Executive summary

The colossal rise of the internet has defined the 21st century and will continue to develop in the future. The progress of the World Wide Web has facilitated the development of ICT (Information and communication technology) systems. ICT systems have turned out to be credible additions in modern business and the effects are observable in the success of major corporations which have implemented ICT systems. The concept of commerce can be defined as the exchange of products and services (Amit & Zott, 2012). Commerce can be realized between individuals, individuals, and organizations or between organizations. The objective of commerce is to facilitate profits to both parties, i.e. monetary benefits for the seller and value for money on behalf of the buyer (Almeida, Santos & Monteiro, 2014). The report mentioned below will discuss the foundation aspects of e-business with references to two different case studies. The case studies will be analyzed in four different sections which focus on the proliferation of e-business, different e-business models, and details on website structure. 

E-business has redefined the conventional stance on business. The evolution of e-commerce has facilitated business i.e. exchange of products and services in return for money, through electronic equipment and relevant means. The primary target of e-business is to facilitate business revenue. E-commerce signified the links to several business functions such as placement of orders, verification of orders, delivery, tracking and customer support facilities (Baden & Mangematin, 2013). Therefore, when business activities are carried out through an electronic network, e-business is realized. The various facets of e-business include finance, inventory management, human resource, production, e-commerce, management etc. 

Ecommerce is executed for the purpose of gaining business revenues. The buying side of business refers to the different processes associated with the production of goods such as the acquisition of raw materials from suppliers. The sell-side refers to the activities carried out for selling products to the customers (Brea‐Solís et al.,2015). The basic impression of the infrastructure of e-business is provided below in the form of five different layers which are related to distinct functions.

The application layer deals with the intelligence

The system software layer is related to primary data processing

The network layer or Transport layer comprises the interface between machine and human as well as with external interfaces

The physical layer or Storage layer indicates the memory as well as hardware specifications 

The content layer is also known as the data layer and it is related to the processed data. 

1.1 Analyze the different business transaction types and the environment for conducting e-business

The case study provided for this section highlights the situation of Ideal DIY Store (IDS) which is a traditional company with a lot of physical facilities. The first indicator of the brick and mortar nature of the business arises from the five different branches IDS has in distinct cities in the UK (Camarinha et al.,, 2013). The primary issues have to be identified from the perspective of a Managing Information Service (MIS) and the suitable observations and recommendations have been mentioned below in the report.

The environment in which e-business can be conducted must be analyzed from the perspective of a PESTLE analysis which will provide an explicit impression of the environment for e-business.

 

Political: The government of the UK has started to realize different policies which can promote online sales. Electronic governance and taxation are the major areas that can benefit from the involvement of the government. Businesses can also benefit from the government expenditure and budget caps stated by government authorities (Coombes & Nicholson, 2013). 

 

Economical: Progress of business in different sectors such as the retail industry has created favorable prospects for organizations in the UK to improve the association of electronic means in the process of business. The sector of eCommerce is specifically beneficial for the UK since it has been found out to be the largest source of revenue. 

 

Social: E-business has had a profound impact on the social construct. The traditional mode of purchasing from the friendly store in the supermarket has been put to rest a long time ago. Consumers prefer to make a majority of their purchases on the internet. The options provided by the internet for research serve as a major aid for customers to find credible products among the different products available. The security of payment gateways is a key characteristic offered by e-business which increases the demand for online sales in the UK.

 

Technological: The domain of e-business thrives on the progress of technology. Web technologies that have been framed in recent times provide options for the storage of massive amounts of customer data in database servers. The dedicated high-speed servers are able to offer management capabilities to businesses all over the world. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and other technological advancements in the domain of e-business have allowed businesses to maintain prolific ties with suppliers and other entities involved in the supply and value chains of an organization. 

 

Legal: The activities included in e-business are not constrained within legal limits. The general regulations and laws do not relate to the domain of e-business and the processes involved in it. Hence e-business requires monitoring with relevance to suitable legislations which can help to prevent data misappropriation. 

 

Environmental: Organizations in contemporary society have included sustainability as one of the prominent aspects of the business agenda. Environmental management is imperative to ensure that organizations sustain a particular business environment. The different practices for environmental maintenance include emission management, water management, energy consumption, waste management and other procedures which are beneficial to the environment. In the case of the field of e-business, waste generation is minimal and hence e-business is considered an eco-friendly business alternative. 

Types of business transactions:

Business to Business (B2B) transactions indicate the selling of products from one business to another with the purpose of the latter being to sell the products. These activities are reflected in the examples of wholesalers placing online orders for product stocks and selling the products to customers.

Business to Consumer (B2C) transactions indicates a direct transaction between organization and customer.

Consumer to Consumer (C2C) transactions comprise examples of real estate in which customers i.e. owners of land offer products to the buyers. Hence a customer-customer transaction is established. This type of transaction can also be observed in the case of vehicles as well as properties. 

