E-business (electronic business) is the conduct of business processes on the internet.

These e-
business processes include buying and selling goods and services, servicing customers,
processing payments, managing production control, collaborating with business partners,
sharing information, running automated employee services, recruiting; and more.
E-business can comprise a range of functions and services. They range from the development
of intranets and extranets to the provision of e-services over the internet by application
service providers. Today, as corporations continuously rethink their businesses in terms of the
internet specifically, the internet's availability, reach and ever-changing capabilities -- they
are conducting e-business to buy parts and supplies from other companies, collaborate on
sales promotions, and conduct joint research.
The growth of e-business in recent decades has given rise to new business requirements. On
the customer front, consumers expect organizations to offer self-service options for
conducting transactions; they expect personalized experiences; and they want speedy, secure
interactions. On the regulatory front, new laws and best practices for keeping electronic data
secure have been instated. As e-commerce accelerated, companies have adopted stringent
security protocols and tools, including encryption and digital certificates, to protect against
hackers, fraud and theft.

E-Business Components
E-business involves several major components: business intelligence (BI), customer
relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), enterprise resource
planning (ERP), e-commerce, conducting electronic transactions within the firm,
collaboration, and online activities among businesses.
Referring to the figure1.1 below
Business intelligence is about the activities that a small business may undertake to collect,
store, access, and analyze information about its market or competition to help with decision
making. When conducted online, BI is efficient and quick, helping companies to identify
noteworthy trends and make better decisions faster. BI has been described as “the crystal ball
of the 21st century.
Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to “…a customer service approach that
focuses on building long-term and sustainable customer relationships that add value for the
customer and the company. It is a company-wide strategy that brings together information
from all data sources within an organization (and sometimes from external data sources) to
give one holistic view of each customer in real time. The goal is to reduce costs and increase
profitability while providing customer satisfaction.
Every small business has a supply chain, the network of vendors that provide the raw
components that are needed to make a product or deliver a service. The management of this
network is known as supply chain management (SCM). Efficiently and effectively improving
the way that a company finds raw components and then delivers the product or the service to
the customer; SCM is about efficiently and effectively improving the way that a company
finds those raw components and then delivers the product or the service to the customer. SCM
applications are now available for small businesses.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP), is about integrating all departments and functions
across a company (sales, marketing, human resources, finance, accounting, production,
engineering, etc.) into a single computer system that can serve the particular needs of each
department. The objective is to provide information quickly and efficiently to those who need
it. Small businesses have many vendor choices for ERP systems. There are more than thirty
vendors in the field, and they are looking to small and midsize businesses as their primary
growth market.

E-commerce, is the marketing, selling, and buying of goods and services online. It generates
revenue, which e-business does not. E-commerce is typically associated with e-
marketing, but most of this chapter is dedicated to the operational, non-marketing dimensions
of e-commerce.
Conducting electronic transactions within a firm can occur through an intranet, a private
network within a business that is used for information sharing, processing, and
communication., e-mail, and instant messaging. An intranet is a private network within a
business that is used for information sharing, processing, and communication. The goal is to
“streamline the workplace and allow easy information exchange within an organization.
Collaboration can occur internally or externally, and it often involves business partners. The
goal is to help teams or business partners communicate with each other more effectively and
efficiently, manage projects and shared materials, save companies the costs of travel, and
reduce travel-related productivity losses. E-mail, instant messaging, newsgroups, bulletin
boards, discussion boards, virtual team rooms, online meetings, and wikis, a web page that
can be viewed and modified by anybody with a web browser and access to the Internet unless
it is password protected, are common means of collaboration. The most well-known wiki
is Wikipedia.
Online activities between businesses focus on information sharing and communication via e-
mail, online meetings, instant messaging, and extranets. An extranet, is the part of an intranet
that is made available to business partners, vendors, or others outside a company. It allows a
business “to share documents, calendars, and project information with distributed employees,
partners, and customers” and “it enables 24/7 private, secure access to collaborative tools
with just an Internet connection. They make communication easier, eliminate redundant
processes, reduce paperwork, increase productivity, provide immediate updates and
information, and provide quick response times to problems and questions. The result is
money and time saved for employees, the company, vendors, and your customers.
Commercial transactions typically do not take place on extranets.
As integral as e-business may be to many small businesses, however, there will be small
businesses that choose not to go the e-business route. Small businesses that are nonemployees
and/or are very small operations that choose to stay that way—for example, local delis, gift
shops, restaurants, dry cleaners, and ice cream shops can be and are successful without
having to make a commitment to e-business. Therefore, a small business can choose to
incorporate all, some, or none of the e-business components. Given the ways in which the
Internet continues to transform small businesses, however, it would be virtually impossible
for a small business to operate totally outside the realm of e-business.
E-Commerce
The moment that an exchange of value occurs, e-business becomes e-commerce. ] E-
commerce is the revenue generator for businesses that choose to use the Internet to sell their
goods and services. Some small businesses rely on the Internet to grow and survive. Many
small businesses also look to e-commerce for their own business needs, such as computers
and office technology, capital equipment and supplies, office furnishings, inventory for
online sale, or other business-related goods. This is not surprising considering the
pervasiveness of the Internet for business transactions of all shapes and sizes.
FIGURE 1.1 E-BUSINESS COMPONENTS

