8. CREATE E-BUSINESS
In its simplest sense, e-business is the use of Internet technologies to improve and transform key business processes. Most companies understand this and have begun the evolution from traditional business practices to e-business. Many are well on their way. They have begun to Web-enable core processes to strengthen customer service operations, streamline supply chains and reach existing and new customers. The accessibility and broad reach of the Internet have forever changed customers' expectations regarding support and response. They expect accurate, round-the-clock service. Hence the requirement for a massively scalable, reliable and secure electronic foundation which includes reliable and available servers, industry-leading software and middleware, and worldwide consulting services from experts with industry-specific knowledge. All supported by a scalable and .
In a few short years, e-business has gone from concept to undeniable reality. For good reason, it works for everyone: consumers, businesses and governments. The primary values of e-business--cost savings, revenue growth, customer satisfaction and use as a tool adding value to business relationships, also differentiate your business.
An e-marketplace can also mask transacting parties’ identities, making it possible for a player who fears brand erosion to sell surplus or offgrade material without letting competitors or premium customers know about it in the open market. In all cases, e-marketplaces have the opportunity to provide e-business-enabled information services that improve
existing manual processes by offering more detail in a timely, efficient manner while reducing the cost of the transaction. These services can form the initial value propositions that attract members to a new e-marketplace where liquidity has not yet been established.
8.1 E-MARKPLACE : CAPTURING REVENUE
Revenue sources may be one or more of the players in the e-marketplace value net. Third parties who have interests in selling high-value products or services in conjunction with the original transaction can also be a revenue source.
A firm can capture value in the form of immediate or future revenue. An e-marketplace designer may choose to defer capturing revenue in favour of developing a critical mass of traders and transactions. Proxies for potential future revenue include the:
- Number of members (both sellers and buyers)
- Transaction volume
- Number of product types
- Scope for expansion into related industries
- Scope for vertical integration
- Number of Web site page views.
Immediate revenue sources derived from matching buyers and sellers are the spread (the price difference between the buying and selling price), percentage of sales and fixed transaction fees. Firms may also charge listing and membership fees (one-time or ongoing). Other revenue sources arise from providing services that complement transactions. Firms that mediate the financial transaction, for instance, may make money on the float. The firm may also receive commissions or referral fees from service providers who receive business from the e-marketplace. Finally, advertising revenue, the mainstay of consumer portals, can also be an added source of income in the e-marketplace. However, to keep customers satisfied, e-marketplaces must remain focused on efficient and
fast online transactions — rather than increasing page views per visitor to maximise advertising revenue. When an e-marketplace receives revenue only after the completion of a transaction, it is signalling to members that it will try to make the market as liquid as possible. This can be an important value proposition for members, who have little to lose even if they do not end up transacting in the e-marketplace and in industries where the conventional
marketplace is not very liquid.
9. MANAGING CRM
Many enterprise executives think that CRM is all about technology. Enterprise executives that understand this interplay find the balance necessary to be successful in their CRM implementations. CRM is not a technology, nor is it a particular vendor solution. CRM is a popular management discipline that puts the customer at the heart of the business. And, it's a discipline that applies to pretty well any kind of business, and to business customers as well as consumers. CRM is a business strategy designed to optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction.
To realize CRM, organizations must foster behaviors - and implement processes and technologies - that support coordinated customer interactions throughout all customer channels. The result of this definition is the realization that to achieve CRM, enterprises need to look at five distinct, but equally important, pieces:
9.1 STRATEGY
It can sound redundant to say that enterprises need a strategy for a business strategy, but an important point exists here. Because CRM is a business strategy, it will evolve differently at different enterprises depending on what strategy is developed. Thus, enterprises need to determine what they want their organization to look like once CRM is in place. A strategy to become a customer center - and support multiple channels - requires different solutions than a strategy designed to maximize the lifetime value of the customer through forming close relationships between the customer and the enterprise with independent agents. Both are valid, but the results will be different. Therefore, the first step is to develop an appropriate CRM strategy to coincide with the enterprise's business strategy.
