Kelompok I
Budhi Mahendra Perdana/0812000170
Anggrita Indreswari/0812000216
Lisa Amelia Sari/0812000223
Fahmi Fathurahman/0812000235
Topik : Information Systems Helps KIA Solve Its Quality Problem
Kelompok II
Mutia Susiana/0812000166
Putri Wahyu Utami/0812000174
Dwi Suhendro/0812000175
Windy Wulandari/0812000183
Tri Riyanto Andhika Putra/0812000190
Topik : Amazon.com: An Internet Giant Fine-Tunes Its Strategy
Kelompok III
Putri Dwirachmawati/06120069
Alwina Minang Putri/06120196
Dede Mulyana/07120083
Mochtar Baihaqie/07120265
Irfan Dwi Meiriyan/07120286
Topik : The Internet: Friend or Foe to Children?
Kelompok IV
Siva Karunia/07120304
Megha Oktiani/07120375
Fitria Malina F/07120384
Kumaras Mahartami/07120385
Vira Pratiwi/07120388
Topik : What Can Be Done About Data Quality?
Kelompok V
Fritz Ondy/05120271
Ricko Ramadhan/07120073
Indra Darmawan Pamungkas/07120080
Izhar Noor/07120316
Topik : Monitoring Employees on Networks: Unethical or Good Business?
Kelompok VI
Irfan Suhada/07120010
Bayu Setyaji/07120022
Muhammad Fachreza Fitra/07120023
Cempaka Septiati/07120210
Topik : Unilever Secures Its Mobile Devices
Kelompok VII
Rien Bunga Adhinda/04120218
Avid Suhendar/05120435
Ayu Medianti Lestari/0812000188
Indra Januarman/0812000189
Reza Adi Dwi Priadana/0812000372
Topik : Invacare Struggles with Its Enterprise System Implementation
Note :
Bagi yang belum terdaftar di atas harap kirim email atau update kelompok anda melalui email.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
INTERORGANIZATION AND COLLABORATION
NTE EVENS THE LOAD
The hauling industry is not very efficient. Though trucks are likely to be full on outbound journeys, they are often empty on the way back. (About 50 percent of the trucks on America's roads at any one time are not full.) National Transportation Exchange (NTE) is attempting to solve this problem.
NTE (nte.com) uses the Internet to connect shippers who have loads they want to move cheaply with fleet managers who have space to fill. NTE helps create what is called spot market (a very short-term market) by setting daily prices based on information from several hundreds fleet managers about the destinations of their vehicles and the amount of space they have available. It also gets information from shippers about their needs and flexibility in dates.
NTE then works out the best deals for the shippers and the haulers. When a deal is agreed upon, NTE issues the contacts and handles payments. The entire process takes only a few minutes. NTE collects a commission based on the value of each deal, the fleet manager gets extra revenue that they would otherwise have missed out on, and the shipper gets a bargain price, at the cost of some loss of flexibility.
When NTE was first set up in 1995, it used a proprietary network that was expensive and limited the number of buyers and sellers who could connect through it. By using the Internet, NTE has been able to extend its reach down to the level of individual truck drivers and provide a much wider range of services. Today, drivers can use wireless Internet access devices to connect to the NTE Web site on the road.
In 2001, NTE expanded its services to improve inventory management, scheduling, and vendor compliance along the entire supply chain. NTE's software is integrated with its customers' operations and systems. NTE's business is currently limited to ground transportation within the United States. In Hong kong, arena.com.hk (called Line) provide similar port services.
Read More..
The hauling industry is not very efficient. Though trucks are likely to be full on outbound journeys, they are often empty on the way back. (About 50 percent of the trucks on America's roads at any one time are not full.) National Transportation Exchange (NTE) is attempting to solve this problem.
NTE (nte.com) uses the Internet to connect shippers who have loads they want to move cheaply with fleet managers who have space to fill. NTE helps create what is called spot market (a very short-term market) by setting daily prices based on information from several hundreds fleet managers about the destinations of their vehicles and the amount of space they have available. It also gets information from shippers about their needs and flexibility in dates.
