New Opportunities For Expansion (E-business)

Science and technology have always influenced modes, practices and procedures of business and trade. The advancement of science and Technology, more particularly in electronics and internet, has profound influenced the conduct of business in the world. The fast changing information technology and convergence of various communication technologies have virtually taken the business practices by storm. The use of internet has made the world small and through it, business transactions are conducted globally at a faster pace. The age of connectivity has reduced distances and brought people closer. This can be directly attributed to the development of electronics and communication technologies. 

Computers and the internet are now increasingly widely used to function as part of doing business. Transactions conducted through the internet have enormous implications on the international competitiveness of every nation, giving rise to new and exciting opportunities in national and international industries, the governments and for individuals. 

Students, lawyers, doctors, engineers and various other professionals get to access vast information through the World Wide Web (WWW) network system. It has revolutionized national and international business transactions because of its numerous benefits. Businesses now  use different technologies and embrace a wide range of methods such as electronic banking, electronic trading, electronic cataloguing, video conferencing, multi-media communications, electronic data interchange, electronic mail, facsimile and all forms of messaging between enterprises. Internet - users have grown phenomenally in the past 5 years and the number is expected to continue to increase. 

E-business 

Electronic Business or e-business refers broadly to the use of technologies, particularly the information and communication Technologies (ICTs), to conduct business or facilitate improved business activities and processes, including procurement, operation, manufacturing, marketing and sales, logistics, human resources management, finance, and research and development. Originally, the term e-business refers primarily to the digitally enabled transactions and processes within an organization, involving information systems under the control of the organization. E-business does not include commercial transactions involving an exchange of value across organizational boundaries. These online interactions are aimed at improving or transforming business processes and efficiency. 

Over time, e-business has been known to cover online transactions, extending to all internet-based interactions with business partners, suppliers and customers such as selling direct to consumers, manufacturers and suppliers;  monitoring and exchanging information ; auctioning surplus inventory; and collaborative product design. 

E-business, therefore, relates to any commercial activity that is conducted in an electronic format including commercial transactions conducted via the internet, telephone and fax, electronic banking and payment systems, electronic purchasing and restocking, etc. Like the telephone, fax, and calculator, e-business is a tool that can enable increased productivity, improved customers services, and reduction in costs.

E-business is not limited to certain type of business or technology, but includes networking, allowing sales and marketing activities, purchasing and logistics, production, education, design and engineering to take place. The most effective use of e-business is when a business combines several of these activities allowing information to flow sales, to purchasing and production. It facilitates creating more effective external interactions with customers, clients, collaborators and suppliers, as well as helps improve internal business efficiency and Even the emergence of new products and services. 

E-business could be generally described as any ICT enabled system that suppliers, distributors, or customers use, as the basis for conducting their business operations, such as :

• Communicate with clients or suppliers via email; 
• Send email to other organizations to order suppliers; 
• Sell or promote products or services via a web site and /or email; 
• Publish a web site to provide public information about the business; 
• Use the internet for online banking and paying bills; 
• Research information about customers and competitors using web sites; 
• Provide technical or customer service by email or web site; and
• Manage and distribute internet organisation documents via an intranet.

Commerce

Commerce can be defined as the negotiated exchange of goods and services between two or More individuals and /or companies in which each party hopes to gain a benefit by exchanging something with the other party (or parties) . What is exchanged is generally money. But money is not only thing that can be exchanged.

E-commerce 

The advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the emergence of the internet have revolutionized business activities enabling new ways of conducting business referred to as electronic commerce (Zwass 2003; Turban, King, Lee, & Viehland, 2004). Electronic commerce (e-commerce)  describes the process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services, and/or information through computer networks, principally the internet (Turban et al. 2004). Electronic commerce can also be described as the sharing of business information, maintaining of business relationships, and conducting of business transactions by means of telecommunications networks (Zwass, 2003).

Due to the invention of internet, web technologies and other electronic devices, a new form of commerce known as e-commerce has emerged. Electronic commerce (e-commerce)  is a set of technologies, applications, and business processes that link businesses, consumers, and communities for the purposes of buying, selling and delivering products and services; as well as for integrating and optimizing processes within and between participating entities. E-commerce builds on traditional commerce by adding the flexibility and speed offered by electronic medium, thereby facilitating improvement in operations leading to substantial cost savings, as well as increased efficiency and competitiveness through the redesign of traditional business methods. 

E-commerce involves the application of ICTs to conduct commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals. It could be said to comprise of all commercial transactions mediated by digital technology (land-line telephone, fax, mobile phones, electronic mail and internet), between private individuals or commercial entities, which take place in, or over, electronic networks. The object of the transactions could be tangible or intangible. The only important factor is that the communication and transactions take place over an electronic medium.

Difference Between E-Business And E-Commerce 

The terms 'e-business' and 'e-commerce ' are often used interchangeably, but what do these words really mean?  While the meaning of the words Commerce and Business are essentially the same in English as nouns describing organized profit-seeking activity, there is a difference between e-commerce and e-business. The different is quite artificial, but different terms do carry different meanings. 

As was mentioned earlier, e-commerce refers to online transactions - buying and selling of goods and /or services over the electronic medium especially the internet. Electronic business transactions involving money are "e-commerce" activities. 

However, there is much more to e-Business than selling products and services. What about research, development, making, procurement and customer relations? To sell online successfully, much more is required than merely having a website that accepts credit cards. Selling online successfully requires a web site that people want to visiting, accurate catalog information, good logistics, and much more. The term "e-business " highlights the fact that definition of e-commerce was too narrow. To be successful,  we need to think more broadly.

E-business goes far beyond e-commerce or buying and selling over the internet, and deep into the processes and cultures of an enterprise. E-business is the powerful business environment that is created when critical business systems are connected directly to customers, employees, vendors, and business partners, using intranets, Extranets, e-commerce technologies, collaborative applications, and the web.

A good example of a pioneering e-business is Dell Computer. The Dell Computer company is one of the earlier companies that created a "fully integrated value chain" - a three - way information partnership with its suppliers and customers by treating them as collaborators who together find ways of improving efficiency across the entire chain of supply and demand. Dell's computer suppliers have real-time access to information about it's orders. Through its corporate extranet, they can organize their production and delivery to ensure that their customer always has just enough of the right parts to keep the production line moving smoothly. By plugging it's suppliers directly into customer  database, Dell computers has ensured that they will instantly know about changes in their demand. Similarly, by allowing entry to customers into its supply chain via its website, Dell enables them to track the progress of their orders for the factory to their doorstep. Successful new-business can emerge from nowhere. 

We may therefore say that e-commerce - which describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information or making transactions via computer networks, including the internet - is a subset of e-business. While e-commerce defines interaction between organizations and their customers, clients, or constituents, e-business also encompasses an organization's internet operations. It means that e-commerce is using the internet to order and pay for products and services, while e-business covers a broader range of activities that could take place electronically, as well as via e-mail or the web. While having a web presence is the most common form of e-business, it is much more than that. 

E-business allows for more efficient and effective linking between departments, development of a closer relationship with suppliers and partners and better meets the needs and expectations of clients, leading to improvements in the overall business performance Processes.