Business to Business E-Commerce (EC)

Introduction

Business-to-Business e-business holds electronic transactions among and between businesses. The Internet and reliance of all businesses upon other companies for supplies, utilities and services has enhanced the popularity of B2B e-business and made B2B the fastest growing segment within the e-business environment.

In recent years, extranets (more than one intranet) have been effectively used for B2B operations. B2B e- business creates dynamic interaction among the business partners; this represents a fundamental shift in how business will be conducted in the 21" century.

Companies using B2B e- business relationship observe cost savings by increasing the speed, reducing errors and eliminating many manual activities. In a B2B environment, purchase orders, invoices, inventory status, shipping logistics and business contracts handled directly through the network result in increased speed, reduced errors and cost savings.

B2B e- business reduces cycle time, inventory and prices and enables business partners to share relevant, accurate and timely information. The end result is improved supply-chain management among business partners. The figure 2.1 illustrates a generic B2B relationship.

For example, Wal-Mart Stores is an example for B2B e- business. Wal-Mart's major suppliers (e.g., Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and others) sell to Wal-Mart Stores electronically; all the paperwork is handled electronically. These suppliers can access online the inventory status in each store and refill needed products in a timely manner.

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Advantages of EDI

1) Shortened Ordering Time : Paper orders have to be printed, enveloped and sent out by the customer's post room, passed through the postal service, received by the supplier's post room and input to the supplier's order pocessing system. To achieve all this, reliably, in under three days would be to do very well. EDI orders are sent straight into the network and the only delay is how often the supplier retrieves messages from the system. Orders can be in the supplier's system within a day, or if there is urgency, the messages can be retrieved more frequently, for example every hour. 2) Cost Cutting : The use of EDI can cut costs. These include the costs of stationery and postage but these will probably be fully matched by the costs of running the EDI service. The principle saving from the use of the EDI is the potential to save staff costs. For example, if the orders are directly input to the system there is no need for an order entry clerk. 3) Elimination of Errors :...

Infrastructure for EC

Introduction The e-commerce infrastructure is defined here as the supporting capabilities for online trading between multiple companies which include hardware, software, networks, online payment technologies, security and encryption technologies, online trading business models, legal and regulatory framework, and managerial and organisation capabilities. Infrastructure is the shared human, informational , and technical resources on which the work system relies in order to operate, even though these resources exist and are managed outside of the work system. To evaluate the interdisciplinary aspects of construction e-commerce infrastructure, one proposes using a four pillar approach. Figure 5.1 illustrates the skeleton for the proposed integrated construction e-commerce infrastructure. The proposed integrated e-business infrastructure can be broken down into the following four groups of components: 1) Technological Infrastructure : Technology infrastructure is a work...

Business Strategy - E-Commerce Strategy Inputs

E-Commerce Strategy Inputs Traditionally an IT strategy would be subservient to the business strategy. For e- commerce the IT strategy becomes a central component (or the determinant factor) in business strategy. Inputs to an e-commerce business strategy are: Technology An E-commerce technology includes: EDI : Streamline supply logistics and facilitate decreases in trade cycle times. Electronic Markets : Re-define the operation of a market sector. Internet E-Commerce : Provides new direct sales opportunities and novel business to business and business to consumer applications. Internet e-commerce can be used to improve, transform and re-define business value: Organisation Source of Business value i) Improve it a) Product promotion b)New direct sales channel c)Direct saving d)Time to market e)Customer service f)Brand image ii)Transform it a)Technological and organizational learning b)Customer relations iii)Re-define it a)New pro...

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