...To what extent is an e-commerce strategy the best way for businesses to increase their profits? (40 marks) E-commerce is the online transaction of goods and services, which has completely revolutionized business and the way in which businesses can operate. It’s now easier for customers to compare prices/products with a little time spent browsing the Internet opposed to dragging themselves to the stores. This means that e-commerce is having an impact on what and how much businesses sell, therefore influencing the profits the business gets. In this essay I will consider whether an e-commerce strategy is the best way for a business to increase their profits, or whether e-commerce is not the best strategy to do this. I will be arguing that with the use of e-commerce businesses have more reach to customers and can provide more options to increase their profits. Alternatively I will also talk about how e-commerce may not work for all business plans/strategies, therefore increasing the risk of loss. Introducing an e-commerce strategy allows the business to increase its customer reach, creating a larger customer base, as e-commerce is accessible to anyone who can use the Internet. E-commerce also creates an ease of use/purchase for customers, which means they do not have to go the physical stores, saving money and time. The combination of ease of use/purchase and larger customer reach results in the ability for companies to increase sales, and so this would lead to higher revenues...
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...App TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking | TB&E Model Strategy 2. The marketing plan is a written document that acts as a guidebook of marketing activities for a marketing manager. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: 36 OBJ: 02-1 TYPE: Def TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking | TB&E Model Marketing Plan 3. A firm's mission statement should answer the question, "What products do we produce best?" ANS: F Mission statements should not focus on specific product offerings but on the market or markets served. PTS: 1 REF: 37 OBJ: 02-2 TYPE: Comp TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking | TB&E Model Strategy 4. A production costs analysis could be a part of a company’s SWOT analysis. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: 38 OBJ: 02-3 TYPE: Comp TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking | TB&E Model Strategy 5. Environmental scanning entails the collection and analysis of information about factors that may affect the organization as well as the identification of market opportunities and threats. ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: 39 OBJ: 02-3 TYPE: Def TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking | TB&E Model Strategy 6. To be useful, marketing objectives should meet four criteria: realistic, measurable, time-specific, and based on sales. ANS: F The four criteria for useful marketing objectives are: realistic, measurable, time-specific, and compared to a benchmark. They do not have to be based on sales. PTS: 1 REF: 39 OBJ: 02-4 TYPE: Comp TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking | TB&E Model Strategy 7. The company's objective is to increase...
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...E-business is fast becoming an important initiative for companies to consider, one that impacts every aspect of how a business is run. This report investigates the impact of e-business implementation on various aspects of the organization including; strategy, human resources, customer relationship management, the IT department, technology, the business environment, trust, service management and performance metrics. Implementing e-business applications will require process redesign, organizational restructuring and alignment, new job descriptions and reviewed and revised policies. Organizations will also have to examine tax, legal and security issues. E-business is changing all the rules and models. An organization’s ability to embrace new technology and business models is key to increasing the organization’s productivity. The Internet economy necessitates a fundamental transformation of traditional organizations. The true benefit of e-business is achieved through the digitization of the entire value chain. For a successful e-business implementation it is important that decision-makers understand the nature of these changes, their potential impact, and plan for them and manage the entire process in such a way as to ensure buy-in of all the relevant stakeholders. The decision to implement an e-business initiative should not be undertaken lightly and the benefits that can be gained from such a venture must be investigated thoroughly before deciding to go ahead. The internet has...
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...CHAPTER SEVEN STRATEGY FORMULATION: CORPORATE STRATEGY True/False 1. Corporate strategy deals primarily with the choice of direction for the firm as a whole and the management of its business or product portfolio. Answer: T (pp.164-165) 2. Corporate parenting is the coordination of cash flow among units. Answer: F (p.165) 3. The most widely pursued corporate directional strategies are those designed to achieve growth. Answer: T (pp.165-166) 4. A merger is a transaction involving two or more corporations in which stock is exchanged, but from which only one corporation survives. Answer: T (p.166) 5. A strategic alliance is a partnership of two or more corporations or business units to achieve strategically significant objectives that are mutually beneficial. Answer: T (p.166) 6. The two basic growth strategies are concentration and strategic alliances. Answer: F (p.166) 7. Vertical integration is going backward on an industry’s value chain. Answer: F (p.167) 8. Vertical integration is the degree to which a firm operates vertically in multiple locations on an industry’s value chain from extracting raw materials to manufacturing to retailing. Answer: T (p.167) 9. Forward integration is often more profitable than backward integration. Answer: F (p.167) 10. BP Amoco and Royal Dutch Shell are examples of fully integrated firms because they internally make 100% of their key supplies and completely control their distributors...
