Question

E-business is a disruptive technology and has serious implications for the way that organisations manage their day-to-day operations and also for their staff and the overall organisational business model. Select a specific business or organisation, examine and propose five (5) major functions or processes that require re-engineering as a result of this disruptive technology.
[30 marks]

With APA citation

Answer 1

E-business

To explain this in simple terms, it is called as the process of conducting business over the internet. It is a little different from E-commerce which simply deals with buying and selling of goods over the internet whereas E-business is something which is not limited to a commercial transaction but also provides services over the internet.

Remember, E-commerce is an e-business but never an e-business is only e-commerce.

The best example of e-business would be Schindler Group, a Switzerland-based elevator company which was found in the year 1874, This company is the best example on how a legacy company incorporated e-business into its organization, as it uses digital services to transform their own products and services not only elevators and escalators but beyond that into the internet and other mobility services. After introducing this e-business into their organization they increased their business but still they faced certain limitations as well which would be explained as below,

The types of limitations and challenges with electronic business vary from every organization, depending on the criterions. It also depends on the amount of usages of these services towards their operations while some organizations may use this for their entire process, and some might just use for their partial ones.

Even in Schindler they had quite a few numbers of limitations after implementing this e business technology into their business. They are

1. Security: E business generally has a great external threat from hackers when compared to a traditional business. This is because there is always a huge number of people using the company’s information ins some way when compared to a traditional business. The common issues of this security threat when implementing e business in Schindler were keeping their customers information private and confidential, and also the data integrity. The methods they can handle to fix this problem is by considering the reconstruction of physical security measures as well as data storage, a good anti-virus software, firewalls.

2. Sectoral limitations: It is a fact that not all the companies can be highly successful in e-commerce. The challenges come from a very wide range like lack of technology to shipping. Here Schindler also faced problems in shipping some large, odd-sized items which were uneconomical to transport across borders, which made them difficult in making it difficult to sell them online. They also faced problem legally while shipping it to a different region of the world.
3. Availability: This is an issue which was faced by Schindler where their customers has to access certain information of theirs when they need it. The messages must be delivered in a timely manner and the information of theirs should be stored securely. Since the availability of service is critical for all Schindler’s website, there should be considerations to concentrate on power outrages or even physical dames of their data servers or any other device which supports this process.
4. Maintenance cost: The company had to spend a huge amount of money on the maintenance in crafting their websites and its supporting devices. They will have to consider outsourcing their e business maintenance to smaller companies rather hiring new people. This might help them to reduce the costs and time as well. This will also help them to find innovative solutions of their existing problems.
5. Momentary Intangibility: This is another reason to consider for the company. Even though their websites increase the overall business to the company, they don’t offer a feel of personal touch or proximity until the product us delivered and installed to their premises. The decision to buy a product may vary largely between person to person, especially when they cannot smell, taste or feel the product. This could be overcome by placing outlets in every zone of a country or region.