NTE then works out the best deals for the shippers and the haulers. When a deal is agreed upon, NTE issues the contacts and handles payments. The entire process takes only a few minutes. NTE collects a commission based on the value of each deal, the fleet manager gets extra revenue that they would otherwise have missed out on, and the shipper gets a bargain price, at the cost of some loss of flexibility.
When NTE was first set up in 1995, it used a proprietary network that was expensive and limited the number of buyers and sellers who could connect through it. By using the Internet, NTE has been able to extend its reach down to the level of individual truck drivers and provide a much wider range of services. Today, drivers can use wireless Internet access devices to connect to the NTE Web site on the road.
In 2001, NTE expanded its services to improve inventory management, scheduling, and vendor compliance along the entire supply chain. NTE's software is integrated with its customers' operations and systems. NTE's business is currently limited to ground transportation within the United States. In Hong kong, arena.com.hk (called Line) provide similar port services.
Source: Complied from The Economist, June 26, 1999; Davidson,
April 2001, and arena.com.hk, April 2001
April 2001, and arena.com.hk, April 2001
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
THE LIMITATIONS OF EC
EC has both technological and non technological limitations. The major limitations are :
Technological Limitations
1. There is a lack of universally accepted standards for quality, security and reliability.
2. The telecommunications bandwidth is insufficient.
3. Software development tools are still evolving.
4. There are difficulties in integrating the Internet and EC software with some existing (especially legacy) applications and databases.
5. Special Web servers in addition to the network servers are needed (added cost).
6. Internet accessibility is still expensive and/or inconvenient.
Non technological Limitations
1. Security and privacy concerns deter customers from buying.
2. Trust in EC and in unknown sellers hinders buying.
3. National and international government regulations sometimes get in the way.
4. It is difficult to measure the benefits of EC, such as the effectiveness of online advertising. There is a lack of mature methodology.
5. Some customers like to feel and touch products. Customers are resistant to the change from a real to an online store.
6. People do not yet sufficiently trust paperless, faceless transactions.
7. There is an insufficient number (critical mass) of sellers and buyers needed for profitable EC operations
Despite these limitations, EC is expanding rapidly. For example, the number of people in the United States who buy and sell stocks electronically increased from 300,000 at the beginning of 1996 to over 25 million by the spring of 2002. In Korea, about 67 percent of all stock market transactions took place over the Internet in the spring of 2002 (versus 2 percent in 1998). According to the major financial institution J.P. Morgan, the number of online brokerage customers in Europe will reach 17.1 million in 2003 (versus 1.4 million in 1999). As experience accumulates and technology improves, the cost-benefit ration of EC will increase, resulting in greater rates of EC adoption.
The benefits presented here may not be convincing enough reasons for a business to implement EC. Much more compelling are the economic impact of EC and the digital revolution, along with the effects of EC on business competition.
Read More..
Technological Limitations
1. There is a lack of universally accepted standards for quality, security and reliability.
2. The telecommunications bandwidth is insufficient.
3. Software development tools are still evolving.
4. There are difficulties in integrating the Internet and EC software with some existing (especially legacy) applications and databases.
5. Special Web servers in addition to the network servers are needed (added cost).
6. Internet accessibility is still expensive and/or inconvenient.
Non technological Limitations
1. Security and privacy concerns deter customers from buying.
2. Trust in EC and in unknown sellers hinders buying.
3. National and international government regulations sometimes get in the way.
4. It is difficult to measure the benefits of EC, such as the effectiveness of online advertising. There is a lack of mature methodology.
