Managing E-Business - Concepts and Cases

E-Strategies - Case Studies

E-Business can have a significant impact on industries in the way businesses interact with both their customers and partners. It has the potential to transform industries since it enables to expand the scope of the industry and affects demand for the core product/services. This section would provide insights on how e-business has brought a radical transformation in various companies. It covers case studies on how various companies have formulated and implemented e-business strategies to gain competitive advantage.

Started in 1994, with the development of geplastics.com website for online distribution of technical documents of its products, there had been a series of e-business initiatives taken by GE till date. The case discusses these initiatives in detail along with the benefits derived after the implementation of these e-business projects.

The case "Dell.com E-Business Initiatives" discusses in detail about Dell Computers efforts to electronically enable its supply chain management processes. It discusses in detail how Dell Computer went online by launching its website 'www.dell.com.' The case describes how the website benefited Dell Computers' customers and suppliers and brought considerable cost savings for the company.The next case "Xerox PeopleNet - Creating IT/HR Synergies" discusses the problems faced by Xerox in its HR department in the early 1990s. In order to overcome these problems, Xerox decided to implement Human Resources Management System (HRMS) namely the Xerox PeopleNet. The case details how the HR problems of Xerox were solved after the implementation of HRMS.

Finally, the section ends with an article on 'TVS eShop initiative' that discusses about TVS Electronics (a dot matrix printer manufacturer) and its efforts to automate micro enterprises. TVS plan involved the automation of 3000 kirana outlets also termed as eShops by the end of 2003. The article discusses in detail about the benefits reaped by the kirana outlets and the company.

Conclusion

According to a study conducted by Mercer Management Consulting, one of the major requirements for a successful e-business strategy is overhauling an organization's culture. Many companies are still not able to adopt the e-business culture. According to International Data Corporation, though 60% of the companies in the US have their own websites, only 25% of them have enabled online transactions.

Successful e-business projects have well-defined reasons to exist that motivate people to change. Unfortunately, most e-business initiatives fail because of lack of vision and leadership. It is important that a proper level of executive sponsorship is established with full support of the top management to execute e-business projects. Explaining the importance of top management in successfully executing e-business strategy, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice-president for technology and strategy for IBM, explains, "The role of the CEO is exceptionally important to making all of this happen. Bottom line, you have to make people really understand, emotionally and psychologically, that this is different than anything that came before."

A proactive e-business project management team will define new roles and responsibilities to the employees affected by the new e-business strategy and reorganization. The team must be ready to delegate responsibilities, discuss problems, communicate and lead the company through change brought by e-business. With the global economic slow down and reduced IT expenditures, organizations have started thinking more critically about embracing e-business. Unlike couple of years back, all e-business projects are now facing more scrutiny with a thorough analysis of their return on investments. All e-business projects that are of longer duration, complex in nature, or not important have been shelved.

During the recent years, several new e-business initiatives have failed since they attempted to apply traditional concepts to an abstract scenario and their business goals were narrow focused. Its time for organizations to realize the limitations of an e-business strategy as well. The challenge for organizations is to develop an e-business strategy that can be easily integrated into the business. It must be executable both within the organization as well as with its business partners.

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