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How important is the e-business in today s world and in what ways does it affect d
ecision making in corporations. Student name: Rasheed Olawale Soetan, Student no
: 7254432 University of Southcentral LosAngeles INTRODUCTION Technological break
through in such areas as fax machines, telephone, video player, audio devices an
d televisions took many years to commercialize and measure their impacts on busi
ness compared to this breakthroughs, telecommunications, information communicati
on technology, miniaturization, computers and internet went through shorter prod
uct life styles and achieved widespread diffusion and reformed the nature of bus
iness operation and enhanced competitive business environment instantly. This te
chnological advancement has resulted in evolution and innovation of many product
s, services and business processes. One of them is the emergence of e- commerce
or electronic business. The internet had resulted in emergence of virtual market
s with four primary distinctive characteristics, which are real time, shared, op
en and global. The application of internet is divided into three major activitie
s that are publishing corporate information, conducting electronic commerce and
business transformation. The greatest feature of the internet is absence of inte
rmediaries; the manufacturers are able to sell their products relatively easier
to buyers via the internet. E-business today is no longer a technological issue,
but also business issue- commerce a core aspect of e-business involves a number
of forms, varying level of cost and complexities, depending on the business nee
d.
In the past few years, enterprises across the globe have experienced significant
changes in their
business information system (BIS). Huge investments were made in business enterp
rise resource
planning , system implementations but still they struggle to get timely informat
ion that is needed to
make effective business decisions and to ensure continuous growth of enterprises
. Placing e in
front of any process or function seemed to be the magic prescription for never e
nding story of
success and rapid returns for enterprises. E-business, e-procurement, e-sales, e
-payment-banking, e-
CRM, e-CAD, e-delivery are just a few.
The emergence of the internet and e-business throughout the world has been contr
ibuting such a variety medium in doing business as well as people lifestyle. AN
OVERVIEW OF KEY TERMS Definitions of e-business and e-commerce E-business has ma
ny definitions some of which are explored below; according to Elizabeth
Hardcastle in 2008 e-business involves several key activities including improvin
g business processes ,
enhancing communication and providing the means to carry out business transactio
ns securely.E-
business is a part of internet economy which encompasses all of the activities i
nvolved in using the
internet for commerce(1).
Electronic business commonly referred to as e-Business or e-business ``, may be def
ined as the
utilization of (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. Commerce cons
titutes the exchange of
products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen
as one of the
essential activities of any business.Electronic commerce focuses on the use of I
CT to enable the
external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups a
nd other businesses.( 2
).
E-business is buying and selling, servicing customers, collaborating with busine
ss partners and conducting electronic transactions within an organisation. (3) E
-business refers primarily to the digital enablement of transactions and process
es within a firm,
involving only the information systems under the control of the firm. They are t
hose activities other
than buying and selling via electronic channels.(4)
E-business is all about time cycle speed, globalisation, enhanced productivity,
reaching new customers and sharing knowledge across institutions for competitive
advantage.(5)
E-COMMERCE
A common activity associated with e- business is e-commerce which can be describ
ed as using
technology to conduct business transactions, such as buying and selling goods an
d services. However e- commerce involves more than merely conducting electronic
transactions: it also encompasses a wide range of associated activities, such as
after sales support and even logistics. E-business can take a varieties of form
s, including electronic data interchange (EDI), direct link ups with suppliers,
internet, intranet, extranet, electronic catalogue ordering and e-mail. An e-bus
iness model must have: 1. A shared digital business infrastructure including dig
ital production and distribution
technologies (broadband/wireless networks ,content creation technologies and inf
ormation
management systems)which will allow business participants to create and utilize
network
economies of scale and scope.
2. A sophisticated model for operations, including integrated value chains-both
supply and buy chains.
3. An e-business management model consisting of business teams and or partnershi
ps; and
4. Policy , regulatory and social systems that is business policies consistent w
ith e-commerce
laws, teleworking / virtual work, distance learning ,incentive schemes among oth
ers. E-commerce activities can be broken down into the following basic types : -
Business-to-business (B2B).Transactions take place between companies.Approximat
ely 80percent of all e-commerce is of this type. - Business-to- consumer (B2C).
