Everybody is talking about e-business. We know its modern and many are going for it, but why? What are the real benefits? Is it really worth the effort? What is it all about? Correct answers to these questions may be the key to success of an e-business project and its long-term benefit. Any misconceptions here can lead to failure.
Introduction.
It is an established fact that the Internet and the World Wide Web are drastically changing the way we do business today. New, better, cheaper and more efficient business models utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs) are emerging (Deitel et al, 2001). The degree of a company's e-business activity extends from a simple web site of presence to a fully-fledged e-business that almost entirely eliminates conventional "brick and mortar" means of doing business. Sometimes the degree of e-business utilization reflects the awareness level, of the huge opportunities presented by e-business (Evason M, 2001), at the company's senior management. Of course in some cases e-business may not be indicated and hence a lack of online presence does not necessarily mean a lack of awareness.
In a recent article Harris (2001) says that the implementation of any e-business solution requires commitment from all levels within the organisation. The company should ideally be one that is continually striving towards world-class performance and able to work within a culture of change. He goes on to say that there are two main options for implementing the solution, either a Big Bang or a phased implementation. The approach chosen should be decided by the amount of change required and whether the employees are IT literate or not. This often requires a cultural shift within the organisation and once this change is achieved the whole process becomes one of sustaining the e-business process and a culture of continuous development plans will soon become the norm.