Chapter 1

Introduction
1.1 Introduction

The term "e-Business", therefore refers to the integration within the company, of tools based
on information and communication technologies (generally referred to as business software)
to improve their functioning in order to create value for the business, its clients, and its
partners.
E-business no longer only applies to virtual companies all of whose activities are based on
the Net, but also to traditional companies.

E-business or Online business means business transactions that take place online with the help
of the internet. The term e-business came into existence in the year 1996. E-business is
an abbreviation for electronic business. So the buyer and the seller don’t meet personally.

In today’s world, we are exposed to various forms of e-Business. Since its emergence, it has
grown by leaps and bounds. Some predict that it may very soon overtake brick and mortar stores
completely. While that remains to be seen, we cannot ignore the immense role it plays in the
current global economy.

Includes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or non-
profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more comprehensive definition
of e-business is: “The transformation of an organization’s processes to deliver additional
customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing
paradigm of the new economy.” Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business.
1. Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenishment of stocks;
processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and production control processes,
among others;
2. Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing efforts, selling
over the Internet, processing of customers’ purchase orders and payments, and customer
support, among others; and
3. Internal management processes, which include employee services, training, internal
information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance
information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity.
Workgroup communications and electronic publishing of internal business information are
likewise made more efficient E-business has received much attention from entrepreneurs,
executives, investors, and industry observers recently. As information technologies (IT)
develop, novel ways of business process redesign (BPR) emerged, creating turmoil in the
industry. Organizations today frequently integrate Internet technology to redesign processes
in ways that strengthen their competitive advantages. Success breeds imitation and invites
more entries. The rapid expansion of e-commerce values in the 5 past few years convinced
many people that a new economy has emerged. Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, frequently
expressed his fear that Microsoft is about 2 years away from failure, that somewhere out there
is a formidable competitor, unborn and unknown, who will use better business models to put
companies like Microsoft into obsolescence. And the most successful new business models
are probably those that can integrate Internet technology to all activities of the enterprise-
wide value chain. The three principal categories of e-business applications are:-
1. Electronic markets or e-marketplaces: buying and selling goods and services.
2. Inter-organizational systems: facilitating inter and intra-organization flow of goods,
services, information, communication, and collaboration.
3. Customer service: providing customer service, help, handling complaints, tracking orders,
etc.

1.2 Rationality of the Study

Sustainable innovation is a process of continual improvement so there’s hardly a place left

that isn’t thinking hard about its sustainability, and most are in need of clear, realistic
strategies for sustainability. Development is vegetative in IT world and growth can be seen in
various segments, these changes are inevitable. Supply chain sustainability strategies need to
be integrated and closely coordinated with business strategies that affect supply chains.
Internal Alignment One of the most persistent challenges to supply chain sustainability is an
unresolved tension in textile and garment companies between supply management
professionals’ commercial objectives and their sustainability objectives.
Companies in textile industry have mix of independent legacy systems. Though they were
built over a period of time as per user needs, they failed to meet overall management
information needs. Whenever some information was required, data was gathered from
independent systems, and then reports were prepared. This led to delay in information usage
and decision making. Same data was being entered by various departments for different
purposes. Besides, there were also serious data security and safety issues, which led the
company’s management practices as to go for an integrated package. Therefore the present
paper focus on cross functional information system, enterprise resource planning (ERP).

1.3 Methodology of the Study

This paper is a descriptive type of research which has been conducted based on both primary
and secondary data. Primary data were collected through interview of expert on E-business
by using unstructured questionnaire. The interviews were conducted in Bengali; the then
pertinent information was translated into English. Secondary sources such as website,
Published papers, Journals, newspaper reports and so on.

