Assignment No # 2

Subject : E-Business
Class : M.Com 3 (Evening)
Submitted to : Sir Umair Aslam
Submitted by : Aftab Liaqat
Roll No : L-1291

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Question No 1:

Opt-in:
Opting in means that a user will take an affirmative action to offer their consent. The most
common way we see opt-in methods implemented is through checkboxes
Opt-in email is a term used when someone is not initially added to an emailing list and is instead
given the option to join the emailing list. Typically, this is some sort of mailing list, newsletter,
or advertising.

Opt-out:
Opting out means a user will take action to withdraw their consent. There are two main ways to
offer opt-outs to users. The first way is a pre-emptive opt-out, in which users can uncheck a
marked box – or otherwise undo a confirmation – in order to indicate that they are not interested
in the activity you’re presenting them.
The term opt-out refers to several methods by which individuals can avoid receiving unsolicited
product or service information. This ability is usually associated with direct marketing
campaigns such as, e-mail marketing, or direct mail.

Qualified lead:
Contact information for a customer and an indication of his or her propensity to purchase different
products.

Conversion marketing:
Using marketing communications to maximize conversion of potential customers to actual
customers and existing customers to repeat customers.
Brand: 
The sum of the characteristics of a product or service perceived by a user.

Branding:
The process of creating and evolving successful brands.

Brand equity:
The assets (or liabilities) linked to a brand’s name and symbol that add to (or subtract from) a
service.

Brand experience:
The frequency and depth of interactions with a brand can be enhanced through the Internet.

Customer personas:
A summary of the characteristics, needs, motivations and environment of typical web-site users.

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Customer scenarios:
Alternative tasks or outcomes required by a visitor to a web site. Typically accomplished in a
series of stages of different tasks involving different information needs or experiences.

Sense and response communication:

It means to know the needs of the customers by observing their behaviour and actions and
provide products, services and advices according to it.

Online value proposition:

It is like statement which shows what benefits a company provides, the problems it solves and
reasons for which a customer should choose the company products.

Question 2:

Digital media:
Digital media indicates the use of computer technology to combine various forms of media.
Digital media is electronic media that works using digital codes to creates digital audio, video or
other digital content. Five major elements of digital media are audio, video , graphics, web
design.

Characteristics of digital media communications:

Following are the characteristics of digital media communication are as:
a) Interactivity
b) Intelligence
c) Individualization
d) Integrity
e) Independence of location

Question 3:

Virtual integration:
In this type of integration, informal arrangements are made with supplies and customers
combining value chain to optimize functions of organization.

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Vertical integration:
In this type of integration, the company acquires its suppliers and customers to help it maintain
its supply chain management.

E-supply chain management:

Following are the goals of a supply chain management:
 It helps to improve the efficiency of the operations of the company.
 The organizations can use supply chain management to improve the quality of the
products.
 It can be used to improve the management of inventory in the organization.
 Ordering process of the organization can be improved to some extent.
 The services related to the customers can also be improved.
 We can deliver the products on time by using E-supply chain management.

Question 4:

Strategic analysis:
It is the process of conducting research on the organization and its environment in order form or
enhance organizational strategy.
 Company analyze its internal environment and issues
 Analyze it current strategy and its effectiveness
 Analyze its alternatives to current issues
 Implement its most viable strategy

Question 5:

Business strategic decisions:

These include eight key e-business strategic decisions about:
 E-business channel priorities
 Market and product development
 Positioning and differentiation strategies
 Business and revenue models
 Marketplace restructuring
 Supply-chain management capabilities
 Internal knowledge management capabilities
 Organizational resourcing and capabilities

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Question 6:

Stages of developing a strategic e-marketing plan:

Following are the stages of developing a good strategic e-marketing plan:

 Introduction:
It deals with hoe will the objectives of the business will be obtained and how such activities will
be carried out.

 Diagram:
A diagram that will show the process of developing a successful marketing plan.

 Objective:
Effective e-marketing plans are based on clear objectives since these will inform the strategies,
tactics and help in communicating the strategic aims to the workforce and investors.

 Tactics:
There can be various approaches based on the traditional elements of marketing mix.

 Actions:

These are the activities performed by the mangers to execute a plan. At this stage, the e-
marketing plan will be finalized to summarize actions that need to occur.