Consumer to Business (C2B) transactions indicate a special role for the customer. Customers offer services or products to businesses in need. For example, recruitment websites provide details about candidates to various organizations which can select suitable candidates.

Business to Government (B2G) transactions are commonly observed in the case of accredited organizations which offer services to the government and also derive some sort of information exchange between both parties. 

The government to Business (G2B) approach is followed by governments to stay in contact with businesses for acquiring information concerning tenders, taxation, auctions etc.

1.2 The benefits and barriers to businesses while emerging on the online domain

The impact of e-business has started to question the functionality of brick and mortar businesses. The majority of customers are shifting allegiances from the conventional market towards the online virtual market. Many organizations have had to face the brunt of a poor online presence. However, e-business has a substantial share of benefits that can contribute to the organization’s success. First of all, the organization IDS employs a website and surely it will find that increased online presence results in maximization of market share. A single organization operating out of five different branches in the UK can achieve additional revenue through the opportunity of advertisements from other businesses. The automated processes involved in e-business make the different business processes efficient (Baden & Mangematin, 2013). The online presence of an organization also has some intangible benefits such as customer loyalty from the automated processes. Customer satisfaction will result in word-of-mouth publicity which can be counted as an intangible benefit. Apart from all the above, e-business facilitates the flexible material purchase, production planning and sales prediction alternatives which can limit the overall costs of operation (Rao, Singh & Maheshwari, 2015). 

The barriers for e-business exist in the form of issues with data security, trust and privacy. Cultural issues, especially language disparities, are prominent with respect to online business. Other prominent barriers include insufficient telecom infrastructure and the burden of scarcely developed or developing economies. 

1.3 Impact of security and legislative issues on online business organization

Security of data in online business is equally significant for the customer as well as the business. Security issues such as lack of trust and privacy can hamper the transactions between business and customer. Increasing instances of data tampering through virus and malicious programs are credible examples of security issues. Legislative issues comprise of collecting transaction details such as time and data which can be used in further processes. The security issues will be handled by measures such as data encryption, digital signatures and security certificates. Data encryption helps in sending messages in coded form to the receiver who encodes the message with the help of digital signature or certificates (Baden & Mangematin, 2013). However, the legislative issue continues to be profound since the measures used to address the security issues do not provide the facility for information tracking. On the other hand, regulations in the UK specifically deal with countering the legislative issues of online business.

1.4 Modes of communication in e-business and applications

Electronic Data Interchange is adopted as a widely recognized form of communication in e-business. EDI can be used to effectively transfer business documents between different computer environments and electronic systems. EDI is primarily helpful in processes such as order handling, invoice management and procurement (Almeida, Santos & Monteiro, 2014). E-mails are profound modes of communication implemented by businesses to stay in touch with the customers. Customer support and services are ensured through e-mail and live chat sessions. The facilities of EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) enable the hassle-free transfer of funds. Social media is also another prominent entity used in e-business communication. 

2.1 Internet technologies and their role in building a successful e-business enterprise

Client/server computing is the basic concept for the operation of networks. The term client/server is associated with the relationship between two or more computer programs or systems. The application of this computing framework helps in the effective management of network environments. 

Packet switching can be defined as the technical apparatus required for network traffic management (Amit & Zott, 2012). The data is classified into several packets which are then labeled with a destination of the packets which helps in the easy transmission of data to the media. Multiple users can access the same data routes in the network. 

Transmission control protocol or TCP and Internet protocol or IP are the two standard terms in the domain of communication language. TCP and IP are involved with specific roles in the process of data transmission in a computer network. TCO is used for monitoring the transmission of data packets between source and destination while IP represents the packet structure which primarily comprises the data in the packets and the packet destination. 

2.2 The Key features of HTML

HTML or Hypertext Markup Language can be primarily termed as a web language. The key function of HTML is the creation of web pages for the internet. The HTML page describes two major sections namely head and body. The head contains the description of the web page while the body contains the basic content to be published. Tags are special elements used in HTML to formulate different types of content (Iacob et al., 2014). HTML and XML are completely different in terms of presentation. XML deals with webpage content and machine readability rather than HTML which emphasizes human readability. 

2.3Role of search engines and functions of client servers and browsers  

The internet is home to numerous web pages and servers in the present times. Search engines provide the facility for users to find specific requirements on the internet. This facility is realized with the help of servers and the majority of websites are gradually implementing the services of online promotion through search engines to garner popularity. The search engines implement techniques such as indexers, algorithms and spiders to respond to the queries of users.

WWW servers are responsible for monitoring the services, information, and database related to the internet. Web-users utilize web browsers to access the data available on the internet. Web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer are known for offering access to the internet for many years now (Baden & Mangematin, 2013). The web browser accepts the request of the user and sends the request for connection to the server. The server processes the client request and then delivers the data requested by clients. The connection is terminated at the end of end exchange. 

