Chapter 3

Introduction to e-Business

Course Conducted by
Md.Mahbobor Rahaman
Lecturer (MIS)
Dept. of Business Administration
Leading University
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eBusiness - Definition
eBusiness is a framework for seamless integration of
critical business systems and their direct connection to key
constituencies (customers, employees, suppliers and
distributors) via the Web (Internet, Intranet and Extranet).
As all key players - customers, employees, suppliers and
distributors - are connected to the business systems and
share the information they need, eBusiness actually
transitions the traditional business processes to a new
level with the ultimate focus on customers and Customer
Relationship Management (CRM).

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Four levels of engagement
• There are multiple models for e-business
adoption, depending on level of involvement
– Internet service & content providers (Yahoo!,
iVillage): e-business both product and channel
– Internet pure plays: delivering real products virtually
(Amazon)
– Mixed plays: Web is channel complementing brick-
and-mortar outlets (Barnes & Noble)
– Non-transactional e-business: key is automating other
business processes besides sales

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Two types of business scope
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
– The media attention is here, especially where nature of product
makes e-delivery a good fit
– Early emphasis on transactions, often at the expense of other e-
business opportunities
• Business-to-Business (B2B)
– The biggest economic impact is and will be here
– Looking for controlled evolution: need to build an integrated
architecture to support transformed business model
– Within B2B, firm-to-firm interactions (EDI, for example), are being
matched or overtaken in importance by firm-to-individual
interactions (FedEx). Many businesses report that Internet enables
decision-making to shift from center to nodes, closer to source of
needs.
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Three meanings of e-business
• Despite heavy use, “e-business” lacks a single fixed
meaning. Speaking clearly means understanding
the customer’s dialect:
– e-business is equivalent to e-commerce (among
transaction-focused businesses)
– e-business covers all business processes deployed onto
the Internet (sales, marketing, R&D, etc.); e-commerce
is a subset of e-business covering transactions where
money changes hands (among business with more
diverse e-applications)
– e-business is a B-2-B function; e-commerce focuses on
the consumer
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Three strategic areas
Emphasis here strongly determines the direction of the
evolutionary path
Focus on the Focus on
Customer Employees
First generation:
Focus on First generation:
enable transactions; Supply Chain increase bandwidth
extend geographic First generation: to desktop; remote
reach; increase improving access
awareness transaction Next generation:
Next generation: efficiency empower employees
one-to-one Next generation: through flexible
marketing, Web self- increasing supplier work arrangements;
service choice & efficiency; superior decision
build seamless tools; creation of
virtual enterprise virtual teams 6

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Customer focus: solution spaces
• Retail:
– Use demographic knowledge to structure marketing,
purchasing ; customize offers for individuals based
on previous and predicted buying patterns
• Transportation:
– Optimize scheduling; tailor fares
• Health Care:
– compare effectiveness of treatments, devise
prevention approaches

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Supplier focus: solution spaces

• Today: efficiency transfer of volume data

• Next generation: Enabling rapid shifts when it comes to
location of manufacture or delivery
– increases flexibility
– reduces costs
– allows businesses to be more responsive to short-term
shifts in customer demand
• Next generation: increasing disintermediation
– using the Internet to bypass traditional distribution
channels

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E-business: Barriers
• In a word, security
– Creating virtual enterprise by definition
multiplies access points, and thus security risks
– Security solutions have at least three dimensions
• access (do you have the right to log in?)
• authentication (are you who you say you are?)
• authorization (is this information you’re allowed to
have?)

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The Architecture

• Enterprise-wide integration
• Front-end to back-end integration
• The client-server based architectural
models
• Distributed networked services
• Architectural issues -presentation,
personalization, security, etc.
• The “Net”
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The Technology

• The network resources

• Policy-based management
• Tools, languages, environments
• Standards
• Products and Vendors

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The Competitive Landscape

• Markets
• Products
• Competitors
• Architectures: enterprise-wide integration
• Enabling Technologies

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 Thanks!

Some of the materials in this section are from:

“E-Biz Study” of The Taylor Research & Consulting Group, Inc.

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