Question 7:
Approaches to managing E-Business change :
 Collaborative – widespread participation of employees occurs to define the changes
required and techniques to achieve them.
 Consultative – management takes the final decision, after calling on some employees
for input.
 Directive – the management team takes the decisions, with the employees generally
trusting them to do so and being generally informed.
 Coercive – the management team takes the decision with very limited recourse to
employees

Total Outstanding :
Total outsourcing is by far the most common form of client–provider relationship. Total
outsourcing involves the complete hiving-off of one or more activities by the outsourcing firm
for a set period of time. Control of the outsourced activities, and their administration, are passed

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over to the service provider. Introduction of outsourcing is when we contract a third party to
manage a business process that they can manage more effectively then we can do in house.

Work flow management :

‘Workflow is the automation of a business process, in whole or part during which documents,
information or tasks are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of
procedural rules.’
Examples: Booking a holiday

Question 8:

Process analysis and data analysis:

Process Analysis :
Process Analysis is a technique for the study of a company with a view to understanding
processes and enhancing the quality and performance of its operations. It outlines the processes
involved, the parties involved, the information exchanged and the documents generated.

Data Analysis :
Data analysis is defined as the process of cleaning, transforming and modelling data for the
discovery of useful knowledge for business decision-making. The aim of the Data Analysis is to
derive useful information from the data and to make a decision based on the analysis of the data.

Work flow management and Work flow Analysis:

The automation of a business process, in whole or part during which documents, information or
tasks are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules.

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Workflow analysis is the process of examining an organization's workflows, generally for the
purpose of improving operational efficiency. It identifies areas of process improvement such as
redundant tasks or processes, inefficient workplace layouts and bottlenecks in the workflow.

Question 9:

Buy-side e-procurement:
In this type of e-procurement method, the buyer invites the bids in its own site for tendering
purpose. The sellers are to make biding for the purpose of obtaining the contract from the buyer.

Sale- side e-procurement:

In this type of e-procurement method, the buyer goes to the seller site for the purchase of the
required product. The buyer finds the product he is looking for and then tries to purchase it.

Advantages:
Buy-side e-procurement is suitable for large buyers as it can obtain good quality supplies at a
cheaper price. There is also less risk of completing tax and other formalities.
In sell-side e-procurement, we can easily compare different suppliers and choose the one which
is best for us.

Question 10:

Opportunities using e-marketing:

Following are the opportunities of using e-marketing:
 It helps to diversify the distributions channels of the entity.

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  It helps to engage more with the customers. They can send the feedback that with be
helpful to improve the products.
 It can help to provide free samples to the right persons and spread the word about the
product.
 It can help create a loyal customer base by giving small amount of charity to their
designated institute.

Conventional marketing vs e-marketing:

Following are the things that both methods have different from each other:
 In traditional marketing, billboard or TV commercial is a part of daily life. While in e-
marketing the ads can become annoying.
 In traditional marketing, printed material can be more permanent as compared to e-
marketing.
 To see something in real life will be remembered more as compared to seeing on a
mobile phone.
 In traditional marketing, it is more difficult to measure result of campaign as compared to
e-commerce.
 Traditional marketing is more expensive as compared to e-marketing.
 Traditional marketing is not as volatile as compared to e-marketing.

Question 11:

E-procurement:
It is the management of all the procurement activities including purchase request, authorization,
ordering, delivery and payment between supplier and customer.
Following are the steps involved in the e-procurement:
 Requisition
 Authorization
 Purchase order
 Receipt of goods
 Invoice
 Reconciliation
 Payment
Process flow of e-procurement in the organization:

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Process flow analysis for traditional procurement:

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Question 12:
Part A:
Following are the two types of supplies needed:
 Production related procurement
 Non-production related procurement

Production related procurement:

It is the procurement which relates to the production of the product. For example, chemicals
needed to prepare paint.

Non-production related procurement:

It is the procurement which does not relates to the production of the product. For example,
purchase of chair for manager of the company.
Following are the two methods by which company purchases supplies:
 Systematic sourcing
 Spot sourcing

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Systematic sourcing:
It is a type of sourcing in which organization has negotiated contracts with regular suppliers,
typically in long-term relationships.