Companies sell products directly to consumers.B2C can involve activities such as
product research ( where consumers gather information and compare prices)and el
ectronic delivery( where information products are delivered to consumers via e-
mail or other means). - Business to-government (B2G).Transactions take place betw
een companies and public sector organizations. - Consumer -to- consumer (C2C).Tr
ansactions take place between private individuals. Perhaps the best examples of
C2C commerce are online auction sites and peer-to-peer systems. - Mobile Commerc
e (m-commerce).M- commerce is a relatively new development and involves selling
goods or services via wireless technology, especially mobile phones. E-business
processes are usually quite simple. In most instances, it is the buyers who dict
ate terms,
yet many systems are very supply-centric. Within some sectors, notably aerospace
, there have been
a number of e-business portals and hubs to encourage e-business, particularly fo
r those within
existing supply chains. (11)
Adoption steps of e-business services involves:
Step 1. Messaging (internal and external e-mail).
2.
Marketing and stock availability checks. 3. Online ordering. 4. Online payment.
5. Monitor order progress. 6. E- business. Source DTI (2000) Chaffey 2nd Edition
. Six e-business strategic decisions :
-E-business priorities
-Business and revenue models
-Market place restructuring -Market and product development -Positioning and dif
ferentiation -Organisational restructuring Source: Chaffey (2007) fig 5.6 CORPOR
ATIONS A corporation is a company recognised by law as a single body with its ow
n powers and liabilities, separate from those of individual members. Corporation
s perform many of the functions of private business, government, educational bod
ies and the professions. DECISION MAKING A decision is a choice or judgement tha
t you make after a period of discussion, thought or
consideration. Decision making is a process of making important decisions.Every
organisation makes
decisions at every point in time of their existence.There are various methods an
d processes of
decision making.However, the main aim of all decisions of corporations is to ach
ieve their corporate
objectives .The core of these objectives is profit making and profit maximisatio
n.
HOW IMPORTANT IS E-BUSINESS IN TODAY S WORLD E-business has gained a lot of popula
rity in today s world due to a multitude of operational benefits
it can bring to purchasing practices. Examples of benefits are: cost savings res
ulting from reduced
paper transactions, Shorter order cycle time and the subsequent inventory reduct
ion, resulting from
speedy transmission of purchase order related information and enhanced opportuni
ties for the
supplier/buyer partnership through the establishment of a web business-to-busine
ss communication
networks.
E- Business is enhancing supply chain efficiency by providing real time informati
on regarding
product availability, inventory level, and shipment status and production requir
ements. It is vastly
facilitating collaborative planning among supply chain partners by sharing infor
mation on demand
forecasts and production schedules that dictate supply chain activities.
Moreover, it effectively links customer demand information to upstream supply ch
ain functions e.g.
(manufacturing, distribution and sourcing) and subsequently facilitating pull (deman
d driven)
supply chain operations. (7)
Aside from the above importance, e-commerce serves as an equalizer . It enables star
t-up and small-and medium sized enterprises to reach the global market. Example
of: Levelling the playing field through e-commerce the case of Amazon.com. Amazon
.com is a virtual bookstore .It does not have a single square foot of bricks and
mortar retail
floorspace .Nonetheless , Amazon.com is posting an annual sales rate of approxim
ately $1.2
billion,equal to what about 235 Barnes & Noble (B&N) superstores. Due to efficie
ncies of selling over
the web,Amazon has spent only $56million on fixed assets while (B&N) has spent a
bout $118million
for 235 superstores.( To be fair Amazon has yet to turn a profit ,but this does
not obviate the point
that in many industries doing business through e-commerce is cheaper than conduc
ting business in
traditional brick-and-mortar company). (8).

E-commerce as a major tool of e-business is making mass customization possible.e-com

merce
applications in this area include easy -to-use ordering systems that allow custo
mers to choose and
order products according to their personal and unique specifications.For instanc
e ,a car
manufacturing company with an e-commerce strategy allowing for online orders can
have new cars
built within a few days (instead of several weeks it currently takes to build a
new vehicle) based on
customer s specifications. This is working more effectively where a company s manufa
cturing
process is advanced and integrated into the ordering system.
E-commerce allows network production . This refers to the parcelling out of the prod
uction
process to contractors who are geographically dispersed but who are connected to
each other via
computer networks. The benefits of network production include: reduction in cost
s, more strategic
target marketing,and the facilitation of selling add-on-products,services, and n
ew systems when
they are needed.With network production, a company can assign tasks within its o
wn core
competencies to factories all over the world that specialize in such tasks e.g.
the assembly of specific
components.
To be consumers in C2B transactions,customers/consumers are given more influence
over what and
how products are made and how services are delivered,thereby broadening consumer
choices.E-
commerce allows for a faster and more open process with customers having greater
 control.