5. Some customers like to feel and touch products. Customers are resistant to the change from a real to an online store.
6. People do not yet sufficiently trust paperless, faceless transactions.
7. There is an insufficient number (critical mass) of sellers and buyers needed for profitable EC operations
Despite these limitations, EC is expanding rapidly. For example, the number of people in the United States who buy and sell stocks electronically increased from 300,000 at the beginning of 1996 to over 25 million by the spring of 2002. In Korea, about 67 percent of all stock market transactions took place over the Internet in the spring of 2002 (versus 2 percent in 1998). According to the major financial institution J.P. Morgan, the number of online brokerage customers in Europe will reach 17.1 million in 2003 (versus 1.4 million in 1999). As experience accumulates and technology improves, the cost-benefit ration of EC will increase, resulting in greater rates of EC adoption.
The benefits presented here may not be convincing enough reasons for a business to implement EC. Much more compelling are the economic impact of EC and the digital revolution, along with the effects of EC on business competition.
Read More..
MARKETSPACE COMPONENT
Similar to a marketplace, in a marketspace sellers and buyers exchange goods and services for money (or for other goods and services if bartering is used), but they do it electronically. A marketspace includes electronic transactions that bring about a new distribution of goods and services. The major components and players of a marketspace are customers, sellers, goods (physical or digital), infrastructure, a front end, a back end, intermediaries and other business partners, and support services. A brief description of each follows.
Customers
The tens of million of people worldwide that surf the Web are potential buyers of the goods and services offered or advertised on the Internet. These consumers are looking for bargains, customized items, collectors' items, entertainment, and more. They are in the driver's seat. They can search for detailed information, compare, bid, and sometimes negotiate. Organizations are the major consumers, accounting for over 85 percent of EC activities.
Sellers
Hundreds of thousands of storefronts are on the Web, advertising and offering millions of items. Every day it is possible to find new offerings of products and services. Sellers can sell direct from their Web site or from a-marketplaces.
Products
One of the major differences between the marketplace and the marketspace is the possible of digitization of products and services in a marketspace. Although both types of markets can sell physical products, the marketspace also can sell digital products, which are goods that can be transformed to digital format and delivered over the Internet. In addition to digitization of software and music, it is possible to digitize dozens of other products and services. In digitization, most of the costs are fixed and the variable cost is very small. Thus, profit will increase very rapidly as volume increase once the fixed costs are paid for. This is one of the major potentials of electronic markets.
Infrastructure
An electronic market infrastructure includes hardware, software and networks.
Front end
Customers interact with a marketspace via a front end. The business processes in the front end include the seller's portal, electronic catalogs, a shopping cart, a search engine and a payment gateway.
Back end
All the activities that are related to order aggregation and fullfillment, inventory management, purchasing from suppliers, payment processing, packaging and delivery are done in what is termed the back end of the business.
Intermediaries
In marketing, an intermediary typically is a third party that operates between sellers and buyers. Intermediaries of all kinds offer their services on the Web. Online intermediaries create and manage the online markets (such as in the NTE case). They help match buyers and sellers, provide some infrastructure services, and help customers and/or sellers to institute and complete transactions. Most ot these online intermediaries are computized systems
Other business partners
In addition to intermediaries, there are several types of partners, such as shippers, that collaborate on the Internet, mostly along the supply chain.
Support services
Many different support services are available, ranging from certification and trust services, which ensure security, to knowledge providers. These service are created to address implementation issues.
Read More..
Customers
The tens of million of people worldwide that surf the Web are potential buyers of the goods and services offered or advertised on the Internet. These consumers are looking for bargains, customized items, collectors' items, entertainment, and more. They are in the driver's seat. They can search for detailed information, compare, bid, and sometimes negotiate. Organizations are the major consumers, accounting for over 85 percent of EC activities.
Sellers
Hundreds of thousands of storefronts are on the Web, advertising and offering millions of items. Every day it is possible to find new offerings of products and services. Sellers can sell direct from their Web site or from a-marketplaces.