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...Chapter 1 > Self-Graded Chapter Quiz Course-wide Content Cases Business Strategy Game GLO-BUS Online Updates and Errata Self-Graded Chapter Quiz (See related pages) Results Reporter Out of 20 questions, you answered 18 correctly with a final grade of 90% 18 correct (90%) 2 incorrect (10%) 0 unanswered (0%) 1. Review Key Points PowerPoint Presentations 2. Apply Assurance of Learning ... 3. Test Self-Graded Chapter Quiz Your Results: The correct answer for each question is indicated by a . 1 CORRECT Which of the following statements about a company's strategy is true? A) Crafting an excellent strategy is more important than executing it well. B) Managers at all companies face three central questions in thinking strategically about their company's present circumstances and prospects: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How are we going to get there? C) A company's strategy deals with whether the revenue-cost-profit economics of its business model demonstrate the viability of the business enterprise as a whole. D) Masterful strategies come partly (maybe mostly) by doing things in much the same way as the industry leader but then being better than the leader in one particular area that counts heavily with buyers. E) Whether a company's strategy is ethical or not does not matter a lot because most customers and most suppliers are relatively unconcerned whether a company they do business with engages in sleazy practices or turns a blind eye to below-board...
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...E-Business Strategy 1 Internet Marketing Plan for River Island E-Business Strategy 2 Table of content Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..3 Impact of E-Business strategy on Business…………………………………………………..4 Expectation of Internet Customers……………………………………………..……4 Integration with the Existing business processes……………………………………..5 Analysis of Logistics Processes………………………………………………………5 Resources required for Website maintenance and support…………………………...5 Implementation Strategy……………………………………………………………………..6 Planning for Website designing……………………………………………………....6 E-marketing and Promotion strategy……………………………………………..…..7 E-supply Chain Management Strategy…………………………………………..…...7 Integration with the Existing System…………………………………………..…….8 Protection of Business………………………………………………………………..………8 Risk from E-business and measures to control…………………………..…………..9 Future Development in E-Business………………………………………………..…………9 Mobile technology and impact of XTML on E-business………………….…………9 Impact of supply chain integration and e-business on international competencies…10 Conclusion and Recommendation…………………………………………………………..10 References…………………………………………………………………………………..11 E-Business Strategy 3 Introduction With the increase enhancement in the field of technology, it has been considered essential by the businesses to implement such technology in their business processes. Further, the increasing demand from the customers regarding the better quality of products and ...
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...advices from the beginning of the assignment. . Executive Summary Report contains a detail analysis on e-strategy plan for an organization and DFCC bank is chosen to analyze on business factors that underpin the e-strategy and developing a plan. Report comprises with; SWOT Analysis, Porter’s Generic strategies. Analysis on e-strategy plan, benefits, technical infrastructure required, alignment process with corporate strategy, discussion on processes to monitor the implementation process and challenges are included the report. E-strategy integrates all business functions easing and enhancing its flexibility to provide exceptional customer service through technologically advance devices, and networking as it will reduce manual errors, time-lapses and workload significantly. Important in achieving organizational goals and objectives in the competitive global market through the speedy, efficient and excellent quality service it could provide to the customers. 24/7 availability, attractive online offers, secured and easy payment methods, quick access to all the products and services definitely helps to reach beyond local customer base. Preparation of a proper implementation schedule is vital for the e-strategy success. Target Market selection, value analysis, selecting the most appropriate e-commerce platform and monitoring process ensures the sustainability and success of the plan. Maintaining long-term relationships with the key parties...
