E-Business Essay
| Subject: | 💻 Technology |
| Type: | Descriptive Essay |
| Pages: | 9 |
| Word count: | 2189 |
| Topics: | Artificial Intelligence, Internet, 🙋♂️ Management |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Electronic business is a type that utilizes technological innovations and involves business taking place by the help of computer networks. E-business refers to the kind that is internet based; meaning, most activities occur on the World Wide Web. Internet as a technological advancement provides a medium for improving business opportunities, and e-business is one of them. The Internet creates numerous chances of improving the performance of small business, and this makes it advantageous to the society. However, e-business has limitations besides being a stepping stone to businesses. An internet transaction is an online process that business have embraced and offers a chance to appreciate innovations. The platform follows a protocol that reaches out to several parties across the globe. In the 21st century, many people have access to the internet, and therefore the connectivity creates a platform for business transactions. The paper will describe e-business by focusing on its characteristics, advantages, limitations, challenges faced, and steps taken to overcome them as well as possible improvements to the current system.
Characteristics of e-business
E-business involves the use of the internet, intranets, and extranets. To an extent, the internet, intranet and extranet may be combined to facilitate business transaction (Soto-Acosta, Popa, & Palacios-Marqués, 2016). E-business relates to e-commerce but, does not only involve business transactions. The electronic marketing has a range of business process, which includes supply chain management, customer relationship management as well as electronic ordering, and delivery processes. Electronic marketing focuses on the effective and efficient delivery of services and products across the globe by cutting through the geographical boundaries with ease. E-business encompasses digital business transaction as well as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Electronic marketing, therefore, makes sure the business attains its objectives by incorporating marketing automation and digital commerce. As a result, e-business integrates to digital marketing to increase performance through the use of the internet, intranet and extranet services.
The business concept is seen to profit companies and individuals. Electronic marketing helps with the advertisement and selling of products and services online. The use of internet creates the ability to create market for physical products within and beyond boundaries (Turban, Outland, King, Lee, Liang, & Turban, 2017). For example, Amazon is an online retailer that utilizes electronic marketing to deliver ordered merchandise to customers anywhere in the world. Electronic marketing is characterized by online presence where companies, as well as individuals, advertise their products and services. E-business involves websites or hosting of domains that allow customers to have access to the web pages and initiate a business transaction. E-business provides an opportunity to reach new customers. Electronic marketing has digital certificates available to individuals and combines the use of the internet for a business transaction. E-business characteristic is about enterprise planning and content management facilitated by security measures in online transactions.
Advantages of e-business
E-business creates the opportunity for an individual to gain personal ownership of a business. E-business allows individuals to work for themselves as a manager or a supervisor is not required. Because of the internet connection everywhere across the globe, the individual works anywhere and generates income with incurring little expenses. As long as one can access the internet while at the office, at home or on vacation, one can continue managing his or her business. As a result, the individual identifies the problems and dynamics of his or her business, therefore, is in a better position to advance (Soto-Acosta, Popa, & Palacios-Marqués, 2016). Since the connection is to several people, the person gets feedback and make evaluations and identify where to make changes.
Cost-effective marketing is the other benefit of e-business. E-business provides marketing platform that helps businesses such as Emirate Airline achieve the set marketing goals. Electronic marketing helps in keeping track of business to work along the set objectives. With an internet connection, e-business allows customers to access the services offered by Emirates Airline and be able to book and pay for flight tickets using available e-payment systems such as Paypal, Payoneer, among others. E-business allows for online marketing strategy implementation, which according to Ross (2017) is highly cost-effective. E-business provides a central place for marketing via email, articles or by social media (Facebook, Twitter among others). The users of online marketing platform, as well as customers, direct their efforts that are low or free therefore fulfilling business strategies. The costs of running an e-business are low compared to the traditional business and gives much access to a larger customer base. As a result, Emirates Airline benefits because of improved efficiency and cost-effective marketing that enables the company to achieve the set business goals.
