EC Strategy

To ensure a successful e-commerce business is identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) and developing a realistic strategy for the business. IBM identified some CSFs for e-commerce.

1.A sound strategy that has the full support of top management.

2.A clear goal of long-term customer relationships and value.

3.Making full use of the Internet and related technologies.

4.A scalable and integrated business process and infrastructure.

Other Critical Success Factor :

High Performance & Flexible (to changing tech.) Software: The software should be able to expand with changing technology, trading demands and business requirements. 

Round the clock working: Rapid flow of information is very essential in Internet based e-commerce. Its working should be non stop so that the transactions are processed continuously. 

System expertised training: To keep business moving along with the current trend and to be up-to date in performance, the business partners and vendors must be trained to full expertization.

Efficient links with business partners: The firm should have well-knitted links with their existing business partners. They should also be able to establish efficient communication with the new partners.

Data Auditing: To perform e-commerce according to established norms and procedures, it is desired that the contractual and audit processes must be ready to receive data at any time in the system’s cycle

Honestly should be perfectly maintained to honor deadlines for supply of require details and responses to the queries well in time.  

Effective tracking and reporting system: To streamline relations with customers and suppliers, an effective tracking and reporting system should be adopted for quick response to business partners.

Security: The hallmark of a successful e-commerce is to maintain confidentiality of incoming and outgoing messages and to protect crucial data. To achieve the above, the system should be able to encrypt outgoing  data and decrypt incoming data.

The Driving Forces of EC

E-Commerce operate in a highly competitive environment that forces change in business strategies. Unpredictable change in competitors products and in customers needs and expectations represent market volatility. Several drivers support e-commerce survival and growth:

1. Digital Convergence: The digital revolution has made it possible for digital devices to communicate with one another. The internet’s massive growth during the past decade- a creation of market forces- will continue.

2. Anytime, anywhere , anyone: Today’s e-commerce is available to anyone, anywhere in the world, 24 hrs. a day seven days in a week. E-commerce ties together the industrial sector, merchants, the service sector & content providers using text, multimedia, video & other technologies.

3. Change in organizations: More and more of today’s businesses empower frontline workers to do the kind of work once performed by junior management . The trend is toward partnering owners and managers across departments to develop a chain of relationships that adds value to the enterprise. E-commerce, which makes communication easy, is an ideal method of making these connections.

 

4.Increasing pressure on operating costs and profit margin: Global competition and the proliferation of products and services worldwide have added unusual pressure on operating costs and profit margins. E-commerce addresses these concerns quickly, efficiently and at low cost.

5. Demand for customized products and services: Today’s customers are collectively demanding higher quality and better performance, including a customized way of producing, delivering and paying for goods and services. Mass customization puts pressure on firms to handle customized requests on a mass market scale. Firms that don’t move with the trend will eventually lose out.

Advantages and Limitations

The benefits of Ecommerce:

• Ecommerce allows people to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance. One can log on to the Internet at any point of time, be it day or night and purchase or sell anything one desires at a single click of the mouse.
• The direct cost-of-sale for an order taken from a web site is lower than through traditional means (retail, paper based), as there is no human interaction during the on-line electronic purchase order process. Also, electronic selling virtually eliminates processing errors, as well as being faster and more convenient for the visitor.
• Ecommerce is ideal for niche products. Customers for such products are usually few. But in the vast market place i.e. the Internet, even niche products could generate viable volumes.
• Another important benefit of Ecommerce is that it is the cheapest means of doing business.
• The day-to-day pressures of the marketplace have played their part in reducing the opportunities for companies to invest in improving their competitive position. A mature market, increased competitions have all reduced the amount of money available to invest. If the selling price cannot be increased and the manufactured cost cannot be decreased then the difference can be in the way the business is carried out. Ecommerce has provided the solution by decimating the costs, which are incurred.
• From the buyer’s perspective also ecommerce offers a lot of tangible advantages.
  1. Reduction in buyer’s sorting out time.
  2. Better buyer descisions
  3. Less time is spent in resolving invoice and order discrepancies.
  4. Increased opportunities for buying alternative products.
• The strategic benefit of making a business ‘ecommerce enabled’, is that it helps reduce the delivery time, labour cost and the cost incurred in the following areas:
1. Document preparation
2. Error detection and correction
3. Reconciliation
4. Mail preparation
5. Telephone calling
6. Data entry
7. Overtime
8. Supervision expenses
• Operational benefits of e commerce include reducing both the time and personnel required to complete business processes, and reducing strain on other resources. It’s because of all these advantages that one can harness the power of ecommerce and convert a business to ebusiness by using powerful turnkey ecommerce solutions made available by ebusiness solution providers.

Credits : Vinitia Shahani

Module I: E-commerce Foundation

Definitions and content of EC field


There are many definitions of e-business and e-commerce. Three main schools of thought are

1. e-Commerce is an activity that deals with transaction of product, services, or information using electronic media, usually online using computers and Internet technologies. As per this school of thought, e-commerce and e-business are two different domains with considerable overlap.
2. From an interface perspective, e-commerce involve various information and transaction exchanges: B2B, B2C, C2C.
3. From an online perspective, e-commerce is an electronic environment that makes it possible to buy and sell products, services and information on the net. Products may be physical such as cars or services such as news or consulting.
4. As a market, e-commerce is a worldwide network. A local store can open a web storefront and find the world its door step- customers, suppliers, competitors and payment services.