2.4 Significance of intranets and extranets in business communication

Intranets are meant for developing business communication within the organization while extranets are concerned with communication with external agents such as stakeholders, partners and customers. The Internet provides feasible access to both networks of communication (Almeida, Santos & Monteiro, 2014). The exposure of important business data to various users creates possibilities of risk to the business. Hence the intranet and extranet are always equipped with suitable authentication standards such as login options in order to access business data.

3.1 E-business models

For this section, a case scenario of Don’s Lumber Company is provided. The company is undergoing crisis from the manual operations in supply and marketing. Hence the organization needs to shift to the model of online business. The following section deals with different e-business models which can suit the business of Don. The specific e-business models include revenue models which are meant for earning profits through techniques for revenue generation and obtaining favorable returns on investments. Other e-business models include the E-distributor model and the e-procurement model. The e-distributor models deliver products on the online medium (Baden & Mangematin, 2013). E-procurement models enable consumers to purchase products in bulk at favorable discounts. The auction model of e-business also involves the participation of buyers and sellers who decide the dynamic pricing of products. The exchange model is reliant on the transaction services and the services primarily include concessions, market valuations, and accomplishments. 

3.2 Capacity of e-business models to generate revenue

The revenue generation model provides ample scope for the formation of strategies relevant to business success. The investments in the revenue business model are for a single time. The e-distributor model will focus on a specific consumer base and hence prospects for dynamic growth are minimal. The e-procurement model provides benefits to the customer as well as the business. However, the terms of discounts on bulk orders can be quite impactful on the business (Brea‐Solís et al.,2015). Auction and exchange models utilize the coordination among customers and businesses and hence tend to serve the purpose of revenue generation to a higher extent. 

3.3 Possible developments in e-business models

E-business will be the next big thing for Don’ Lumber company as it aims to shift its conventional mode of operations to the online mode. Personalized services or customer support and service will be required to enhance the inclination of customers towards the business (Veit et al., 2014). E-business had rapidly elevated with the inclusion of tablets, smartphones and numerous devices. The majority of customers are indulged in research for products. Hence the e-business models followed presently must be augmented with measures for improving product specification and features that can attract more customers. Furthermore, e-business models require revision in terms of relationships with stakeholders who are essential facets of every business. 

4.1 Key facets of a good web design structure

Customers of e-business carry their activities through the interface of a website. Therefore an appealing web page structure must comprise flexibility and responsiveness in the design of the web pages. Colour adjustments are essential facets of website design. The higher number of web pages must be complemented by specific patterns of data presented on the page. This factor is derived from the notion that differently styled pages are difficult to perceive. Customer testimonials are a great way to attract customer attention (Wells, 2013). Websites must be linked with social media which can promote the online presence of the website. Audiovisual content is more likely to appease customers rather than written content. References to relevant search keywords are also essential for ensuring a good web design structure. 

4.2 Impact of the website on e-business

The prime ingredients to draw customers to e-business in a website include formidable web page design, the balance of keyword density and aesthetically attractive graphics. Websites represent a business on the internet and hence they should earn higher rankings on search engine result pages. The provision of proper content, SEO strategies and Meta tags enables the desired results for e-business (Brea‐Solís et al.,2015). The moderate use of pictures and graphics to minimize the time for page download and ordered arrangement of links and buttons on the website make the website appealing to every visitor. Unnecessary advertisements and slow page downloads can deter an individual from visiting the same website again, which shall be avoided at all costs.

4.3 Report on website usability issue

Website usability refers to the ease with which a visitor can access a website. The usability of a website is not determined by the aesthetic appeal of the website. On the contrary, a website is deemed useful if it serves some purpose for the visitor. Data presentation on the website must be simple and comprehensive at the same time (Baden & Mangematin, 2013). Designers have to ensure an optimum balance between the amount of data and the quality of the information provided in the data. This facet is useful for visitors who do not look for anything else except the product and services. The website design must focus on addressing diverse customer segments such as kids. The website design must be oriented towards informing customers rather than infusing delinquent information about inefficient products and services. Options for multi-language support are perfect examples of addressing diversity. 

Conclusion: 

The different contributions of the internet have helped the world to enter an age of digital business. The concept of e-business was embroiled in uncertainty and still continues to be uncertain depending on the prominence of issues. However, improvements in website design, new business trends and changes in environments for business have provided ample opportunities for the expansion of e-business (Rao, Singh & Maheshwari, 2015). The report discussed the various implications of e-business with respect to the two given case studies. The different elements of the internet such as HTML, XML, clients, servers and network protocols have been discussed in the report along with an emphasis on the role of search engines and the various e-business models chosen for contemporary businesses. Finally, the report has also highlighted the importance of web design and the applications of web page structure in the facets of e-business.   

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