and sales of products. 3. The existing technology enables transmission of data any time an employee can access the Internet with a PC.Technically, the system can be enhanced so that the data can be sent wirelessly from any location as soon as they are entered. Would you recommend such a wireless system to Maybelline? Why or why not? Student answers will vary. Students will weigh the benefits of real-time information against the costs and access issues of a new system. 4. Summarize the advantages of the new MSP system over the IVR one. Some of the advantages include Easier to use more accurate information More detailed information More timely information Two-way communication Fulfills more roles