9.2 PROCESSES
The third area is internal processes. Most enterprises have sales, service, and marketing processes in place that have not changed in 50 years. Much is done because of a problem that occurred once, years ago and long forgotten. Enterprises forget that if they have a bad process in place, and they automate it, they now have an automated bad process. Therefore, enterprises need to re-examine their processes to adjust to the strategy and tactical decisions made above. In addition, new processes may need to be implemented (e.g., data capture processes needed to keep a customer database accurate and usable).
9.3 TACTICS
Tactics are the daily components of the strategy. Once the strategy is in place, enterprises need to determine how CRM will manifest itself on a daily basis to the customers. Will it be apparent that the enterprise has a unified view of the customer, or will the customers feel that they are dealing with distinct entities within the firm? Will every customer contact person be a generalist, or will there be specialists? Is the website designed for marketing, sales, service, two of those three, or all three? Once these questions are answered, the enterprise needs to develop tactics to implement its CRM strategy.
9.4 SKILL SETS
Simply buying technology accomplishes nothing without ensuring that the skill sets needed to use it are present. This is true for employees and customers. Everyone touching the technology has to understand how to use it, what it can and cannot do, and what is expected of them. In addition, the technology must have real value to the person using it. For example, many sales force implementations fail because they were brought in to solve senior management's reporting needs; not the needs of the sales people who have to use them. From the customers' viewpoint, many CRM technologies provide little or no value to them. A good example is the call center solution that requires lengthy sequences of buttons to be pushed before getting to a person, only to have to give all the same information again to the agent. Thus, it is important for enterprises to make certain that everyone who is a stakeholder in CRM - internal and external - has the right skill sets to use the technology effectively.
9.5 TECHNOLOGY
Once the other four areas are understood, technology takes its rightful place as an enabler. However, it is not a panacea. Enterprises have not "done" CRM because they installed a software package. The key is aligning the other four areas with this fifth area to ensure a valuable solution. Ultimately, many successful CRM implementations have mediocre technology, and many failed CRM implementations have great technology. The reason for this is that CRM is not about the technology. The key to minimizing the chance of failure is to put technology in its proper place. That place is as the enabler of the other four areas: strategy, tactics, processes and skill sets. Once that is accomplished, the issue of what technology or technologies to acquire becomes much clearer and less daunting.
10. MANAGING SRM
supply relationship management (SRM) tool use for e-marketplace. It is vitual for implementing B2B using SRM software. SRM is about managing the flow of materials and process, basically same as CRM
11. IBM'S ISERIES 400: AS/400'S B2B TRANSFORMATION
Many businesses believe that the Internet will prove most valuable for streamlining business-to-business (B2B) commerce processes. Using Internet-based solutions, businesses can share applications, automate information and data flow, and reduce inter company communication barriers.
But despite the enthusiasm, technology hurdles still exist. Mid-market suppliers in particular are having a difficult time transitioning to B2B commerce. Many want to use Internet sales channels to reach a wider audience, and, like buyers, mid-market suppliers can gain from the process efficiencies, closer relationships and faster sales cycles that e-business can create. But, to realize these benefits, they must invest in updating their technology and business processes. Among other things, they need to be able to broadcast electronic catalogs from their databases, automatically reconcile electronic orders with their back-end systems, such as financials and inventory management, and integrate their Internet channels with their front-office, customer-management systems.
Some mid-market companies attempt to do their own custom integration or use point solutions to handle isolated e-business functions. Most, however, find this strategy too risky because it is highly expensive, and they justifiably worry that new standards and technology advances will soon render these investments obsolete.
That's precisely why IBM's new iSeries 400 platform is such a compelling offering for B2B computing. With it, IBM gives mid-market companies a way to reduce the risk of technology obsolescence and to participate easily in the B2B sector as both e-business buyers and sellers.