Spot sourcing:
It is a type of sourcing in which we fulfil of an immediate need, normally used for commoditized
item for which it is less important to know the credibility of the supplier.

Part B:
Examples of such exchanges includes sites such as www.oilandgas.com, www.vertical.net,
www.itoi.com, www.chemdex.com etc.

Question 13:

Reasons of e-procurement:
Following are some of the reasons of choosing an e-procurement:
 It lets the organization to automate the process of e-procurement.
 It improves the list of suppliers of the organization.
 It lets us to compile and shares reports easily.
 It reduces the spending of the company by controlling the cost of the process.
 It increases the productivity of the company.
 It can be integrated with other systems of the company.
 It eliminates the confusion, enhances collaboration and improves the controls of the
company.
 It improves the interaction of the company with the suppliers.

Question 14:

Maverick purchasing:
In this type of purchasing, products are purchased without involving the procurement department
into the purchase. Price compensation or any agreement is not taken into consideration in
maverick purchasing.

Safeguards:
Following are the steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of maverick purchasing in any
organization:

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  Organization should increase spending visibility to decrease the risk of maverick
purchasing.
 We should update our technology so that employees will need have any need to do out of
system purchase.
 Training of the employees is necessary so that they know the consequences of making
maverick purchases.
 Employees must be held accountable for their purchases so that will check any discount
before moving to make full payment.
 Eliminate the usage of cards that are difficult to monitor.
 Limit the access of adding new vendors into the list of authorized vendors.

Question 15:

Buy-side e-procurement:
In this type of e-procurement method, the buyer invites the bids in its own site for tendering
purpose. The sellers are to make biding for the purpose of obtaining the contract from the buyer.
It is usually suitable for large buyers. But key suppliers may be missed if they are not aware of
the tender.

Sale- side e-procurement:

In this type of e-procurement method, the buyer goes to the seller site for the purchase of the
required product. The buyer finds the product he is looking for and then tries to purchase it. It is
up to the buyer to find the supplier he is looking for. It will require more effort on the part of
buyer to obtain what he wants.

Marketplace:
In this type of procurement, the buyer goes to neutral market to purchase the product he needs. It
gives a wide range of suppliers. It gives the flexibility to switch suppliers in case of need. But it
could also leads to so many options that it becomes difficult to choose.

Question 16:
Following are the types of e-procurement:

E-sourcing:

In this type, we try to find finding potential new suppliers using the internet during the
information gathering step of the procurement process.

E-tendering:

It is the process of screening suppliers and sending requests to the suppliers for the material or
information required.

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E-informing:

It is the type of e-procurement in which we handles information about the supplier’s quality
financial status or delivery capabilities.

E-reverse auctions:

It helps the organization to buy goods and services that have the lowest price or cheaper price
along with other factors as well.

Question 17:

Implications of e-procurement:
Following are the some of the implications of introducing e-procurement:
 Less staff time involved with the use of e-procurement which require organization to
make some staff redundant or be reskilled.
 Education and staff training is required in order to enable them to use the system in
effective way.
 It enables the organization to better control the purchasing process and oversee the
purchases.
 It helps to reduce the maverick purchases in the organization.
 It impacts the information system by integrating different systems together.
 It effect the payment process by converting it to online payment method.

Question 18:
Reinter mediation:
The creation of new intermediaries between customers and suppliers providing services such as
supplier search and product evaluation.

Conventional distribution:
According to Kotler and Armstrong (2001), a conventional distribution channel is a channel
consisting of one or more independent producers, wholesalers, and retailers, each a separate
business seeking to maximize its own profits even at the expense of profits for the system as a
whole.

Question 19:

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SWOT vs PESTLE:
When planning a project, it is important to learn about internal and external aspects of an entity.
We can use SWOT and PESTLE to identify the different aspects need for our project.
 PESTLE does not analyze the internal factors of the organization, while SWOT analysis
does give importance to internal factors as well.
 SWOT analysis does not deeply analyze the external factors as in case of PESTLE.
 PESTLE analyze the external factors/environment at macro level, SWOT does not cover
all aspects of environment.
 SWOT analysis can identify internal weakness that can hinder in a project while PESTLE
cannot find such weakness.
Organization should not choose only one of the above methods to analyze its projects. It is
because each method serves its own purpose and has its own strength and weakness. It is better
to merge both methods to maximize the output. Organization should perform PESTLE to analyze
the external factors thoroughly and use that finds in opportunity and threat section of SWOT.
After this, use SWOT to analyze the internal factors as well before making any decision.

