Exploring E-Business As A Strategic Tool For Organisational Performance Improvement In An Essay.

To help you pick a topic suitable for the coursework, first, consider choosing a scenario type from the options below:

a.Analysis and critical evaluation of current e-business strategy and activities. (There must already be some significant e-business activity.)

• You decide how to carry out the appraisal, using your own selection or those techniques taught on the module.

b.Proposal and justification for a systems architecture to support e-business. (The organisation must have little or no significant e-business activity now).

• Summarise the applications that are needed.
• Outline their interfaces with each other, and any necessary standards.
• Explain how the applications differ from current systems.
• Identify the benefits and how they will be measured.

c.A migration plan to develop e-business capability from scratch.  (The organisation must have little or no significant e-business activity now.)

• Identify impacts on the organisation and changes to infrastructure.
• Identify major benefits, with suggestions for how to measure them.
• Identify major risks, with strategies to avoid or minimise them.

d.High level design for a completely new e-business application.  (Must be relevant to the needs of the organisation and not closely based on any existing system.)

• Explain the need and justify the design decisions in a brief report.
• Design to include systems architecture, functional requirements, technical interface requirements, data storage requirements and sample user interfaces.
• May consist mainly of diagrams and models.

e.Proposal and justification for an e-business strategy. (The organisation must have little or no significant e-business activity now.)

• Outline the strategy and summarise the main changes expected in the organisation.
• Implementation plan should show how the changes will be achieved.
• Identify the benefits and explain how they can be measured.

E-Business as a Strategic Tool for Organisational Performance Improvement

With development of technology, businesses have started looking for avenues, where they can improve their operations using the said technological advancements as a strategic tool (Cofriyanti and Hidayanto, 2013). Recently, there have been several platforms emanating from technology, platforms which affect almost all business departments. Some of these platforms when harnessed, the business can broadly benefit and gain competitive advantage in the market place.  E-business is such a platform (Deiss and Henneberry, 2017).

E-business or electronic business, is a comprehensive technological platform that entails, the use of Information communication technology in all transactions of a business enterprise (Rea, 2012). An organisations capability to retain its competitive edge can be judged by, how well they utilise such platforms to reduce costs, and increase productivity (Boone and Kurtz, 2011).

This research proposal will therefore try to do a thorough exploration and evaluation of e-business as a viable strategic tool that can be used by the organisation to improve its performance.

Can e-business platform be used as a core strategic tool to reshape organisational performance strategy?

This research will employ descriptive research design. The choice of this type of research design for the current case, was backed by (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2015) who indicated the approval of such research design for similar cases.  The research design is aimed at clearly defining the subject matter which is to evaluate the effect of e-business on organisational performance. The research will try to describe the current situation as it is and provide to the organisation the reasons why they should employ e-business platform as a means to improve their performance.

The data was collected majorly from secondary sources, where journals, books and information from websites were used to provide evidence and proof of various literature used. The data gathered was sorted and edited to ensure relevance and conformity to the standards needed.

E-business encompasses a myriad of organisational activities that can be performed through the ICT platform which could have otherwise been done using the traditional approach. These activities can be broken down into the various organisational departments.

There are several forms relationships which are expected to be formed by the organization after the implementation of the e-business platform. The first is known as business to business (B2B) relationship. This is where the organisation will form strategic partnership with other businesses which can either; supply the organisation with quality products through e-procurement, or the organisation can sell their products to other organisations.

Forms of E-Business Relationships

There is also the business to consumer (B2C) relationship. This is where the organisation will directly link with their customers through their e-business platform. There are various e-business methods that can aid this relationship (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). One of the methods is by use of e-marketing. The last form is the consumer to business relationship (C2B). This is where the business can gain products or services directly from the consumer. The C2B can help the business gain creative ideas for product development directly from the consumers.

The mentioned relationships can be natured to provide a strategic value in all the business departments by saving cost, time and other resources. They will also help the organisation nature strategic relationships with various stakeholders thereby cementing their advantage over their competitors. Additional advantage for fostering these relationships is that the business will continue growing its web in as far as market reach is concerned.

From the identification of e-business as a strategic tool, this proposal will try to explain the various steps necessary to be taken by the organisation, in order to set up a good e-business platform, which will retain its relevance over time.

The first step is a thorough analysis of both the internal and external organisation environment that may determine the implementation of e-business platform. The second step is strategy formulation, which is followed by implementation of the formulated strategy. The last step is evaluation and review of the e-business platform in relation to its effects on the performance of the organisation. These steps will be discussed further in the next section.

Just like any management strategy there are various key items or steps that should be considered for the strategy to work. Most of the businesses trying to implement this platform fail due to poor formulation of the e-business strategy (Mandal, 2017). The strategy formulated is supposed to be far looking anticipating various expected challenges and providing mechanisms of combating the identified challenges. Failure to give the strategy the emphasis it deserves will ultimately affect the smooth implementation of the e-business platform.  

