Steps to e-Business Success

Steps to e-Business Success Jason C.H. Chen, Ph.D. Professor of MIS School of Business Administration Gonzaga University Spokane, WA 99258, USA chen@jepson.gonzaga.edu

Focus on e-Business Applications Knowledge Management/Business Intelligence E-Commerce E-Customer Relationship Procurement Network Trading Network E-Channel Management Businesses & Consumers Businesses M:1 M:N 1:N E-Portal Management E-Services SCM/ERP/Legacy Appls

Roles of Information Systems Automates Informates Innovates/ Transforms

eBusiness Key Concepts • eBusinessthe strategy of how to automate old business models with the aid of technology to maximize customer value • eCommercethe process of buying and selling over digital media (e.g., Internet) • eCRM (eCustomer Relationship Management)the process of building,sustaining, and improving eBusiness relationships with existing and potential customers through digital media

WHAT HOW eBusiness Processes WHY Customer Relationship Redesign Business Processes (Outside-In) Applying Technology

Why e-Business? • The Information economy will make all organizations reassess their positions with respect to their customers-supplier relationship. • “e-Business is bound to come and unless we are able to cope with the changes in this world, our competitiveness will decline.” • this is a clear testament to the power of the new information-based economy and a warning to all companies that inertia must be overcome and change embraced. By Michiyo Nakamoto, Financial Times, Nov. 23, 1999

Revolution, Revolution ... • The e-Business revolution is impossible to ignore. • It is transforming businesses in virtually every industry and reshaping the global economy. • Organizational structures and operational practices that have served business well since the Industrial Revolution are suddenly obsolete.

Revolution, Revolution (continued) • The entrenched distribution networks that once served as formidable barriers to competition may suddenly become liabilities, unable to respond to the new demands of the marketplace. • The e-Business revolution is as fundamental a change to current society as the industrial revolution was to its preceding agrarian society.

e-Business ... • The heart of e-business is interconnectivity and interaction. • The ability to reach more people while sharing information of increasing richness creates new opportunities for value creation in areas such as marketing, customer service, and operations.

e-Business (continued) • In this new world, status quo is not an option. Companies have to reinvent themselves to survive. • Given the fast pace of e-business change, actions that once took years to accomplish must now be done in months or weeks.

develop guide Strategy create Tactic Planning is everything ... Vision Customers, market, competition Products, Services

Business Strategy External industry factors and internal resources and competence • Business Decisions • Objectives and Direction • Change Direction for Business/Determine Supports Business/SHAPE Infrastructure and services Needs and priorities Summary on IS/IT Planning: The Relationship Between Business, IS and IT Strategies Where is the business going and why Potential for new business opportunities IS Strategy What business support is required • Business Based • Demand Orientated • Application Focused How it can be delivered IT Strategy • Activity Based • Supply Orientated • Technology Focused

Stages of Moving to E-Business Wilcocks, Sauer and Associates (2000)

Seven-step Process ... • The following seven-step process can help guide a company through its e-Business transformation. • Cover the gamut of e-business activities, from conception to operation

Seven-step Process (continued) • 1. Start High • 2. Think Fresh • 3. Know Your Market • 4. Set Vision • 5. Define Strategy • 6. Create • 7. Refresh Regularly

Seven-step Process (continued) • 1. Start High • e-Business is more than developing a fancy Website • e-Business is a business rather than a technical endeavor • radical change (BPR) • e-Business initiatives may also cut across corporate boundaries, shifting organizational structures, redefining job descriptions, and upsetting established processes. • Only corporate executives can marshal the forces and commitment to launch an e-Business program and respond the concerns of internal and external stakeholders.

Seven-step Process (continued) • 2. Think Fresh • The Internet revolution is radically changing the business game. • Start with a fresh viewpoint and assume that everything is open to question and change. • What your customers are really buying from you? • Is how you deliver your product more important than the product itself? • Porter’s model (commodities vs. differentiation from competitor, e.g., DELL) • Hypercompetition model, Blue Ocean strategy model etc. • SWAT, outsourcing, offshoring • New ways of pricing your products and services (revenue management) N

Seven-step Process (continued) • 3. Know your market • assess your company’s current market • needs of your customers, partners, and suppliers • how you can meet or exceed their needs through e-Business capabilities. • expand upon this market awareness by identifying possible new products, services, and business lines • encroaching competition from existing and unknown sources • formulate your e-Business vision and strategy. • Knowing your market means exploring your: • branding, customers, competition, supply chain, demand chain (e.g., auto online)

Seven-step Process (continued) • 4. Set Vision • a long-term vision to guide your company as it enters the e-Business world • the vision defines • what a company wants to do, • what it wants to be. • do not rush to strategies, actions, and results • Vision <--- Mission <--- Goals/objectives <--- Strategies <--- Tactics • Complete executive buy-in is essential; executives must promote the vision and make it part of the corporate culture - therefore, employees will be imbued with new corporate vision

Seven-step Process (continued) • 5. Define Strategy • define, select, and prioritize the initiatives needed to implement the company’s e-Business vision • the strategy defines • how the company is going to get there. • incremental actions are not enough • expect high potential returns and advantages • other factors to consider: • process change, organizational change, technical architectures, creative needs, fit within overall vision

Seven-step Process (continued) • 6. Create • a company transforms itself through a set of coordinated initiatives that implement that needed organization, technology, and process changes • the most difficult part of an e-Business transformation is changing the underlying business model (but does not mean to undercut the importance of technology nor underestimate the complexity of the implementation) • when building e-business site, consider: • design, content, promotion, legacy integration, development (SDLC), organizational change implementation, training

Seven-step Process (continued) • 7. Refresh Regularly • to be viable, a company must continually review, reexamine, and revise its vision, strategies, and implementations. • Speed, innovation, and change are implicit parts of the e-Business world • survey customers continually to learn if it is meeting their needs and goals - making money, reaching prospects, satisfying stakeholders - in order to know when and what to change • keep company’s Website design and content fresh and exciting to attract new visitors and to keep them coming back for more.

Seven-step Process (continued) • 7. Refresh Regularly(continued) • launch promotional campaigns • to drive traffic to its Website. Products, and services; • to maintain and enhance its brand identity; and • to garner a greater share of a market where switching costs are low or nonexistent • e-Business promises lower prices and better selection for consumers, and unlimited opportunities for new businesses.

Conclusion • The need for interdisciplinary thinking has never been greater … • companies that can continually combine • innovative business thinking, • creative design and content, and • advanced technology • will lead the way in e-Business success.

SURFING THE NET Surf's Up!

THANKS and GO for your Successful e-Business!!

Vision Mission, Principles, and Values Goals / Objectives Strategies Plans Tactics Figure: Hierarchy of Leadership Tools

SURFING THE NET • SEARCH ENGINE: tool for locating specific sites or information on WWW • HYPERLINK: spot on screen, when clicked shifts to a new page or site • “PUSH” TECHNOLOGY: server streams relevant content to browser Surf's Up!

Vision Goals Objectives Mission Policies Time Horizon Time Horizon Metrics Values Metrics Values Strategies Tactics Figure: Stages of e-Business (or IS) Project Strategic Planning N TM -29

Steps to e-Business Success