10.5 E-commerce and e-business
One of the important definitional issues in any study of e-commerce is its relationship with e-business. The approach in this course will be straightforward.
As already suggested e-commerce will mean:
the conduct of commercial activities using electronic processes or tools that are enabled by information and communications technologies. Some people use the term `electronic trading' to mean much the same thing. Others use 'electronic procurement', 'electronic purchasing' or 'electronic marketing'.
At its most basic level e-commerce is about the deployment of ICTs to enable buyers and sellers to undertake transactions electronically, especially over the Internet.
At a more complex level e-commerce can be considered the enablement of all transaction processes by ICTs. In such a case e-commerce can be thought to extend beyond the simplistic view presented in Figure 1.7 to encompass the whole of the supply chain, or the chain of transactions that permits the sale of goods and services to the final customer.
Figure 10.7 Electronic commerce model
In this course all processes related to the electronic enablement by ICTs of commercial activities in goods and services will be considered part of e-commerce. This encompasses e-procurement, e-purchasing, e-fulfilment and related activities.
With this broad definition e-commerce is not entirely distinguishable from e-business. This is unlike the way in which some authors and experts on this topic may position their definitions. Some would argue quite strongly that e-business is the process of conducting business using ICT. E-commerce may be limited to the final sales transaction between the business and an end customer, or final consumer, of goods and/or services.
Throughout this course the distinction between e-business and e-commerce may appear in some of the references or readings. However, in general, e-business will be considered a business using ICTs to enable commercial processes, and especially to attain advantage through implementation of an e-commerce strategy/ies.
Reading 3
Cherian, EJ 23July, 2001, The Leap From Electronic Commerce to Electronic Business, Proceedings ABAS International Conference Brussels, Belgium available online at http://www.sba.muohio.edu/abas/2001/
brussels/cherian_The_Leap_from_Electronic_Commerce%20to-final.pdf.
Activity 4
Review Cherian’s article. It is important to recall it was written in 2001. Note how the reading makes the distinction between e-commerce and e-business on three main levels:
- An e-business consciously makes the deployment of ICTs for commerce an integrated component of its business strategy.
- An e-business considers ‘connections of these electronic processes to other parts of the organization’ and not just the ‘buying and selling of products and services electronically’.
- An e-business automates the relationships between multiple suppliers and partnering organisations.
- Are Cherian’s distinction between e-business and e-commerce still valid?
- What does Cherian mean when he states ‘ The net effect of true electronic business is to trade information for inventory ’?
- Consider how ‘The third generation of e-business’ promotes a ‘leap forward’ in addressing issues across the whole of the supply chain. Why is this view likely to affect how we automate such activities as shipping and logistics?
- Consider what you have read on e-commerce so far. Do you think we can examine e-commerce in isolation from the impact on customer relationships, supplier transactions, or logistics, shipping and other business processes?
E-commerce in this course is therefore used more to cover not just goods and services being selected, ordered and paid for via the Internet, but also the various services, electronic processes and transactions that occur within and between businesses. E-Business can more specifically refer to the strategy and business model encompassing e-commerce.
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