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...Interaction June 15 - 18, 2008; Bled, Slovenia Value Creation in B2B E-Markets of China: A Practical Perspective Jing Zhao a, , Shan Wang b and Wilfred V Huang c a Center for International Cooperation in E-Business, College of Management China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, P.R.China zhao5563@gmail.com b Department of Management Science, School of Business, Renmin University, 59 Zhong Guan Cun Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing 100872, P.R. China wangs7@gmail.com c College of Business, Alfred University, Alfred, NY 14802, U.S.A. fhuang@alfred.edu Abstract In China, the development of e-market has unique characteristics in the transactional processes and market mechanisms, which relate largely to the current industry structure, financial infrastructure and organization structure. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual model of B2B e-market value creation strategy, and can also be used to highlight the complexity of such activities for Chinese B2B e-markets. A process-oriented approach to modelling the value of e-market, rather than strategic position theory or a simple descriptive approach, is found to be more suitable and has been selected. The model consists of two dimensions: the e-commerce process and the controlling complexity. We apply the model in an actual Chinese B2B e-market (Alibaba.com). The crucial value creation activities and strategies in the four phases of e-commerce process are identified, and the controlling complexity of these...
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...Chapter 01 What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important? Multiple Choice Questions 1. | Managers in all types of businesses must address the central strategic question A. | Where are we now? | B. | Where do we want to go from here? | C. | How are we going to get there? | D. | When will we know we are there? | E. | All of these | | 2. | A company's strategy consists of A. | actions to develop a more appealing business model than rivals. | B. | plans involving alignment of organizational activities and strategic objectives. | C. | offensive and defensive moves to generate revenues and increase profit margins. | D. | competitive moves and approaches that managers have developed to grow the business, attract and please customers, conduct operations, and achieve targeted objectives. | E. | its strategic vision, its strategic objectives, and its strategic intent. | | 3. | The competitive moves and business approaches a company's management is using to grow the business, compete successfully, attract and please customers, conduct operations, respond to changing economic and market conditions, and achieve organizational objectives is referred to as its A. | strategy. | B. | mission statement. | C. | strategic intent. | D. | business model. | E. | strategic vision. | | 4. | A company's strategy is most accurately defined as A. | management's approaches to building revenues, controlling costs, and...
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...statements about a company's strategy is true? | | | A) | Crafting an excellent strategy is more important than executing it well. | | | B) | Managers at all companies face three central questions in thinking strategically about their company's present circumstances and prospects: What's the company's present situation? Where does the company need to go from here? How should it get there? | | | C) | A company's strategy deals with whether the revenue-cost-profit economics of its business model demonstrate the viability of the business enterprise as a whole. | | | D) | Masterful strategies come partly (maybe mostly) by doing things in much the same way as the industry leader but then being better than the leader in one particular area that counts heavily with buyers. | | | E) | Whether a company's strategy is ethical or not does not matter a lot because most customers and most suppliers are relatively unconcerned whether a company they do business with engages in sleazy practices or turns a blind eye to below-board behavior on the part of its employees. | | | | | | | | 2 CORRECT | | The competitive moves and business approaches a company's management are using grow the business, attract and please customers, compete successfully, conduct operations, and achieve the targeted levels of organizational performance is referred to as its | | | A) | strategic offensive for becoming a market leader. | | | B) | business model. | | | C) | long-term...
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...E 16 – Business Management Strategy “A pattern or plan that integrates an Organization’s major goals policies & action sequences into a coherent whole” (Quim) Mintzberg distinguish b/w a strategy as 5 P’s:‐ Plan: Forward looking / Purposive deliberate Ploy: Plan Designed to deceive/confuse Pattern: Consistencies of behavior whether intended or not Position: In the market; relative to the Competition Perspective: Values attitudes Cultures of Managers Dimensions of Strategy Process ‐ Analysis Choice Implementation Content ‐ Environment in which the Organization exists & cope with ‐ PESTEL ‐ 5 forces ‐ Life Cycle Model ‐ KsFs / CsFs model ‐ Competition Analysis Content ‐What strategic decisions should be made by the organization ‐Missions ‐Objectives ‐Stakeholders ‐where to compete? ‐how to compete? ‐Means & methods Content is about the decision the organization makes with its context ‐ ‐ All 3 interact with one another ICAF |Lecturer: Bilal Khalid 2 3 E 16 – Business Management Strategy Process Central to Strategy is positioning 3 Processes of Strategy are: Analysis Choice Implementation In the Real world all the stages are not sequential and are not easily distinguished from one another. Three types of strategic management methods:‐ 1. Rational/Structured Approach or model 2. Incrementalism 3. Emergent Strategy ICAF |Lecturer: Bilal Khalid ...
