E-Business Entity Model

When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suit their
goals. A business model is defined as the organization of product, service and information flows,
and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers.

E-Business has been primarily classified into four categories based upon the Entities (transaction
parties) involved in a transaction

1. B2B
Business-to-Business (B2B) is that model of e-business where a company conducts its trading and
other commercial activity through the Internet and customer is another business itself. I.e., B2B
facilitates inter-organizational interaction and transaction.

Examples- MetalSite.com, VerticalNet.com, SHOP2gether.com

The B2B entity model can be classified into three transaction types-
a) Supplier-Centric: The supplier sets up the web-based portal for doing business with
customers. Various customer/ buyer interact with the supplier at its E-portal.
Examples: Intel

b) Buyer-Centric: Buyer with high volume purchase capacity create an web based portal
for purchase and acquisition. Examples: Government of India, General Electric
Information System

c) Intermediary- Centric: A third party sets up the electronic platform to create an E-

Marketplace. Attracts both the buyer and seller businesses to interact with each other.
The role of the intermediary is that of an E-Market maker. Examples: Honeywell
International (Myplant.com), India Mart.Com

2. B2C
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) is a model where a business organization undertakes commercial
transaction directly with individual consumers. It is also called E-Retail or E-Tail because it is
actually retail sales over the Internet. The selling businesses offer a set of merchandise at given
prices, discounts, and shipping and delivery options.

Examples: Dell Computers, Mustafa, Amazon, Fabmart

Advantages:
 Business-to-Consumer (B2C) model offers consumers the capability to browse, select, and
buy merchandise online, from a wider -variety of sellers and at better prices.
 In this environment the sellers and consumers both benefit through the round the clock
shopping & accessibility from any part of the world
  Selling through the Web means cutting down on paper costs, customer support costs,
advertising costs, and order processing costs.

3. C2B
Transaction is originated by the customer with a set of requirement specifications and specific price
for a commodity, service, or item. It is the responsibility of the business entity to match the
requirements of the consumers to the best possible extent. Consumer-to-Business (C2B) enables a
consumer to determine the price of a product and/or service offered by a company.

Examples: www.Priceline.com, www. ReverseAuction.com

Advantages:
 Consumers get a choice of a wide variety of commodities and services.
 Consumers also get the opportunity to specify the range of prices they can afford or are
willing to pay for a particular item, service, or commodity.
 Reduces the bargaining time
 Increases the flexibility

4. C2C
Provides the opportunity for trading of products and/or services amongst consumers who are
connected through the Internet

Examples: ebay.com, InfoRocket.com, TraderOnline.com

Advantages:
 Broader market
 Eliminates intermediary
 Constantly changing and updating
Disadvantages:
 No quality control
 No payment guarantee
 Hard to pay for using checks, ATM, cards, etc but future this is likely to change.

Business-to-Business-to-Consumer
Describes transactions in which a business sells a service or product to a consumer using another
business as an intermediary.
Example: Maytag.com allows consumers to choose the features they want in durable goods. These
are then shipped to the retailers, which also function as services centers and return centers( if the
durable goods prove to be not so durable).

Consumer-to-Business-to-Consumer
Describes transactions in which a consumer sells a service or product to another consumer using a
business as an intermediary.
Difference between E-Government and E-Governance

E-Government

E-Government refers to the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT)

like internet, to improve government activities and process. E-Government aims of increasing
transparency, efficiency and citizen involvement in the various government schemes, operations
and process. Hence it speeds up the justice delivery system in the country.

E-Governance

Electronic governance, shortly known as E-governance refers to the utilization of information and
communication technology (ICT) for providing government services, disseminating information,
communication operations with the general public.

Differences
 E-Government means the use of ICT in government operations, as a tool to increase the
outreach of the government services. E-Governance, on the other hand, implies the use of
ICT in transforming and supporting functions and structures of the system.
 E-Government is a system while E-Governance is a function.
 E-Government is a one-way communication protocol. On the contrary, E-Governance is a
two-way communication protocol.