Introduction to e-Business

It is widely acknowledged today that new technologies, in particular

access to the Internet, tend to modify communication between the
different players in the professional world, notably: relationships between
a business and its clients; the internal functioning of the business,
including business-employee relationships; and the relationship of the
business with its different partners and suppliers.

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 (called click and mortar)
all of whose activities are based on the Net, but also to traditional companies
(called brick and mortar).

The term e-Commerce (also called Electronic commerce), which is frequently

confused with the broader term e-Business, actually only covers one aspect of e-
Business, i.e. the use of an electronic support for the commercial relationship
between a company and individuals.
The purpose of this article is to present the different underlying "technologies" (in
reality, organizational modes based on information and communication
technologies) and their associated acronyms.
 Creation of Value
 Time to Market
 Reduction of Costs and ROI
 Characterization of the e-Business
 Front Office/Back Office
 Presentation of the Different Concepts

Creation of Value

The goal of any e-Business project is to create value. Value can be created in
different ways. One way is as a result of an increase in margins, i.e. a reduction in
production costs or an increase in profits. E-Business makes it possible to achieve
this in a number of different ways, including: positioning on new markets;
increasing the quality of products or services; prospecting new clients; increasing
customer loyalty; and increasing the efficiency of internal functioning.
Another way is as a result of increased staff motivation. The transition from a
traditional activity to an e-business activity ideally makes it possible to motivate
associates to the extent that: the overall strategy is more visible for the employees
and favors a common culture; the mode of functioning implies that the players
assume responsibilities; and teamwork favors the improvement of skills. Another
way is as a result of customer satisfaction.

As a matter of fact, e-business favors: a drop in prices in connection with an

increase in productivity; improved capacity to listen to the client; products and
services that are suitable for the client’s needs; and a mode of functioning that is
transparent for the user.

An additional way is as a result of privileged relationships with the partners. The

creation of communication channels with the suppliers permits: increased
familiarity with each other; increased responsiveness; improved anticipation
capacities; and the sharing of resources that is beneficial for both parties. An e-
Business project can, therefore, only work if it adds value to the company, but also
to its staff, its clients, and partners.

Time to Market

Time to Market is the time that is necessary to bring a product on the

market from the moment that the idea for it was put forward. Worldwide,
new technologies provide an incredible source of inspiration to formalize
ideas while making time to market even more critical because of the
rapid flow of information and speedy competition.

Reduction of Costs and ROI

The use of new technologies for the functioning of a company makes it possible to
reduce the costs on the different levels of its organization in time. Nonetheless,
implementation of such a project is generally very costly and necessarily leads to
organizational changes, which may cause upheaval in the practices of its
employees. It is, therefore, essential to determine the return on investment (ROI)
of such a project, i.e. the difference between the expected profits and the required
overall investment, taking into account the cost of human resources mobilized.

Characterization of the e-Business

A company can be viewed as an entity providing products or services to clients

with the support of products or services of partners in a constantly changing
environment. The functioning of a company can be roughly modeled in accordance
with a set of interacting functions, which are commonly classified in three
categories: performance functions, management functions, and support functions.
Performance functions represent the core of its activity (core business), i.e. the
production of goods or services. They pertain to activities of production, stock
management, and purchasing (purchasing function).

Management functions cover all strategic functions of management of the

company. They cover general management of the company, the human resources
(HR) management functions, as well as the financial and account management
functions.

Support functions support the performance functions to ensure that the company
runs smoothly. Support functions group all activities related to sales (in certain
cases, they are part of the core business) as well as all activities that are
transversal to the organization, such as management of technological
infrastructures (IT, or Information Technology):

Companies are generally characterized by the type of commercial relationships

they maintain. Dedicated terms therefore exist to quality this type of relationship.

One type is B-to-B (Business to Business, sometimes written B2B), which

means a commercial relationship between businesses based on the use of a
numerical support for the exchange of information.

Another type is B-to-C (Business to Consumer, sometimes written B2C), which

means a relationship between a company and the public at large (individuals). This
is called electronic commerce, whose definition is not limited to sales, but rather
covers all possible exchanges between a company and its clients, from the request
for an estimate to after-sales service.

Another type is B-to-A (Business to Administration, sometimes written B2A),

which means a relationship between a company and the public sector (e.g. tax
administration, etc.) based on numerical exchange mechanisms (teleprocedures,
electronic forms, etc.).

As an extension of these concepts, the term B to E (Business to Employees,

sometimes written B2E) has also emerged to refer to the relationship between a
company and its employees, in particular through the provision of forms directed
at them for managing their careers, vacations, or their relationship with the
company committee.

Front Office/Back Office

The terms Front Office and Back Office are generally used to describe the parts
of the company (or of its information system) that are dedicated, respectively, to
the direct relationship with the client and proper management of the company.

The Front-Office (sometimes also called Front line) refers to the front part of the
company that is visible to the clients.

In turn, Back Office refers to all parts of the information system to which the final
user does not have access. The term, therefore, covers all internal processes
within the enterprise (i.e. production, logistics, warehousing, sales, accounting,
human resources management, etc.):
Presentation of the Different Concepts

Implementing an e-business project necessarily involves the deployment of a

business network through which business-specific services are accessible in
client-server mode, generally via a web interface that can be queried by using a
simple navigator.
Nonetheless, the implementation of computer tools is not sufficient. It is believed
that a company only actually implements an e-business project as soon as it
implements a new organization based on new technologies.
The concept of e-business is, nonetheless, very flexible and covers all possible
uses of information and communication technologies (ICT) for any and all of the
following activities: making the relationships between the company and its clients
and different partners (suppliers, authorities, etc.) more efficient; developing new
business opportunities; facilitating the internal flow of information; and controlling
the different processes of the company (production, warehousing, purchasing,
sales, human resources, etc.).
The goal is, therefore, to create privileged communication channels between the
company and its environment and link them with its internal processes to better
control internal and external costs. The goal of this article is to present the main
market technologies, including: Intranet / Extranet; groupware; management of
business processes; e-commerce; business portals; enterprise application
integration (EAI); electronic data interchange (EDI); client relationship
management (CRM); knowledge management (KM); supply chain management
(SCM); integrated management software (IMS), also called ERP (Enterprise
Resource Planning); and business intelligence (BI).