The e-business design through the World Wide Web provides a platform that faster and efficient business transaction. Opening a business is expensive, but because of technology, the costs are reduced, and this is an advantage to small businesses (Turban et al., 2017). Online purchase and payment systems process payments quickly and allow orders to reach customers in real-time. As a result, the business systems cut down costs, and because of its availability through internet access, customers access their products safely and faster. The e-business is cheaper and provides wide access to any product as well as information required by the customers. Saving time and money is e-business’s focus as physical inventory or shipping costs, as well as delays, are scrapped off (Chatzoglou & Chatzoudes, 2016). E-business has the opportunity to guarantee speed and efficiency, which manages production control, collaboration with other business partners and sharing information, which is a myriad of new business opportunities.
Competition always cause a lot of challenges to the management of any business. The use of the internet for a business transaction provides chances of competing with larger companies (Srivastava & Panigrahi, 2016). Every business strives to conquer significant market share by beating its competitors. The internet, which appreciates technology advancement, allows business partners to transact business worldwide. As a result, market penetration is made easier with e-business as it is available across the continents. E-business has low startup costs and is competitive as well as responsive. A company such as DP World simply creates a website page where it advertises its logistics services and costs including other products and services it sells. The cost of hosting the webpage is insignificant as compared to revenues generated. The online purchasers focus on getting their products quickly from a list, which is an advantage, compared to traditional shoppers. The accuracy of business transaction creates good ownership that focuses on achieving the set objectives. The competitive advantage allows for the elimination of geographic boundaries that widens the customer reach of the business (Ross, 2016). As long as there is an internet connection, advertising, reaching, and selling products or services to customers is fast, cost-effective and requires less effort.
Limitations
The disadvantages of electronic marketing are both technological and non-technological. Electronic marketing lacks sufficient system that provides security. Security is an obstacle to electronic business because the internet does not provide a secure medium of communication (Chatzoglou & Chatzoudes, 2016). Scams and hackers invade the privacy of the customers by illegally obtaining both sensitive and insensitive data about users. The electronic marketing has standards that do not assure customer financial information. The integration of the internet into the electronic business systems presents challenges which some are not yet experienced as it is still evolving. The hackers may access the information and misuse it, therefore; internet business transactions are riskier than traditional business (Soto-Acosta, Popa, & Palacios-Marqués, 2016). As a result, an electronic business can lead to violations of rights of the users. Despite data encryption improvements, the electronic business transaction does not guarantee absolute security.
Online transactions lack momentary tangibility. The customers cannot have a personal touch as the transactions lack physical documents between purchase and delivery time of the products and services. Most people prefer experiencing the taste, texture, and smell of the products prior to making any decision. Internet business transactions do not provide the opportunity to such customers unless they are repeat buyers. The typical customer wants to physically examine the product and make a decision to buying the product. The limitation of momentary intangibility makes it difficult for the business owners to retain customers especially when a product that does not satisfy the customer is delivered. A customer ideally wants to analyze a product and develop a preference (Srivastava & Panigrahi, 2016). E-business does not provide the opportunity for physical proximity with the items, therefore, a limitation on that note.
E-business has sectorial limitations as not every company or individual can embrace it. Despite the expertise and availability of technology, electronic marketing remains uneconomical. Shipping some products cannot be economical because of their sizes, weight or the location of their destination. For example, delivery of large and odd-sized items is uneconomical especially if the transaction is across state lines. Selling of such products online becomes difficult and legally restricted. Customer satisfaction, therefore, becomes a problem to achieve and so is fulfilling the business objectives of delivering the products across the globe. People may as well develop the fear to operate without papers and physical meeting because of the electronic business transactions. Customers usually want to have a face-to-face meeting with the seller and analyze the products (Gollenia, 2016). However, electronic business does not provide the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting, and this aspect makes people opt to purchase in traditional shops rather than online.