Reasons for Success of e-Commerce:-

1. Global reach that helps in increasing the customer base.
2. Creates more sources of revenue such as advertisements.
3. Results in cost savings by eliminating overheads in several business processes such as order processing.
4. e-Commerce is ubiquitous because it is accessible from any place where Internet accessibility exists. 
5. There are less barriers because Internet is globally available and it requires much less resources to deploy e-commerce applications on the Internet.
6. It provides quick and easy access to rich information to everyone- customers, suppliers, and employees.
7. Increase in productivity gains all around.
8. It helps in offering personalized services to build customer loyalty.

Electronic Commerce: From Vision To Fulfillment Prentice Hall

Power Point Slide from the Book

ch01 - The Dawn of a Maturing Industry
ch02 - The World Wide Web
ch03 - The World Wide Web
ch04 - Intranets and Extranets
ch05 - Hosting Your Web Site
ch06 - Mobile Commerce The Business of Time
ch07 - BUILDING  E-PRESENCE
ch08 - Web Site Evaluation and Usability Testing
ch09 - Internet Marketing
ch10 - Web Portals and Web Services
ch11 - Business-To-Business E-commerce
ch12 - E-Core Values  Ethical, Legal, Taxation, and International Issues
ch13 - E-Security and the USA Patriot Act
ch14 - Encryption  A Matter of Trust
ch15 - Getting the Money 
ch16 - Going Online

E-Commerce

E - Commerce

Course Code:MGBIT 20401

Credit Units: 04

Course Contents:

Module I: E-commerce: Foundation

Definitions and content of EC field

Advantages and Limitations

The Driving Forces of EC

Impact of EC

EC Strategy

Module II: Launching a Business on the Internet                                                                

Internet Architecture

The Life Cycle Approach

Overview of the different phases

The Network

Information Transfer

Hosting a web site

Module III: Success & Failure of E commerce ventures                                                     

Things that can go wrong

Site visibility

Evaluation of web sites and usability testing

Web site content and traffic management

We site Optimization

Module IV: E-Tailing (Retailing in EC - B2C)

Overview of Market

Business Models of Electronic Marketing

Direct Marketing

Online Customer Service

Global versus Regional Marketing

Internet Shopping

Module V: E-Business Models, E- Marketing & E-Advertising       

E-business

Various Business Models                    

Characteristics

Models of B2B EC

E-advertising

E-marketing

Module VI: Electronic Payment Systems

Services and Cash flow

Electronic Payment Media

Payment System Models

Cyber Banking

Module VII: E-Security                                                                                                                     

The Risks in Cyberspace

Protection and Recovery

Encryption

Module VIII: Legal and Ethical Issues                                                                                             

The Major Threats

Taxation Issues

Legal Disputes

Indian IT Act and Right to Information Act

Cyber Laws: A Global Perspective

Module IX: M-Commerce & Global EC

M-commerce in Indian and global perspective

Market Place versus Market space

Virtual Communities

Global EC

       

Module X: The Future                                                                                                           

Beyond e commerce

Implications of emerging technologies

Research in EC

Future of EC

·         Turban, Lee, King and Chung, 2005, Electronic Commerce- A Managerial Perspective, Pearson Education

·         Awad Elias M, 2004, E Commerce - From Vision To Fulfilment Prentice Hall, 4^th Edition

·         Joseph P T , 2000- Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective Prentice Hall.

·         Ravi Kalakota and Andrew B Whinston, 2002, Frontiers of Electronic Commerce Addison Wesley

·         Parag Diwan and Sunil Sharma, 2002, Electronic Commerce (Excel Books, New Delhi)

·         Kennith Laudon and Jane Laudon – Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm 2005, (Ninth Edition) Prentice Hall.

·         Raymond Frost and Judy Strauss, 2002, "E Marketing", Prentice Hall

Semester IV Details

Fourth Semester

Course Code	Course Title	Lectures (L) Hours per week	Tutorials (T) Hours per week	Practical (P) Hours per week	Credit Unit
MGBIT 20401	E-Commerce	3	-	-	3
MGBIB 20401	Global Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Management	3	-	-	3
MGBBS 20401	Business Communication – IV	2	-	-	2
MGBBS 20402	Personal and Professional Excellence	1	-	1	2
	Elective-II(A,B,C,D,E) Same combination as chosen in 3rd semester i.e. elective I	-	-	-		16
MGBDI 20460	Dissertation	-	-	-	9
	TOTAL				35

Elective-II Papers for Specialization in Marketing

MGBMK20401	Advanced Marketing Research	3	1	-	4
MGBMK 20402	Consumer Behavior	3	1	-	4

Elective-II Papers for Specialization in Finance

MGBFN 20401	Security Analysis and Portfolio Management	3	1	-	4
MGBFN 20402	Forex Banking	3	1	-	4

Elective-II Papers for Specialization in HR

MGBHR 20401	Recruitment Selection Training & Development	3	1	-	4
MGBHR 20402	Performance Appraisal and Potential Evaluation	3	1	-	4

Elective-II Papers for Specialization in IT & Operations

MGBIT 20402	Systems Engineering & Project Management	3	1	-	4
MGBIT 20403	Workflow, ERP & BPR	3	1	-	4

Elective-II Papers for Specialization in IB

MGBIB 20402	Growth Prospects Of Thrust Areas Of Indian Exports	3	1	-	4
MGBIB 20403	Risk and Insurance in International Trade	3	1	-	4