Business environment analysis:

The first step to be considered is analysis of both internal and external business environment. The organisation has at its disposal various techniques to do the mentioned analysis. SWOT and PESTEL analysis are some of the well known techniques that can be employed (Williams, 2013). By looking at the external environment, the organisation has to take into consideration the latest technology that is used by other market players and whether there is a more current version of the technology. The organisation should strive at always having, a better version of the technical components necessary for the e-business platform, than their competitors. The organisation should also look at the whole e-business platform in relation to compliance with the existing laws and regulations in place, and even the tax mechanisms for such a system. The customers and their potential reaction to the e-business platform should also be factored in. Anticipation of customer reaction can have an impact on the mode the platform is going to be launched. From the internal perspective, the question the organisation needs to reflect on is, whether they have the capacity of running such a system. Capacity should be judged in relation to human, technical and financial resources.  

Steps to Set Up a Good E-Business Platform

Strategy formulation is a very important step in ensuring that the e-business platform functions well. The strategy formulated will have the power to determine the impact of the e-business platform to the relevant targeted public. It is of great importance for the e-business strategy to be in tandem with the overall organisational strategy. The main purpose of the e-business platform is not to overrule the main organisational strategy, but to enhance it further, and streamline it for better performance. For the strategy of the e-business platform, the following are proposed steps which should be taken. Any action taken by an organisation is highly likely to fail if proper strategy for implementation is not formulated.

Setting the objectives and goals to be achieved by e-business; the first proposed step is identification of what the e-business platform aims to achieve, and the goals to be realised by the platform. The overall goal as identified, is improving the performance of the organisation. The set goals and objectives have to be SMART (Schmidle, 2011). The specific objectives are supposed to be achievable from the departmental level. It has been established that, quite a number of the organisations have failed at implementing the e-business model due implementing without setting proper objectives and goals which are SMART. The goals to be achieved are important metrics necessary for future evaluation of the e-business platform.  

Identification and allocation of resources: the resources aimed at implementing the e-business system have to be identified. The organisation has to consider the financial resources to be used in procuring the necessary equipment. The personnel who are to implement the system also have to be identified, and if possible trained early enough before rolling out the system. It is through having the prerequisite resources that the system will be able to be smoothly implemented.

Communicating the strategy; the strategy should be communicated clearly, to all the relevant personnel who are responsible for the system implementation, and all stakeholders at large. This is to ensure that everybody is on the same page and the system implementation faces as little resistance as possible, from both internal and external organisational stakeholders. This being a new system which the organisation is implementing, it is bound to face some resistance and criticism from different quarters. Communication aims at averting some of the dissenting voices (Sinding and Waldstrøm, 2014). It is proposed that the organisation comes up with a communication plane for doing the same so as to prevent any discontent from poor low of information

Business Environment Analysis

There are several considerations according to (Jackson, 2012) which can be used to asses and implement a good strategy. One is that the strategy should provide the organisation with a system o gaining competitive advantage over their competitors. The strategy should receive the support from to p management for it to be successful. It should be responsive and introduced at the right time. The cost benefit analysis of the implementation of the strategy should also make sense. The Infrastructure needed to implement the strategy should also be within the reach of the organisation.

The organisation is expected to have several changes after the implementation of e-business:

Procurement: the organisation is expected to have a shift in its procurement activities. Through e-procurement as a component of e-business, the organisation is set to change its traditional procurement approach from the traditional method normally used. E-procurement can further   be enhanced by the B2B relationships established in virtual space. The implication of an e-procurement system is reduced paper work and some of the costs associated with procurement function (Anuar, 2015). It is also easy to monitor the supply chain regardless of the location. There is also an increase in the pool of suppliers the business can choose from both local and global.

Marketing: the marketing function is also bound to have a major change. There are various e-business tools which have a direct significance on the organisations marketing. Some of the known tools include; e-marketing and e-commerce. Taking e-marketing as an example; the organisation is bound to have a substantial reach to customers. E-marketing provides a wider platform of accessing and interacting with customers as compared to conventional marketing (Dutta, 2012).

Human resource: the human resource function will also be affected. Most of the human resource activities are going to be affected.  The process of recruitment will be done majorly through electronic platforms. Through the use of human resource information system the organisation will have the capability of recruiting and even selecting potential employment candidates remotely (Khera, 2012). Also outsourcing of human resource activities to specialists globally can be an option to be considered by the organisation (Butler and Callahan, 2014). The platform might also call for redesigning of the entire organisation human resource structure and new formulation of job description. The e-business platform is supposed to have a major implication on the costs associated with human resource activities

Finance: the e-business platform will play a have a major impact on the finance function of the organisation. The changes in the finance department will emanate from the paperless accounting system. Keeping track of the account records is bound to be easier and more transparent. The top management of the business will be able to gain access to any financial records when needed irrespective of time or distance difference from the organisational head quarters. This can be a boost especially when quick decisions need to be made. . Compliance to financial regulations including auditing, tax compliance and filing of any reports required by regulating bodies will be much easier with e-business platform in place. All the mentioned expected changes are supposed to have an overall effect on the profitability of the organisation.