Challenges faced and steps taken to overcome them
Integrating autonomous business is a challenge, but e-business has developed management that is certain in appreciation of technological revolution. Faster organizational response made possible by e-business is a formidable step to the business management (Srivastava & Panigrahi, 2016). The present environment provides a new paradigm of business transaction that addresses complexity, uncertainty, and dynamics that improves business operation and make it easier to deliver customer satisfaction. The path utilized by e-business generates a status quo that penetrates into the delivery of services and products to customers. The platform supports information exchange on customized solutions that ensure improved business performance and customer satisfaction. E-business caps financial growth as it has fewer utility costs as well as reduces costs of paying employees. Establishing an electronic business does not require a business premise, therefore, has low overhead costs. Digital business transaction shifts to improve security measures on products and services delivered.
Product suitability is another challenge where customers rely on electronic images to identify and purchase the products, and on delivery, some products purchased fail to match with the exact product the customer intended to buy. E-business addresses this challenge by allowing a return clause where the customers return the undesirable product and get their preferred choice (Chatzoglou & Chatzoudes, 2016). Lack of touch prevents people from embracing online shopping and e-business address the challenge by ensuring the products delivered match the electronic images on business websites. Cultural obstacle is another challenge encountered by potential e-business users. E-business attracts people across the globe and addresses cultural obstacle issue by understanding the habits and culture of people with different background. Linguistic problems exist, and e-business addresses the challenge by integrating translation on their web servers to make sure the consumers transact business with full knowledge about the products.
Possible improvements to the current system
Improvement of the current system of e-business targets addressing its limitations, especially, security. The upgrades involve standardization of the software that vendors on encryption of customer information. The standardized software has sufficient telecommunication bandwidth that can improvement of the current system. The network server’s improvement with current database focuses on the easy installation of software to fit in any hardware or operating system. The improvements involve implementing a cutting-edge encryption to the existing operations to better secure information and prevent the violation of customers’ rights. E-business has an alternative perspective of dealing with changes that are profitable and encourage maintenance of customer loyalty. The electronic business focuses on market penetration by engaging in a new form of communication that quickly reaches new marketplaces (Gollenia, 2016). Electronic business ensures the processing and transmission of information in an encrypted digital form therefore, ensuring security.
Conclusion
Electronic business is a type of business that utilizes technological innovations and involves business taking place through the help of computer networks made possible by the internet, intranets, and extranets connectivity. The advantages of e-business include the creation of personal ownership of a business, cost-effective marketing, speed and efficiency in the delivery of products and services and finally create the ability for small businesses to compete with larger ones. The limitation of e-business includes lack of sufficient system that gives certainty on security, lack momentary tangibility, uneconomical disadvantages in the delivery of large and odd-sized products and people’s fear of paperless and faceless business transaction. The challenges faced and steps to overcome them include generation of a status quo that penetrates into the delivery of services and products to customers by supporting information exchange and customized solutions that ensure success in generating profit and satisfying customers as well as the guarantee of security. Possible improvements to the system include standardization of the software to vendor encryption of customer information therefore security. Sufficient telecommunication bandwidth focuses on profitable and maintenance of customer loyalty as well as increasing market penetration by addressing linguistic problems across the globe is the other possible improvement.
- Chatzoglou, P., & Chatzoudes, D. (2016). Factors affecting e-business adoption in SMEs: An empirical research. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 29(3), 327-358.
- Gollenia, L. A. (2016). Business transformation management methodology. London: Routledge.
- Ross, D. F. (2016). Introduction to e-supply chain management: Engaging technology to build market-winning business partnerships. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
- Soto-Acosta, P., Popa, S., & Palacios-Marqués, D. (2016). E-business, organizational innovation and firm performance in manufacturing SMEs: An empirical study in Spain. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 22(6), 885-904.
- Srivastava, S. K., & Panigrahi, P. K. (2016). The impact of e-government and e-business on economic performance: A comparative study of developing and developed countries. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government, The, 22(1), 36.
- Turban, E., Outland, J., King, D., Lee, J. K., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. C. (2017). Electronic Commerce 2018: A managerial and social networks perspective. New York, NY: Springer.
Offered for reference purposes only.