11.1 WHY CHOOSING IBM ISERIES 400:
- Simplicity: The iSeries operating system, OS/400, uses wizards to simplify everything from Internet setup, to installing and configuring software.
- Low total cost of ownership: iSeries systems come fully assembled, with all the components (i.e., relational database, security, Java Virtual Machine [JVM] and Web-serving, among others) pretested together--which means remarkably low setup and maintenance costs.
- Flexibility: iSeries systems provide a flexible application environment to run any combination of OS/400, Unix, Linux, Windows NT, Lotus Domino or Java applications concurrently. With more than 4,000 iSeries-certified solution developers, customers can also choose from a wide variety of applications.
- Industry-leading performance: The iSeries balances processing power, memory, input/output, buses and switching capabilities to optimize performance.
- Security: There has never been a reported virus or hack on an AS/400. The iSeries uses the same security infrastructure and also adds the latest e-business security capabilities, such as Secure Sockets Layer, virtual private networks and digital certificates.
- Availability: Capabilities such as OptiConnect (high-speed, bus-level fiber-optic connections between AS/400s), mirroring (to duplicate disk drives and associated components at the system level) and journaling (to record incremental changes to data) can be used in combination to optimize iSeries availability. In addition, the iSeries' "save-while-active" feature allows administrators to back up and recover without disrupting running applications.
- Support: IBM provides personalized and predictive service through an integrated modem in every iSeries. With the modem, customers can always get electronic customer support through TCP/IP and access-relevant technical support sites.
In essence, this framework makes it possible for iSeries customers to connect their internal back-office solutions, such as those for accounting or human resources, to external B2B applications, such as buy-side e-procurement systems, e-marketplaces or even supply-chain management. When Connect for iSeries becomes available in February 2001, a plug-in will be provided for the Ariba Network. Over time, additional B2B plug-ins will be added to Connect for iSeries.
The solution is simple enough to use only for publishing e-catalogs, but it is also flexible and extensible enough to use for sophisticated inter-application communication. And, unlike other solutions that require customers to contract with expensive consultants in order to set up B2B links, Connect for iSeries has an intuitive interface and features wizards that help guide users through the setting up of their B2B infrastructure--without any coding.
Connect for iSeries also has plug-ins that allow it to work seamlessly with WebSphere Commerce Suite for full-featured e-commerce, Lotus Domino for notification and approval automation, and MQSeries Adapter Offering for advanced or custom-application integration.
The iSeries offers a wide range of application choices, allowing an unprecedented level of flexibility and independence.
- Flexible operating environment
- Flexible application environment
- Flexible deployment options
- Flexible growth options
- Independence from proprietary solutions
The iSeries delivers the intelligent integration, innovation, and flexibility that businesses need to accelerate successfully into the new e-business economy.These robust, cross-platform middleware products provide the tools you need to build a solid infrastructure for your B2B solution. WebSphere Application Servers provide the essential e-business functions of handling transactions and extending back-end business data and applications to the Web.
iSeries Connect was written with the small to mid-market customers in mind. As such, it has been priced reasonably and requires minimal investment with a service provider to get installed and configured (use of a trained service provider is strongly recommended). iSeries Connect also comes with an integrated tool set that provides various wizards to help the service provider quickly configure a customized installation for the customer and for the customer to manage and maintain the product later on.
iSeries Connect is targeted for the sell side of e-Business and helps the suppliers with numerous tasks such as registering supplier information, keeping track of information about each of the buyers (including authentication information), building and maintaining catalogs for the buyers to shop from, and, if the seller chooses to host the catalog on his own system, iSeries Connect helps with the integration with WebSphere Commerce Suite.
Furthermore, in conjunction with partners, IBM offers all of the pieces that midsize buyers and suppliers need to participate in B2B commerce under the iSeries umbrella. The iSeries adds robust e-business functionality to the AS/400 architecture but, thankfully, still continues the AS/400 tradition of simplicity. After all, IBM's midsize customers are interested in solving business problems, not getting their hands dirty tinkering with technology gadgets. iSeries interfaces are clear and wizard-driven, the iSeries package comes with pre-integrated components and applications, and many additional applications (such as the WebSphere family of products) can be easily plugged in.