There are some key differences between the development approach that's appropriate for
building e-business systems and the approach that's appropriate for building traditional
client/server systems. However, the differences are not as great as many people imagine.
Too many inexperienced e-business project managers think that they're simply "knocking
together" a Web site. Faced with ever-tightening deadlines and pressure from ignorant clients
or users, these project managers believe that it will be okay to skip key stages in the systems
development lifecycle—only to find out later how wrong they were to do so. Such an
approach is doomed to failure, because the skipped stages tend to be those that ensure quality
in the final product. By using of e-business we can differentiate our new economy
relationship from the old ones.
In fact, it's arguably even more essential to adhere closely to a systems development
methodology when building e-business systems, which can cut across organizational
boundaries, across country boundaries, and can involve the integration of a great number of
systems. Without the correct planning and methodologies applied, an e-business system is
likely to fail.
However, implementing a solid methodology doesn't necessarily mean that it will take longer
to create a working system; it can actually help improve the chances of meeting tight
deadlines. In cases where the chances of meeting such deadlines were nonexistent in the first
place, a solid methodology can help the clients or users to understand the reasons that the
deadlines are not feasible and can help them to take some ownership for some of the
timescale issues.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The e-business services have been introduced to search for business partners and explore
more opportunities. It is used to fetch potential customers, retain present customers and even
locate old customers. Entrepreneurs build business relationships with the partners through the
means of Internet. A marketer can invite the clients to enter into mergers and acquisitions or
contracts to expand the business. A marketer should build an online presence in order to
initiate and establish the online business.
This is possible by building a website for the company. You should optimize the content in
the site so that it becomes easily accessible to the search engines.
For this purpose, keyword rich content should be used. The presentation of the company
website always reflects the image of the company. Therefore, the presentation of the website
should not only be search engine friendly but also attractively presented. This is done to
allure the customers and potential business partners towards your organization. The website
should become accessible to the customers and the presentation should be visually emphatic.
The wide use of Internet has given a boost to the growing trend of online shopping. A
marketer can exhibit lucrative offers and his products and services on his website. Make the
payment and purchasing procedure easy on the Internet. You can also provide contact details
such as phone number or contact details of the call center of the company.
These details are useful to serve the customers at the time when they encounter any difficulty
of payment. The presentation of your products should appeal to the customers at a glance. For
this purpose, you should study your target customers thoroughly. E-business solutions
establishes your online presence which enables you to boost the sales and revenue.
The others objectives are given below:

 To help the industry to strengthening the capacity to value innovate.

  To explore the passion of sustainability in the industry.
 To understand the rationality of e-business tools for supply chain practices.
 To know the significance of e-business innovations for achieving global excellence.

1.5 Limitations of the Study

No research is complete without admitting the limitations that was faced while conducting a
study which will contribute to present learning. This study too like the others have certain
constrains which has been discussed below.

 The study was restricted to General E-business.

 The study is mainly concentrated on E-business.
 The sample of the size will be limited to time and resources.
 The information will be collected valid until there is no any technical change or any
innovation.
 The result is assuming that respondents have given accurate information.
 Chapter 2

Literature Review
2. Literature Review

Some preliminary works on e-business and banking have been made through using data
analysis. This literature review was also conducted to help put the research methodology in a
better conceptual framework. In this regard the review focused on E-business management.
In present scenario E-Commerce is playing very essential role in the online business.
Although it is one of the best & cheapest intermediate for reaching out to new customers in
the online market, if e-commerce implemented effectively, it also offers a smart way of doing
online business & expanding it more.

Khosla and Kumar (2017) in their analytical report mentioned that some of the trends
expected to come in near future in e-commerce can be growth in omni channels, niche
businesses, mergers and acuisitions, tapping more rural markets, rise in internet marketing,
focus on services, rise in digital payment modes, better infrastructure and supply chain
management.

Mahipal, D., (2018) in his paper mentions different phases of internet from year 1995 to
present era. Further, the study concludes that there will be tremendous growth in coming
years provided there is security in legal framework and e-commerce so that domestic and
international trade could expand.

Shettar, M., (2016) suggested that proper knowledge and understanding of legal framework
and possible issue and risk management is required for businesses these days. The growing e
commerce in India has attracted the attention of global players too. With the increase in
SMEs, FDI and MNCs more and more employment opportunies are granted to consumers,
thereby increasing their buying capacity.

Shahjee, R., (2016) states that e-commerce has given a platform to companies to display their
varied products and to make it easy for consumers to quicky find out products of their
interest, which was comparatively difficult by marketing traditionally. But on the contrary, e
commerce is facing lot of difficulties related to infrastructural capabilities and computer and
internet lack of knowledge among consumers, specially rural consumers.

Mitra (2013) highlights the importance of e-commerce, stating that this is going to be future
for purchasing and shopping. The government needs to provide assistance in legal framework
to that business could widen up their horizons and work with new advanced technologies and
business practices, along with secured transactions.
Goele, S., Chanana, N., (2012) mentions in their study that some of the industries like Travel
and tourism, electronic, hardware products and apparel are going to boom in the coming
future with the help of e-commerce. Some of the factors which will contribute to this growth
are M-comerce, replacement guarantees, different payment modes, logistics and shipment
options, product quality standards, customer care services.

