03-05-2012, 01:21 PM
e-commerce
9598_019964Ch1.pdf (Size: 917.19 KB / Downloads: 311)
WHAT IS ELECTRONIC COMMERCE?
Even today, some considerable time after the so called ‘dot com/Internet
revolution’, electronic commerce (e-commerce) remains a relatively new,
emerging and constantly changing area of business management and
information technology. There has been and continues to be much publicity
and discussion about e-commerce. Library catalogues and shelves are
filled with books and articles on the subject. However, there remains a
sense of confusion, suspicion and misunderstanding surrounding the area,
which has been exacerbated by the different contexts in which electronic
commerce is used, coupled with the myriad related buzzwords and acronyms.
This book aims to consolidate the major themes that have arisen
from the new area of electronic commerce and to provide an understanding
of its application and importance to management.
WHAT ABOUT E-BUSINESS?
As with e-commerce, e-business (electronic business) also has a number of
different definitions and is used in a number of different contexts. One of
the first to use the term was IBM, in October 1997, when it launched a
campaign built around e-business. Today, major corporations are rethinking
their businesses in terms of the Internet and its new culture and capabilities
and this is what some see as e-business.
E-COMMERCE, E-BUSINESS, WHO E-CARES?
Some analysts and on-line business people have decided that e-business is
infinitely superior as a moniker to e-commerce. That’s misleading and distracts
us from the business goals at hand. The effort to separate the E-commerce
and E-business concepts appears to have been driven by marketing
motives and is dreadfully thin in substance.
Here’s the important thing: E-commerce, E-business or whatever else you
may want to call it is a means to an end.9
WHAT ARE THE KEY DRIVERS?
It is important to identify the key drivers of e-commerce to allow a comparison
between different countries. It is often claimed that e-commerce is
more advanced in the USA than in Europe. These key drivers can be measured
by a number of criteria that can highlight the stages of advancement
of e-commerce in each of the respective countries. The criteria that can
determine the level of advancement of e-commerce are summarised in
Table 1.1 and can be categorised as:
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE?
The previous sections have included discussions about what e-commerce is
and its impact, but what are the benefits of e-commerce? What does it offer
and why do it? The benefits of e-commerce can be seen to affect three
major stakeholders: organisations, consumers and society.
Benefits of e-commerce to organisations
International marketplace. What used to be a single physical marketplace
located in a geographical area has now become a borderless marketplace
including national and international markets. By becoming e-commerce
enabled, businesses now have access to people all around the world. In
effect all e-commerce businesses have become virtual multinational
corporations.
9598_019964Ch1.pdf (Size: 917.19 KB / Downloads: 311)
WHAT IS ELECTRONIC COMMERCE?
Even today, some considerable time after the so called ‘dot com/Internet
revolution’, electronic commerce (e-commerce) remains a relatively new,
emerging and constantly changing area of business management and
information technology. There has been and continues to be much publicity
and discussion about e-commerce. Library catalogues and shelves are
filled with books and articles on the subject. However, there remains a
sense of confusion, suspicion and misunderstanding surrounding the area,
which has been exacerbated by the different contexts in which electronic
commerce is used, coupled with the myriad related buzzwords and acronyms.
This book aims to consolidate the major themes that have arisen
from the new area of electronic commerce and to provide an understanding
of its application and importance to management.
WHAT ABOUT E-BUSINESS?
As with e-commerce, e-business (electronic business) also has a number of
different definitions and is used in a number of different contexts. One of
the first to use the term was IBM, in October 1997, when it launched a
campaign built around e-business. Today, major corporations are rethinking
their businesses in terms of the Internet and its new culture and capabilities
and this is what some see as e-business.
E-COMMERCE, E-BUSINESS, WHO E-CARES?
Some analysts and on-line business people have decided that e-business is
infinitely superior as a moniker to e-commerce. That’s misleading and distracts
us from the business goals at hand. The effort to separate the E-commerce
and E-business concepts appears to have been driven by marketing
motives and is dreadfully thin in substance.
Here’s the important thing: E-commerce, E-business or whatever else you
may want to call it is a means to an end.9
WHAT ARE THE KEY DRIVERS?
It is important to identify the key drivers of e-commerce to allow a comparison
between different countries. It is often claimed that e-commerce is
more advanced in the USA than in Europe. These key drivers can be measured
by a number of criteria that can highlight the stages of advancement
of e-commerce in each of the respective countries. The criteria that can
determine the level of advancement of e-commerce are summarised in
Table 1.1 and can be categorised as:
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE?
The previous sections have included discussions about what e-commerce is
and its impact, but what are the benefits of e-commerce? What does it offer
and why do it? The benefits of e-commerce can be seen to affect three
major stakeholders: organisations, consumers and society.
Benefits of e-commerce to organisations
International marketplace. What used to be a single physical marketplace
located in a geographical area has now become a borderless marketplace
including national and international markets. By becoming e-commerce
enabled, businesses now have access to people all around the world. In
effect all e-commerce businesses have become virtual multinational
corporations.