Strategy Formulation

After formulation of an e-business strategy, the implementation of the strategy should be taken into consideration. Strategy implementation entails carrying out the necessary activities to achieve the set objectives and goals defined in the strategy (Tripathi & Reddy, 2012).  The methodology of implementation will determine the success and sustainability of the e-business platform. The organisation is advised to consider the timing of the platform launch and the manner of launching the platform to the market. The launch should have as much impact as possible.

The implementation of the e-business will first look at the current available human resource personnel and do an analysis whether they have the necessary skills to implement the system. If not, the organisation can decide either to train the existing employees or consider the alternative of outsourcing some of the tasks. The recruitment, selection and training of new employees can also be done, but via the internet or other electronic platforms. This will be aimed at substantially reducing the costs incurred by the organisation due to human resource activities.

Testing the platform will follow thereafter to confirm whether it is performing in accordance to standards set. It is important for this to be done to ensure that the system is ready for launching. Operational issues should be avoided as much as possible during and after the launch. Many customers are put off when they encounter issues on the first try of an e-business platform as stated by (Ou et al., 2015). After confirming that all systems are ready for takeoff, the final launch will now take place

Building an online brand: after rolling out the e-business, the organisation will embark on a strong campaign to build its online brand. Since the organisation will be young in the digital platform, it is important to emphasise on the development of the brand. E-marketing can be a good tool to promote the brand of the organisation (Grewal and Levy, 2012). By letting the brand have a strong presence, the organisation is set to have an increase in market share, thereby having major boost in sales. This will have a direct impact on the profitability of the organisation.

Maintaining relationships: the next step that will be undertaken as part of the implementation plan will be to try and maintain the various relationships with fellow businesses and customers alike. Retaining the key strategic partnerships will go a long way in ensuring the organisation retains its competitive edge. As (Wu, 2012) puts it, the relationships forged by the organisation with its stakeholders will have a major impact on performance

Considerations for a Good Strategy

Feedback system; A feedback mechanism is an important mechanism that will have to be factored in. The feedback mechanism will help the organisation to identify any arising issues spotted by the clients and act accordingly to solve the issue on a timely manner. This can be a major boost on customer satisfaction as pointed out by (Ramamoorthy, Selladurai and Ranganathan, 2012).

Risk management system: in most business platforms, there are expected pitfalls that might derail the implementation or functioning of the whole system. It is important to anticipate the pitfalls and formulate a strategy to cushion the system form the hazardous effects of the pitfalls. The said anticipated pitfalls can be termed as business risks. A risk management strategy and subsequent system will be put in place to handle the various risks that may emanate from the e-business. Some of the expected risks to be encountered include; security risks e.g. hacking, product defect, regulatory risks e.t.c.

Monitoring and review of the system: Quality management embraces a system of continuous improvement as part of its tenets...Improvement can only be done ater a proactive and objective review of the system is done. The last stage of the implementation plan will be to come up with a system of monitoring and reviewing the performance of the e-business platform and coming up control measures for the purposes of continuous improvement.  The review system will also help in identifying the potential weak areas that might later be risk factors in the overall functioning of the system.   In order to remain relevant, the system should provide room for continuous improvement.

There are several rewards that the organisation is bound to benefit from by employing e-business as a strategic platform:

The cost of doing business is expected to decrease by a substantial amount. There are various cost aspects which are meant to go down from embracing the e-business platform. The cost of operations for example is expected to decrease. Due to reduced lengthy procurement processes and the access to a large number of competitive suppliers, the organisation through the e-procurement platform will benefit in terms of reduction of procurement costs. Transaction costs will also reduce substantially. Transaction costs emanate mainly from the services rendered by the organisation to the customer. This cost comes from the cashiers and the sales representatives who are going to be done away with by the e-business platform.

Transparency: the organisation is also expected to see an increase in transparency in the business it transacts. By implementing the e-business platform, the top management can be able to get a clear record of all the transaction undertaken by the business, irrespective of their physical location.

There will also be a boost in the speed of communication and decision making. E-business will provide a platform where the organisation can be able to communicate with their employees and customers instantaneously despite the differences in both distance and time. Any arising issue needing a speedy decisions for example customer complaints can be handle in a timely manner.

Business will also be done all day every day. The benefit of e-business as a platform is that most of its components can run automatically without human monitoring or input. This means that the platform can function throughout the day with customers globally being able to access services or products anytime they want. Almost all the functions of e-business can also be run from any location in the world.

There will be also a reduction of tedious paperwork emanating from transactions. For example, through the e-commerce platform, there will be no physical receipts since the platform will adopt a paperless system of payment. This will ease the manual filling system of the organisation.    

The benefits or success measures that can be used to evaluate the system include;

• Increase in organisational profitability
• Reduction in operational costs
• Positive feedback from the customers
• Reduction of fraud cases emanating from lack of transparency
• Increase in the number of customers
• Streamlined procurement activities

References

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