For Care4her company for struggling to deploy B2B technology solutions, the B2B commerce-enabling functionality of the iSeries is a blessing, for several reasons:
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Multi-system connectivity provides flexibility and minimizes risk: IBM's Connect for iSeries product, or third-party connectivity products, such as Ironside Technologies', allow midsize suppliers to flexibly connect to any e-marketplace or e-procurement system their buyers want to use--thus eliminating the need to invest in different sets of functionality and business processes for different buyers.
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A rich Web presence can enhance branding, even through e-marketplaces: Midsize suppliers can use WebSphere products to create and maintain a rich, interactive Web presence. Both Connect for iSeries and IBM's Solutions for Ariba SupplierLive allow suppliers to connect their Web sites into the Ariba Network, so that Ariba Buyers can "punch out" to see their products displayed the way the supplier prefers--not as part of a commoditized, static product catalog.
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Suppliers can choose to sell directly or indirectly: The iSeries B2B framework makes it easy to sell both directly and indirectly via the Web. If resellers, distributors or members of a dealer network are e-business enabled, it is just as easy for suppliers to integrate directly with them using Connect for iSeries or third-party connectors as it would be for those suppliers to integrate with an e-marketplace.
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Leveraging existing data where it resides saves time and money: Since existing AS/400s are compatible with the iSeries, and can even run new iSeries software, midsize suppliers running on AS/400s don't need to revamp their entire IT infrastructure to participate in B2B. They can provide real-time data over the Internet, directly from their core LOB applications.
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No need to sacrifice to get to e-marketplace nirvana: In today's volatile business environment, e-marketplaces will come and go, but iSeries B2B connectors will provide flexibility to move between them without sacrificing time and money. Since the only certainty is that buying and selling are becoming electronic processes, Connect for iSeries and other third-party connectors will enable customers to buy and sell electronically--regardless of the channel.
IBM believes that iSeries is much better positioned for success outside its installed base, for several reasons including:
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IBM e-server unified branding: All IBM's strategic servers are being consolidated into one IBM e-server brand (the IBM e-server iSeries 400 replaces AS/400). Since some customers and prospects have questioned IBM's long-term commitment to the AS/400, the AS/400's rebranding as the iSeries, and its subsequent inclusion in the IBM e-server announcement, is an important indication that the platform remains a strategic priority for IBM.
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Price/performance at the low end and scalability issues at the high end have been addressed: Prior to V4R5, the AS/400 had a relatively high price/performance ratio at the low end of the product line, and at the high end, the system had scalability issues. With V4R5 and the new iSeries models, both problems have been addressed. The low-end iSeries EJB/WebSphere server (iSeries Model 270) now has a list price of approximately $18,000, compared with approximately $60,000 with the AS/400 170. At the high-end of the product line, IBM's 24-way iSeries immediately scored record benchmark wins for scalability and performance in two Java benchmarks (VolanoMark and SPECjbb2000) as well as TPC-C and NotesBench.
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Widespread acceptance of iSeries as an ERP and Domino platform: Today, the AS/400 is the most widely used ERP server in the world, and IBM has strong application support from ERP vendors such as J.D. Edwards, Geac Computer, Intentia International, MAPICS, SAP and Baan, to name just a few. The AS/400 is also the second most popular Domino server platform in the world (behind NT, but more widely deployed than all Unix servers combined). With the enhanced iSeries offering, IBM can continue to grow its leadership in these two areas with new accounts.
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The push toward server consolidation: Consolidating multiple servers onto one platform is less expensive and more manageable for the customer. Because the iSeries has outstanding scalability, reliability and can handle multiple workloads, it is well positioned to be the server on which new customers consolidate their other server brands. For example, a customer could consolidate its NT server farms into just a couple of iSeries servers.