E-business has now become an element of overall business strategy and it is stil
l widely seen as a way of transforming business operations and thinking. E-busin
ess models have been benefitting communities that are sustaining significant col
laborative
relationships despite geographical diversity of membership. Meanwhile e-commerce
focuses
primarily on enterprise s customers,it enlarges the connectivity of the enterprise
s to include their
suppliers, employees and potential investors or partners.
E-commerce is the most important application of the new communication
technology,manufacturers,traders and consumers can now reach the market more qui
ckly and get
more information that they could ever get before.The electronic commerce has pen
etrated the
businesses in many ways.E-business has reduced the transaction costs via e-comme
rceallied with
purchase, sales, operating, holding,inventory and financial cost.The application
of e-commerce
through development of websites enhances the potential global market and sales r
evenue,bring
forth new products,potential new customers,services and geographical areas.In te
rm of non
financial benefits , e-commerce has significantly helped in improving human reso
urces and
timeliness, quality of services, customers satisfaction and some indirect effects
.
Research forecasts that e-commerce will account for 86% of worldwide sales of go
ods as services by year 2004.The potential for e-commerce is brighter, specifica
lly in those markets where buyers and sellers are motivated to reduce costs, inc
rease efficiency and cut delivery time.By 2003 estimated revenue from e-commerce
across the globe was to be approximately 1.5 trillion dollars the rate of
growth varies due to the development of infrastructure especially in developing
countries.Projected internet users by the end of 2000 are approximately 48%(Nort
h America),22%
(Western Europe),17% (Asia Pacific) and 7% (Middle East/Africa) which of course
stimulate further
growth of e-commerce.(6)
As at September, 2002 the internet the carriage of e-business reached two import
ant milestones with 200 million IP Host and 840 million internet user.(12) WAYS
BY WHICH E BUSINESS AFFECTS DECISION MAKING IN CORPORATIONS Any organisation that
will embark on e-business must take a decision on its business information
system ( BIS)as there will be the need for the corporation to have a good unders
tanding of computer
based systems before it embarks e-business solutions .More often than not corpor
ations do not opt
for radical changes to their purchasing and customer supply systems- indeed pape
r based systems
are often maintained in parallel .Usually, they modify and extend existing compu
ter based systems
such as ED I ,or they extend e-business options but retain older non computing s
ystems. (7)
Since there are many factors affecting the e-business strategy such culture, lea
dership, motivation, infrastructure, globalisation, industry, size ,competition,
 supply chain integration mechanisms. Basically on e-business strategy corporati
ons these days are taking various decisions, while some
have decided to improve on their supply chain management strategies such as repa
ckaging their e-
marketing tools,improving on planning,scheduling and change management,e-busines
s analysis and
design implementation and maintenance of existing infrastructure and control.
Others have busy themselves with taking decisions on selling directly to their c
ustomers(disintermediation) while some involves new intermediaries though with i
ts risks. Some corporations have decided to hold on to old customers relationship
s others enter partnership with intermediaries and a host of others do nothing t
o automate their existing structures. Taking to cognisance product and market de
velopment decisions of corporations the following are
some of the ways e-business affects them: more corporations have firmly decided
to enhance their
market penetration via selling more of their existing products to existing marke
t relying on
favourable customers perceptions.
On market development on the other hand, some corporations are using new channel
s for new markets for existing products which includes geographical expansion i.
e. international sales. Particular trend can easily be noticed on product develo
pment decisions of corporations in the field
of information/news delivery that have decided to be having e-versions of newspa
pers or
magazines that interested customer can subscribe to for some fees.

Generally however, some corporations have decided to diversify by creating varie

ties of new
products to sell to new markets not minding the fact that this involves more unk
nown factors and so
higher risks.
Many corporations have already decided on having creative positioning of an e-bu
siness strategy. A good example can be found in the instance stated below; Dawson s
antiques is a 23 year old small antiques business .With the emergence of online
auction sites , the owner ,Linda Dawson ,foresaw the need not only to accommoda
te the internet in their business strategy but also to take advantage of it in o
rder to survive as a business. This came with the recognition that many of her c
lients were exposed to a wide of antiques from competitors at online auction sit
es at prices lower than she was charging.
Meanwhile, Sotheby s, then a growing online auction site (and now one of the large
st online auction
sites), realised the merit of increasing its auction inventory to attract a bigg
er audience on the
internet .It revised its internet strategy by opening its website, Sothebys.com,
to smaller dealers and
auction sites instead of competing directly with its competitors in the online a
uction business. With
this approach, Sotheby experienced an exponential growth in its inventory, which
attracted a bigger
market.