Question 20:

Situation analysis:
It refers to a set of methods that managers use to analyze a company’s environment both external
and internal. It will helps to understand organization’s capabilities, customers and business
environment.
The marketing plan is very critical and the importance of situational analysis in a marketing plan
is cannot be denied. The situational analysis will become part of an organization’s marketing
plan where the situational analysis applies to different marketing situations related to the
organization. It means that there is need of a separate marketing plan for the organization.
The following factors must be kept in mind while performing a situational analysis:

Product situation:
Determine your current product. You may want to view this definition in parts such as the core
product and any secondary or supporting services or products that you sell. Viewing your
products and services separately helps determine how each relates to your core clients' needs.

Competitive situation:
Analyze your main competitors and determine how they compare to your business such as
competitive advantages.

Distribution situation:
Review your distribution situation in terms of how you get your products to market, such as
through distributors or other intermediaries.

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Environmental factors:
Determine the external and internal environmental factors, which can include economic or
sociological factors that impact your business's performance.

Opportunity and issue analysis:

Conduct a SWOT analysis to determine any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
that may affect your business and its performance.

Question 21:

E-procurement barriers:
Following are some of the barrios that are involved in implementing e-procurement:
 Security of transactions
 Lack of supplier e-procurement solution
 High cost of technology
 Lack of legal framework
 Lack of technical expertise
 Lack of e-procurement knowledge
 No real business benefit identified
 Data exchange standards lacking
 Lack of business relationships with suppliers
 Time need for implementation process
 Resistance to change

E-procurement risks:
Following are the risks associated with e-procurement procedure:
 Computer viruses and worms attack
 Unreliable internet services
 Confidentiality/leakage hacking
 Software non-compatibility
 Legal liability and interpretation of law
 Lack of widely accepted standards
 Human resource risk
 Time and money wastage
Question 22:

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Facebook:
Facebook play an important role in establishment of brands for the young entrepreneurs. Small
business use Facebook to promote their business to their target audience. Facebook use
algorithm driven advertisement in order to use and show advertisement. Facebook has simplified
its process and now have automated a lot of the levers user acquisition managers used to rely on.
It is best to let the Facebook algorithm to do what it does best. It helps in automated bid and
budget management and automatic ads placements.

Soft launch:
It is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public
release.
Following are the some of the key benefits of the use of Facebook for the soft launch of the
products:
 It helps in targeting of more audience in a single place.
 Increasing audience size can help us gather more data and prevent inefficiencies caused
by targeting the same audience across multiple ad sets.
 It helps in automated placement of ads for better results.
 Facebook’s system of discount bidding always picks the lowest price for advertiser.
 We can manually select placement of ads using asset customization menu.
 It has more filters to helps target a specific audience.

Question 23:

Balanced scorecard approach:

In a balanced scorecard approach, we divide the mission statement into small and well-defined
goals. We can monitor the performance of company in respect to the mission statement of the
company. The balanced scorecard provides basic structure for understanding e-marketing.
Balanced scorecard provides 4 perspective:
 Customer prospective
 Internal prospective
 Learning and growth prospective
 Financial prospective

Question 24:

E-marketing planning:
An e-marketing plan is a strategic document developed after analyzing and researching in the
market to achieve marketing objectives using electronic mediums.
Following are the stages involved in this process:

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  Situation – where are we now?
 Objectives – where do we want to be?
 Strategy – how do we get there?
 Tactics – how exactly do we get there?
 Action – what is our plan?
 Control – did we get there?
Organization must manage the effectiveness of the marketing plan. Following are the six
elements of the approach used by the organization:
 Processes transcend the boundaries of a single firm and are not controlled by a single
organizational hierarchy.
 Production processes are flexible with different parties involved at different times.
 Parties involved in the production of a single product are often geographically dispersed.
 Given this dispersion, coordination is heavily dependent on telecommunications and data
networks

Two Aspects:
 Vertical integration:
The extent to which supply chain activities are undertaken and controlled within the
organization.