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iSeries is designed specifically for B2B: The iSeries offers all the components necessary for B2B--hardware to handle massive transaction volumes, an integrated database, support for B2B applications, and software to help users connect to multiple marketplaces and procurement systems, such as Connect for iSeries. As an all-in-one solution, it has a low-cost, higher-functionality advantage over point solutions.
Of course, being an all-in-one platform also has its disadvantages. Some companies don't want to get everything from one vendor, for fear of becoming locked in and losing negotiating leverage. IBM, however, believes that by leveraging industry standards such as TCP/IP, Java, Domino, Apache, XML and Linux in the new iSeries, its customers can get the best of both worlds--the ability to implement portable applications and environments, and the freedom to negotiate with multiple software vendors to get the best deals for themselves.
And, considering the robust nature of the iSeries platform, its rich application heritage and its B2B connectivity enhancements, it's not hard to see that the iSeries really can bring midsize businesses closer to the B2B transformation they desire. But as always, IBM has a tough sell outside the installed-base AS/400 congregation. And, the jury is still out on whether the rebranding of the AS/400 as the iSeries will help IBM convert more midsize businesses into iSeries customers.
In the near term, Summit Strategies believes that IBM will continue to face an uphill struggle marketing the iSeries to new users. After all, any server platform that's been around for twenty years can expect to have a certain "old dog" stigma attached to it, and rebranding--even when accompanied by true value-add--may not wash that away overnight. Potential customers that give the iSeries a closer look, however, will find that its features and functionality speak for themselves, and that the iSeries can make even the most skeptical into B2B believers.
12. COSTS AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS
IBM believes that iSeries is much better positioned for success outside its installed base, for several reasons including:
Price/performance at the low end and scalability issues at the high end have been addressed: Prior to V4R5, the AS/400 had a relatively high price/performance ratio at the low end of the product line, and at the high end, the system had scalability issues. With V4R5 and the new iSeries models, both problems have been addressed. The low-end iSeries EJB/WebSphere server (iSeries Model 270) now has a list price of approximately $18,000, compared with approximately $60,000 with the AS/400 170. At the high-end of the product line, IBM's 24-way iSeries immediately scored record benchmark wins for scalability and performance in two Java benchmarks (VolanoMark and SPECjbb2000) as well as TPC-C and NotesBench.
14. IMPLEMENTATION
CREATE ONLINE SHOPPING FACILITY TO CUSTOMER:
This stage is important step before Care4her.com wants to step ahead to B2B. using basic IP infrastructure and collaboration. Security is also concern to the management and this could outsourse to the third party.
ESTABLISHING ON-LINE COLLABORATION AND TRADING CAPABILITIES
This stage provides the ability to collaborate with colleagues internally, and to collaborate and trade externally. For example, the web storefront and online catalogue.
INTEGRATING IBM© ISERIES APPLICATIONS TO THE COMPANY SYSTEM
This final stage provides back end integration of e-business services into the whole supply chain environment to deliver a fully managed desk top to desk top electronic business environment with an enriched set of services.
15. CHANGE IN WORK PRACTICES
Communication is the biggest step to implement change, staffs should know why Care4her.com need to implement change, also the company need to implement ongoing training to staff. Culture change is hard to achieve as people fears of technology, fears of losing power as information is power. The following is anaysis why people resist to change:
- Loss of control (senior management)
- Familiar with present equipment
- Complacency
- Need to learn new skills, so longer working hours
- Staff maybe stress of learning new skills, coz it need time to do it, so longer working hours maybe necessary.
- Fears of lost of power, respect, status, approval and security
- Employees tend to protect a status quo. Organization change may mean the loss of power, respect, status, approval and security. Change may also be personally inconvenient for some reasons. It may disturb the relationships and arrangement that have taken much time and effort.