Dawson s enlistment in Sotheby s was instrumental in expanding its client base. To m
ake things easier, Sotheby s not only provided the web site for its members (Dawso
n s included) . (8) WHERE WILL E-BUSINESS GO FROM HERE? As we have seen , e-business
has taken a number of paths since companies first started using web, and since t
hey began to take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. As technology advances
and the web users become more immersed in it,e-business will inevitably have to
evolve and adapt to change in the web culture.
Overall, we can expect to see the following e-business movement s in the coming
years: - Renewed SME entrepreneurialism ; Economic drivers will catalyse the res
urgence of
entrepreneurialism, as disenfranchised employees look to the web for new opportu
nities
.Small businesses in particular will also be able to offer lower costs to their
customers, so the
coming years will be an interesting time for small businesses with little capita
l to play with.
- A social media slowdown may be witnessed as many organisations are already fee
ling
saturated by social media tools. Savvy businesses may look to tools to help cons
olidate their
use of social platforms-perhaps through one port of entry or single sign on.
- An online advertising revolution; Downloadable widgets (tools that allow chunk
s of codes to
be distributed through third party sites) will continue to have far reaching poss
ibilities-
especially to drive online sales and further marketing and PR. So instead of sta
tic banner ads,
companies will increasingly put interactive content in their place.

- Greater customer-centricity ; Leaders in e-business already allow users to cho

ose what
content they see ,and e-commerce sites in particular can target products and ser
vice to
those most likely to make a purchase . However, sites that allow customers to ch
oose what
they see( as well as buy) will strengthen trust and increase their sales.
- The dawn of the e-commerce price wars; As the recession persists, price wars w
ill continue
to break out between both store and online rivals.However as retailers drop thei
r prices
further ,they risk devaluing some of the brands they represent.Therefore, many
manufacturers-dependent on their product type-may choose only to work with more
established bricks & mortar outlets with an e-commerce channel-or simply sell dir
ectly
their customers online. (14)
CONCLUSIONS The rapid growth in e-business around the world has prompted many to
look for better ways of
measuring the phenomenon .As more and more countries and international agencies
become
involved, it is important to develop plans to ensure that there is no unnecessar
y duplication of
efforts and that users have the data necessary for informed decision making at t
he earliest
opportunity.
Despite various potential benefits of e-business ,not every corporation is ready
to adopt it as a
purchasing tool or business strategy .Some serious hurdles to the successful imp
lementation of e-
business include a host of security, legal and financial problems, all of which
are significant factors in
business decisions for e-business introduction .In particular ,the incoherence o
f the web and
concerns about security and flexibility limit the confidence of business in inte
rnet based trading
systems .Current e-business systems do not yet fully address these concerns, and
most concentrate
on bilateral relationships between sellers and buyers.
From the above discourse, it can be easily argued that e-business in today s world
is a silver bullet
that is no doubt a very important and useful tool for many corporations and indi
viduals that are
ready to catch up with the current trend of change in the business world. Corpor
ations leaders and
individuals that want to maximise their benefits should therefore not only liste
n to the popular
press or consultants, but rather put in place sense making approaches that quest
ions e-business
appropriateness to their corporations and its circumstances.
REFERENCES: 1. Elizabeth Hardcastle (2008).Business Information Systems, Ventus
publishing Aps ISBN 978- 877681-463-2 p.20.
2. Beynon Davies P. (2002), E-business. Palgrave Basingstoke ISBN 1-4039-1348-x.
3. Turban, Efraim,David King , Jae Lee and Dennis Viehland (2004) Electronic Com
merce: A
Managerial Perspective , Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey. 4. Laundon , Kenneth
C & Carol Guercio Traver (2003).E-Commerce: Business,Technology and Society. 2n
d edition. Pearson Addisson Wesley, Boston. 5. Louis Gerstner (2002) Who Say Ele
phant Can t Dance.
6. Sussan, A.P., Kassira, RD (2003). Globalisation and the role of E-Commerce.B
usiness Research Yearbook, ABD, 10,7 : p 211-215. 7. Quayle, M . (2003) E-busine
ss in a turbulent world: Usage in European Small and Medium s ize enterprises ;
International Journal of Electronic Business,Vol. 1, No. 1 pp.41-52. 8. Zorayda
Ruth Andam , E-Commerce and E-Business, May (2003) eASEAN Taskforce UNDP- APDIP.
9. Tim Coltman et-al , E-business : Revolution , Evolution or Hype? 10. Van Hoe
k, R (2001) E-Supply Chains Virtually not existing Supply Chain Management, Vol. 6
No 1 pp.21-28. 11. Seewww.aerohub.co.uk 12. See netsizer.com- from Tel cordia