Products
One of the major differences between the marketplace and the marketspace is the possible of digitization of products and services in a marketspace. Although both types of markets can sell physical products, the marketspace also can sell digital products, which are goods that can be transformed to digital format and delivered over the Internet. In addition to digitization of software and music, it is possible to digitize dozens of other products and services. In digitization, most of the costs are fixed and the variable cost is very small. Thus, profit will increase very rapidly as volume increase once the fixed costs are paid for. This is one of the major potentials of electronic markets.
Infrastructure
An electronic market infrastructure includes hardware, software and networks.
Front end
Customers interact with a marketspace via a front end. The business processes in the front end include the seller's portal, electronic catalogs, a shopping cart, a search engine and a payment gateway.
Back end
All the activities that are related to order aggregation and fullfillment, inventory management, purchasing from suppliers, payment processing, packaging and delivery are done in what is termed the back end of the business.
Intermediaries
In marketing, an intermediary typically is a third party that operates between sellers and buyers. Intermediaries of all kinds offer their services on the Web. Online intermediaries create and manage the online markets (such as in the NTE case). They help match buyers and sellers, provide some infrastructure services, and help customers and/or sellers to institute and complete transactions. Most ot these online intermediaries are computized systems
Other business partners
In addition to intermediaries, there are several types of partners, such as shippers, that collaborate on the Internet, mostly along the supply chain.
Support services
Many different support services are available, ranging from certification and trust services, which ensure security, to knowledge providers. These service are created to address implementation issues.
Read More..
Friday, March 13, 2009
CLASSIFICATION OF EC BY THE NATURE OF THE TRANSACTION
A common classification of EC is by the nature of transaction or the relationship among participants. The following types of EC are commonly distinguished.
Business-to-Business (B2B). All of the participants in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce are business or other organizations. Today most EC is B2B.
Business-to-Consumer(B2C). Business-to-consumer (B2C) EC includes retail transactions from business to individual shoppers. The typical shopper at Amazon.com is a consumer, or customer. This type is also called e-tailing.
Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C). In business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) EC, a business provides some product or service to a client business. The client business maintains its own customers, to whom the product or service is provided. An example is Qantas' Pan-Pacific market cited earlier. The term B2B frequently is used to describe B2B2C as well.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B). This category includes individuals who use the Internet to sell products or services to organizations, as well as individuals who seek sellers to bid on products or services they need. Priceline.com is a well-known C2B organizer.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C). In the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) category, consumers sell directly to other consumers. Examples include individuals selling residential property, cars, and so on in online classified ads. The advertisement of personal services over the Internet and the selling of knowledge and expertise online are other examples of C2C (e.g., guru.com). In addition, several auction sites allow individuals to place items up for auction. A special type of C2C is where people exchange music, videos, software, and other digitizable goods electronically using peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. A well-known organizer of P2P is Napster (napster.com). (As a result of legal challenges, Napster no longer offers free exchanges; in 2002 it tried offering only digital goods that people pay for.)
Mobile Commerce. E-Commerce transactions and activities conducted in a wireless environment are referred to as mobile commerce, or m-commerce. Such transactions targeted to individuals in specific locations, at specific times, are referred to as location-based commerce, or l-commerce.
Intrabusiness (organizational) EC. The intrabusiness EC category includes all internal organizational activities that involve the exchange of goods, services, or information among various units and individuals in that organization. Activities can range from selling corporate products to employees to online training and collaborative design efforts. Intrabusiness EC is usually performed on intranets or corporate portals (in general, gateways to the Web).
Business-to-employees (B2E). The business-to-employees (B2E) category is a subset of the intrabusiness category in which the organization delivers services, information, or products to individual employees, as Qantas Airways is doing with its College Online.
Collaborative Commerce. When individuals or groups communicate or collaborate online they may be engaged in collaborative commerce (c-commerce). For example, business partners in different locations may design a product together, using screen sharing, or they may jointly forecast market demand.
Nonbusiness EC. An increasing number of non business institutions such as academic institutions, not-for-profit organizations, religious organizations, social organizations, and government agencies are using EC to reduce their expenses or to improve their general operations and customer service. (Note that in the previous categories one can usually replace the word business with organization.)
