Creating the e-Business - Part 1: Success Determinants

ABC Company
 

E-business is more that just selling products and services online. E-business runs the gamete from e-commerce sales to inventory management. E-business also encompasses operations, marketing and finance. The reality is e-business touches, in some way, every department within an organization. This is what makes e-business so complex. This is also what makes e-business so powerful. Over the course of this ‘blog, we will paint a picture of the many facets of e-business and thoroughly examine each of these facets in order to help the reader comprehend the vast nature of this beast. The first step to creating a successful e-business is to form a strategic plan based on the long-term goals of the organization.

ABC Company has a vision to grow its business into new industries, new product markets and increase overall sales via the Internet. It has begun these efforts by creating a functional e-commerce site. This site has a goal of becoming the preferred source for engineers and purchasing agents for sourcing, procuring and applying cogs. ABC’s hope is that along with increased sales, the site will allow its customers to self-service themselves around 50% of the time, if they so choose. This will allow its sales and customer service personnel to spend more time researching and contacting new potential customers.

Success Determinants

In order for ABC to succeed in its efforts to increase sales, break into new markets and industries, and create an environment wherein customers can self-service their selves, ABC needs to accomplish some major objectives. First, it must work to integrate its core business functionality into the site. The site must answer the types of questions that a typical customer or potential customer would ask, and it must give the user the power to research products, procure products and check on their orders after the purchase. These are the main functions that customers demand in ABC’s sales and customer service personnel.

Another success factor would be to integrate the information received online into ABC’s customer resource management (CRM) software program. The information obtained from online users could then be transferred to the larger enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The results from online leads and sales could thereby be measured, studied and refined. The information from these studies could be used to market the site differently, allocate more or less resources to the site, change the functionality or usability of the site, etc. This phase of information integration is a key determinant to the future success of the program. A further review of internal and external environments is necessary in order to move forward with creating a successful e-business.

The analysis in question would come in the form of a SWOTT analysis. SWOTT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and trends. The SWOTT analysis forces the company to look at its internal vision and the external realities that await it. If ABC wants to enter new markets and new industries, it must first understand the competitive nature of these environments and the buying nature of the customers.

In Part 2 of this "lecture" we will discuss this fictional company's goals and determine what role e-business plays in those goals.

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