- Misunderstanding of change happen
- People resist change when they do not understand the reason for the change or its nature and likely consequence. Incomplete or incorrect information maybe create rumors and this will increase the perception of threat, increase defensives and reducing effectiveness communication about the change.
- Fear of failure
- The production manager maybe fear of failure when they
13. QUALITY ASSURANCE
Management in Care4her.com should beware the resistance of change. At this stage, manager should try to help staff how they could cope with changing new way of working. In order to decrease the restraining force, manager should try to set up a set of recommendation planning for quality assurance and make sure the system will run smoothly.
- Information to all staffs (from bottom to top levels)
The manager should give out proposal to everyone staff and tells them why Care4her company need to be change before the change actually start to happen. If any of staff don’t understand or happy about the change, they can always talk to their supervisor. It is very important to let everyone know about the aim and objectives of the change. It can reduce the conflict between manager and teams.
- Education and communication
The manager should prepare training programme to those who affect from the change. It is vital to give training programme, discussion, and meeting to staffs who need more understand how to control them. External consultant may need to employ if it is necessary.
- Participation and involvement
Buchanan and Huczynski (2001) suggest that for those who might resist to change, they should be involved in planning and implementing it. Collaboration can reduce opposition and encouraging commitment. It helps reduce the fear that individuals have impact of change of them and makes use of individuals’ skills and knowledge.
Care4her should have consultant for staff who need to be given counseling and therapy to help overcome fears and anxieties about change.
- Negotiation and agreement
For senior manager in Care4her who resist changing, the manager can negotiate with them with some agreeable compromise.
- Aware of longer hours schedules
Manager should aware changing does not mean to create longer working hours for staffs.
Motivating staff by giving out
Always welcome for feedback from staff
Supervisor should try to listen to their stuff and always take their feedback form staff.
- Double loop learning for manager
Top management always hard for them to change, so maybe hire professional to help them adapt to the increasing rate of change they perceive as necessary to their survival.
Once the consolidation change has been implemented, if it is to be successful, the new situation needs to be refrozen so that it can be sustained over time. The culture change architecture disappears slowing, moving into a new trend of every day working life. In this stage, team working is essential because it is easier for a group of staffs to work out the effectively way of work. Manager should try to encourage staffs to talk out or give feedback if they are still fears of change. Manager should try to give out a harmony environment.
Even the final stage has been implemented, manager should check out monthly for the priorsed list of resistance of list and find out they are really have achieved this.
16. CONCLUSION
understanding the steps to implement B2B is vital and this report suggest the strategy and systems to implement it to retrieve profit revenue.
Outstanding CRM requires a multivendor strategy. Enterprises will rely on vendors in four separate classes; applications, con-nectivity middleware, channel infrastruc-ture, and external services providers. No business will be safe from new competitors that offer better responsiveness, a lower-cost infrastructure and new, Web-enabled business models. Prioritize new CRM tech-nology adoption based on business needs, not vendor hype. Organizations with the discipline to track specific CRM project benefits will measure a 3% to 5% improve-ment in earning per share within 36 months of implementation. Achieving this organizational and technical integration will take two to three years of incremental change and new organizational and archi-tectural infrastructure models. Also, change management always concern in changing organisation’s culture.
REFERENCE
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Buchanan & Huczynski (2001). Organizational Behaviour: an introductory text. 4th edition. Italy: Pearson Education Limited.
- IBM (2001) IBM iSeries 400 Consultant Report AS-400's Busine[online] available at: < http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/conslt/pdf/summit.pdf> [accessed 25/04.02]
- IBM (2001) IBM iSeries 400 support [online] available at: < http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/support?view=iSeries > [accessed 25/04/02]
- IBM (2001) IBM iSeries solution [online] available at: < http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/support?view=iSeries > [accessed 25/04/02]
- IBM (2001) IBM iSeries 400 connector [online] available at: < http://www-3.ibm.com/e-business/doc/content/resource/pdf/26715.pdf > [accessed 25/04/02]
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