E-Government: Government-to-citizens (G2C) and to others. In e-government EC, a government entity buys or provides goods, service, or information to businesses or individual citizens.
Exchange-to-exchange (E2E). An exchange describes a public electronic market with many buyers and sellers. As these proliferate, it is logical for exchanges to connect to one another. Exchange-to-exchange (E2E) EC is a formal system that connect exchanges.
Read More..
Business-to-Business (B2B). All of the participants in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce are business or other organizations. Today most EC is B2B.
Business-to-Consumer(B2C). Business-to-consumer (B2C) EC includes retail transactions from business to individual shoppers. The typical shopper at Amazon.com is a consumer, or customer. This type is also called e-tailing.
Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C). In business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) EC, a business provides some product or service to a client business. The client business maintains its own customers, to whom the product or service is provided. An example is Qantas' Pan-Pacific market cited earlier. The term B2B frequently is used to describe B2B2C as well.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B). This category includes individuals who use the Internet to sell products or services to organizations, as well as individuals who seek sellers to bid on products or services they need. Priceline.com is a well-known C2B organizer.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C). In the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) category, consumers sell directly to other consumers. Examples include individuals selling residential property, cars, and so on in online classified ads. The advertisement of personal services over the Internet and the selling of knowledge and expertise online are other examples of C2C (e.g., guru.com). In addition, several auction sites allow individuals to place items up for auction. A special type of C2C is where people exchange music, videos, software, and other digitizable goods electronically using peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. A well-known organizer of P2P is Napster (napster.com). (As a result of legal challenges, Napster no longer offers free exchanges; in 2002 it tried offering only digital goods that people pay for.)
Mobile Commerce. E-Commerce transactions and activities conducted in a wireless environment are referred to as mobile commerce, or m-commerce. Such transactions targeted to individuals in specific locations, at specific times, are referred to as location-based commerce, or l-commerce.
Intrabusiness (organizational) EC. The intrabusiness EC category includes all internal organizational activities that involve the exchange of goods, services, or information among various units and individuals in that organization. Activities can range from selling corporate products to employees to online training and collaborative design efforts. Intrabusiness EC is usually performed on intranets or corporate portals (in general, gateways to the Web).
Business-to-employees (B2E). The business-to-employees (B2E) category is a subset of the intrabusiness category in which the organization delivers services, information, or products to individual employees, as Qantas Airways is doing with its College Online.
Collaborative Commerce. When individuals or groups communicate or collaborate online they may be engaged in collaborative commerce (c-commerce). For example, business partners in different locations may design a product together, using screen sharing, or they may jointly forecast market demand.
Nonbusiness EC. An increasing number of non business institutions such as academic institutions, not-for-profit organizations, religious organizations, social organizations, and government agencies are using EC to reduce their expenses or to improve their general operations and customer service. (Note that in the previous categories one can usually replace the word business with organization.)
E-Government: Government-to-citizens (G2C) and to others. In e-government EC, a government entity buys or provides goods, service, or information to businesses or individual citizens.
Exchange-to-exchange (E2E). An exchange describes a public electronic market with many buyers and sellers. As these proliferate, it is logical for exchanges to connect to one another. Exchange-to-exchange (E2E) EC is a formal system that connect exchanges.
Read More..
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Individuals and Communities
REVERSE MORTGAGE AUCTIONS IN SINGAPORE
Homebuyers like to get the lowest possible mortgage rates. In the United State, Priceline.com will try to find you a mortgage if you "name your own price." However, a better deal may be available to home buyers in Singapore, where reverse auctions are combined with "group purchasing," saving about $20,000 over the life of a mortgage for each homeowner, plus $1,200 in waived legal fees. Dollardex.com offers the service in Singapore, Hong Kong, and other countries.