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...1.0 Introduction Following by the technology development over the the last 30 years, E-strategy become one of the most popular tools for organizations to increase their efficiency in order to gain competitive advantages over the others in the market. According to B Mahadevan (2000), E-strategy is used to develop new markets, communicate to customers/ stakeholders/ business partners and mainly focus on the increase on profit by involve consumers and other businesses. According to D Gefen (2000), there are two main part of E- strategy, business to consumers and business to businesses, but regardless of which part of the E-strategy, there are key factors that decide whether a E-strategy will be success or not. It is important for JD airsoft to identify these factors and will have a great impact of the implementation of the E-strategy. Although JD airsoft has their E-commerce but in order to increase their competitive advantage, a further development on their E-strategy is needed. 1.1 Factors that might have impact on E-strategy Here is a list of internal factors that might have impact on the implementation of a business according to DH McKnight(2002). 1.1.1 Internal factors 1.1.1.1 Dominant Factors support and commitment from the top management of the organization Clearly stated E-commerce strategic objectives and aim (which need to be S.M.A.R.T) Investment appraisal evaluation Employee’s skills & core competence to meet the new standards Empowerment & involvement ...
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...Challenges of E-Commerce MKT552 The Challenges of E-Commerce Today’s business managers face many challenges when migrating a traditional ‘brick and mortar’ company to that which is now known as the evolutionary ‘click and mortar’ business model – that is, a business that operates in the Internet market space. To stand boldly in the face of challenges presented by the networked economy, firms must develop competencies that enable not only high performance market interactivity and adaptive, intuitive customer engagement platforms, but also contribute to the development of sound business strategies that ensure a firm’s competitiveness in the vast web-based business environment. Considering this, important factors such as copyright infringement, regulatory compliance, and policy and procedure guidelines must be considered in order to ensure safe business practices while endorsing and protecting a company’s brand, reputation, and intellectual property. This paper serves to identify the primary challenges posed by e-commerce landscapes, while profiling the characteristics of the four infrastructures most commonly found in web-based business models. Furthermore, this paper also discusses the ways that managers can optimize their business strategies to gain competitive advantage by employing the opportunities provided by the Internet market space. Overview of e-Commerce Business Models Today’s networked economy presents a variety of business challenges that are unique to e-commerce...
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...measures the performance of a business unit from: |a. |a customer perspective. | |b. |a financial perspective. | |c. |a learning and growth perspective. | |d. |all of the above. | |e. |(a) and (b) only. | ANS: D PTS: 1 NAT: AACSB Reflective Thinking | CB&E Model Strategy | R&D Managing strategy & innovation 2. The level of marketing control that examines whether the strategy is being implemented as planned and whether it produces the intended results is termed: |a. |strategic control. | |b. |annual plan control. | |c. |strategic component control. | |d. |profitability control. | |e. |incremental control...
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...What is a Business Model? The e-Business model, like any business model, describes how a company functions; how it provides a product or service, how it generates revenue, and how it will create and adapt to new markets and technologies. It has four traditional components as shown in the figure, The e-Business Model. These are the e-business concept, value proposition, sources of revenue, and the required activities, resources, and capabilities. In a successful business, all of its business model components work together in a cooperative and supportive fashion. Figure: e-Business Model [pic] Although an e-Business is often thought of as e-Commerce, there are other types of online activities that fall under the definition of e-Business that can benefit from this discussion (see e-Business Basics for basic concepts and definitions). E-Business Concept The e-business concept describes the rationale of the business, its goals and vision, and products or offerings from which it will earn revenue. A successful concept is based on a market analysis that identifies customers likely to purchase the product and how much they are willing to pay for it. Goals and Objectives The e-Business concept should be based, in part, on goals such as "become a major car seller, bank, or other commercial enterprise", and "to become a competitor to some of the well-known firms in each of these industries." Objectives are more specific and measurable, such as "capture 10% of the market", or "have...
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