CHANGES A COMPANY NEEDS TO MAKE WHEN INTRODUCING E-BUSINES

The first thing is to go through the process of responsibilities needed in digital business.
Various responsibilities are:- (a) Who will fulfil orders? (b) Who will reply to customer-
service inquries? (c)  How will returns be handled? (d)
• Strategy – new strategic responses are required
• Structure – new structures and responsibilities may be required
• Systems – new information systems and new processes will be required
• Style – less likely to change, but some organizational styles are more responsive to change
• Staff – new responsibilities
• Skills – new skills
• Structure – how will the e-business change be managed? Is a separate division required or
can the change be matrix managed ?
• Systems – do new operating procedures or business processes need to be introduced? Can
existing IS be used to implement change or will new systems be required?
• Style – is the current, possibly conservative, style of the company consistent with the way
the company wants to project its image? Will decisions be made fast enough? Will risks be
taken to trial new business models and new technology?
• Staff – is the appropriate mix of staff available?
• Skills – are the correct skills available internally? What training is required? Do we need to
outsource some services?
• Superordinate goals – this refers to the higher goals of the company that may be
encapsulated in the mission statement. In modern parlance, do the senior managers ‘get’ the
significance of the Internet and will they act? A possible criticism of the 7S model is that it is
internally focused. How well the company forms and leverages partnerships with suppliers
and customers is now seen as a key element of strategy. Related to this is how well the
company responds to the industry restructuring that has occurred as part of ecommerce. Can
it take advantage of disintermediation and reinter mediation within the industry
1. Mission, vision and strategy: Organizations should continually ask themselves: "What is
our business and what should it be?" Answers to these questions can lead to changes in
the organization's mission (the purpose of its business), its vision for the future (what the
organization should look like) and its competitive strategy.
2. Technology: Organizations can change their technology, for example the way they
produce whatever they sell, in order to increase efficiency and lower costs.
3. Human-behavioural changes: Training can be provided to managers and employees to
provide new knowledge and skills, or people can be replaced or downsized.
4. Task-job design: The way work is performed in the organization can be changed with
new procedures and methods for performing work.
5. Organizational structure: Organizations can change the way they are structured in order
to be more responsive to their external environment. Again to be more responsive to the
marketplace, this also includes where decisions should be made in the organization,
whether centralized or decentralized.
6. Organizational culture: Entities can attempt to change their culture, including
management and leadership styles, values and beliefs. Of all the things organizations can
change, this is by far the most difficult to undertake.
These are the major elements that organizations can change. It is important to note that
changes in one of these elements will usually have an impact on another element. As an
example, changing technology may require changes in the human-behavioral area where new
knowledge and skills on how to use the technology will be needed.