 Virtual integration:
The majority of supply chain activities are undertaken and controlled outside the
organization by third parties.

Question 25:

E-Procurement:
E-procurement is a process of purchasing or selling of goods and services through internet. It is
the management of procurement activities including purchase request, authorization, ordering,
delivery and payment between a purchaser and a supplier.

Benefits:
The online procurement automation software offers numerous benefits for businesses of all sizes
and shapes:

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  Reduce Manual Errors:
Due to e-procurement the process become automated with the implementation of electronic
procurement software solutions. This helps the businesses by reducing human errors and
increase the business efficiency.

 Enhance the Business Productivity:

Electronic procurement system can help businesses to streamline the purchasing and tendering
processes. It keep a track of the total purchases within the business organization. Thus it
increases the productivity of organization and improve the employee work productivity.

 Eliminate Unnecessary Paper Works:

The usage of electronic procurement tools enables businesses to store the business data in an
electronic format, eliminating the paper work and simplifying the process of purchasing.

 Minimize the Business Costs:

The usage of e-procurement systems helps the businesses to control the businesses spending in
many possible ways. It also eliminate some paper work relating to business transactions thus
reducing the overall business spending.

 Improve the Business Transaction Speed:

Electronic procurement can allow businesses to do multiple tasks, so do not have to do every
task separately. It also improves relationships with suppliers and reduce the data entry time. Plus
it effectively manages day-to-day purchases, enhances transaction speed, and helps you gain
competitive advantage over other businesses.

 Gain Visibility into Business Spending:

Keeping the record of business transactions as well as provide a detailed overview report on
requisition, items purchased, supply chain processes, purchase orders, inventories, receipt and
invoice management etc. All these reports can help businesses to gain enhanced visibility into
the day-to-day business transaction process.

 Faster Approval Process:

Many software solution can offer fully integrated services. They combine many separate systems
and helps for the faster approvals, as well as to accomplish the job in a much easier format.
Question 26:

Vendor managed inventory:

Supply chain partners manage the replenishment of parts or items for sale through sharing of
information on variations in demand and stocking level for goods used for manufacture or sale
Vendor inventory benefits:
 Improved alignment of inventory with customer demand.
 Streamlined processes and lower costs.

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  Improved data insights.
 Closer collaboration with customers. .
 Improved sales figures.

Question 27: For each of the following boxes provide at least two examples
along with justification. You can provide real time examples or made up
scenarios, justify your answer with logical argument is compulsory?
(This answer is taken from Dave Chaffe Book page no 422 )

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Question 28:
Push base Strategy :
A supply chain that emphasizes distribution of a product to passive customers.

Pull base Strategy :

An emphasis on using the supply chain to deliver value to customers who are actively involved
in product and service specification.

Which one is better and Why :

Pull marketing is often the primary business strategy for companies looking to:

 Ensure long-term business growth

 Maintain dominance in a specific niche or industry
 Build a return customer base or improve loyalty
 To promote brand recognition with customer engagement and visibility
 Increase social media traffic as well as social media sharing

Question 29: How Efficient and responsive supply chain strategy relates to
Push/Pull Concept?
Supply chain management:
The coordination of all supply activities of an organization from its suppliers and partners to its
customers.
Advantages of a pull strategy include higher service levels, lower carrying costs, decreased
inventory levels and fewer markdowns. But perhaps most of all: the pull approach
enables supply chains to adapt to demand faster, and allows for SKU and store differences

Question 30: Describe in detail the particular stages in strategic e-marketing

planning process of any e-business, for each stage highlight two aspects that
are of particular importance for e-marketing?
E- Marketing:

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Digital marketing is the component of marketing that utilizes internet and online based digital
technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to
promote products and services.
An e-marketing plan is needed in addition to a broader e-business strategy to detail how the sell
side specific objectives of the e-business strategy will be achieved through marketing activities
such as marketing research and marketing communications.
ii. Since e-marketing plan is based on the objectives of e-business or business strategy, there is
overlap between the elements of each approach particularly for environment analysis, objective
setting and strategic analysis.

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