The term “e-Business” has a very broad application and means different things to different
people. Furthermore, its relation with e-commerce is at the source of many disagreements.
(Melao, 2008). A more comprehensive definition of e-business is: “The transformation of an
organization’s processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of
technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy.” In a simple sense,
E-Business can be defined as, “the organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for
profit, products and services that satisfy society’s needs through the facilities available on the
Internet” (Brahm Canzer, 2009)

Some authors view e-Business as the evolution of e- commerce from the buying and selling
over the Internet, and argue that the former is a subset of the latter.( Turban et al., 2006).
Others defend that, although related, they are distinct concepts (Laudon and Traver, 2008).
Others use both terms interchangeably to mean the same thing (Schneider, 2002). (Kalakota
and Robinson, 2000) proposed a definition of e-business that clearly stresses the difference
between e-commerce and e-business. More precisely they assume that “e-business is not just
about e-commerce transactions or about buying and selling over the Web; it is the overall
strategy of redefining old business models, with the aid of technology, to maximize customer
value and profits”.

According to (Melao, 2008) the clear commonalities among these definitions, include the
improvement of business processes and the use of ICT in intranets, extranets and the Internet
to conduct business. He defines e-Business as the use of ICT as an enabler to (re)design,
manage, execute, improve and control business processes both within and between
organizations. Thus, front and back-office integration and multi-channel integration become
crucial in e-Business, which requires a challenging process improvement approach to support
the necessary organizational, technological and social changes.

E-Business probably began with electronic data interchange in the 1960s (Zwass, 1996).
However, (Melao, 2008) suggests that it was only in the 1990s, primarily via the Internet, that
e-Business has emerged as a core feature of many organizations. In his opinion, the hope was
that e-Business would revolutionize the ways in which organizations interact with customers,
employees, suppliers and partners. Some saw e- Business as part of a recipe to stay
competitive in the global economy.

According to Basu and Muylle (2007), companies can gain two fundamental types of benefits
from e-Business. These are generally described as: Value Creation or Value Enhancement for
one or more of a company’s stakeholder groups; and Lower Cost of providing goods and
services to the market place. Examples under Value Creation include Improvement in internal
and external communication through effective e-marketing, Increment of sales through an e-
commerce website integrated with a back office systems and Improvement in supplier
relations and productivity through collaborative workspaces (Basu and Muylle, 2007). And
examples under Lower ost are: reduction in communication and travel costs using online
meeting tools; shared workspaces and; benefit from license free open source alternatives to
proprietary software.

Businesses also see tremendous opportunities for cost saving, revenue generation, increased
market share, marketing and market access, and improving customer service through direct
links that facilitate speedy enquiry and feedback. Similarly, consumers can inter alia, access
the world market through the virtual economy on the Internet, choose from a wider variety of
products, and shop in the comfort of their homes. Globalization and specifically liberalization
of communication networks have all facilitated this break-through that further presents a
massive boost for international trade (A. K. Sohani, 2009).

Many writers of e-Business and e-commerce extol the enormous potential and opportunities
provided for consumers and businesses globally. However there are some drawbacks and the
benefits to be derived tend to be overstated. Many managers and investors are facing strong
pressure to answer the question of whether and how e-business investments create business
value, because it is not clear to them how this 11 value is created, and what are the factors
that shape that value, also which of them are most important (Alawneh A., and Hattab E
2009)

Seth, A., Wadhawan, N., (2016) mentions that retailers are required to go beyond their
boundaries in order to get compatible with new digital business era. Digitalization is no more
a choice now, rather it has become a necessity for all retailers. This could include
transformation of business models, incorporating technological investments, getting tech-
savvy with new advancements.
Kumar, N., (2018) in his report mentions tremendous growth in e-commerce is expected to
rise 4 times by year 2021 in comparison to 2015. Major contributors to this growth are going
to be smartphones and internet users, rise in awareness among general public, better internet
services, digitalization of most of the initiatives with the support of government, entry of
foreign investors and business players, advanced payment options available to consumers but
Government need to take steps to provide proper legal framework and minimize obstacles in
growth.