Here is how Dollardex arranged its first project: The site invited potential buyers in three residential properties in Singapore to join the service. Applications, including financial credentials, were made on a secure Web Site. Then, seven lending banks were invited to bid on the loans. In a secure electronic room, borrowers and lenders negotiated. After 2 days of negotiations of interest rates and special conditions, the borrowers voted on one bank. In the first project, 18 borrowers agreed to give the job to United Overseas Bank (UOB), paying about 0.5 percent less than the regular rate. The borrowers negotiated the waiver of the legal fee as well. From this first project, UOB generated $10 million of business. Today, Dollardex allows customers to participate in an individual reverse auction if they do not want to join a group.
The banks involved in the auctions can see the offers made by competitors. Flexibility is high; in addition to interest rates, banks are willing to negotiate down payment size ad the option of switching from a fixed to variable rate loan. On average, there are 2.6 bank bids per customer.
As of spring 2000, in addition to mortgages, Dollardex.com offers car loans, insurance policies, and travel services. It also allows comparisons of mutual funds that have agreed to give lower front-end fees.
Homebuyers like to get the lowest possible mortgage rates. In the United State, Priceline.com will try to find you a mortgage if you "name your own price." However, a better deal may be available to home buyers in Singapore, where reverse auctions are combined with "group purchasing," saving about $20,000 over the life of a mortgage for each homeowner, plus $1,200 in waived legal fees. Dollardex.com offers the service in Singapore, Hong Kong, and other countries.
Here is how Dollardex arranged its first project: The site invited potential buyers in three residential properties in Singapore to join the service. Applications, including financial credentials, were made on a secure Web Site. Then, seven lending banks were invited to bid on the loans. In a secure electronic room, borrowers and lenders negotiated. After 2 days of negotiations of interest rates and special conditions, the borrowers voted on one bank. In the first project, 18 borrowers agreed to give the job to United Overseas Bank (UOB), paying about 0.5 percent less than the regular rate. The borrowers negotiated the waiver of the legal fee as well. From this first project, UOB generated $10 million of business. Today, Dollardex allows customers to participate in an individual reverse auction if they do not want to join a group.
The banks involved in the auctions can see the offers made by competitors. Flexibility is high; in addition to interest rates, banks are willing to negotiate down payment size ad the option of switching from a fixed to variable rate loan. On average, there are 2.6 bank bids per customer.
As of spring 2000, in addition to mortgages, Dollardex.com offers car loans, insurance policies, and travel services. It also allows comparisons of mutual funds that have agreed to give lower front-end fees.
Source : Compiled from moneyq.com.hk, 2002 and Dollardex.com, 2002.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
HOW RAFFLES HOTEL IS CONDUCTING E-COMMERCE
The Problem
Raffles Hotel, one of Singapore's colonial-era landmarks, is the flagship of Raffles Holding Ltd., which owns and manages luxury and business hotel worldwide. Raffles Hotel operates in a very competitive environment. To maintain its world-renowned reputation, the hotel spent lavishly on every facet of its operation. For example, it once stocked 12 different kinds of butter, at a high cost. The success of the company and each of its hotel depends on the company's ability to lure customers to its hotels and facilities and on its ability to contain costs.
The Solution
To maintain its image and contain costs, Raffles must address two types of issues--business-to-consumer and business-to-business. On the business-to-consumer side, Raffles maintains a diversified public portal (raffles.com) that introduces customers to the company and its services. The portal includes information on the hotels, a reservation system, links to travelers' resources, a customer relationship management (CRM) program, and an online store for Raffles products.
On the business-to-business side, Raffles has interorganizational system that enables efficient contacts with its suppliers. To do business with Raffles, each of 5,000 potential vendors must log on to Raffles' private marketplace. As for purchasing, Raffles conducts e-procurement using reverse auctions among qualified suppliers, in which sellers bid for the sales contract, and the lowest bidder wins. With the reverse auction, the number of suppliers is reduced and the quantity purchased from each increases, which leads to lower purchasing prices. For example, butter is now purchased from only two suppliers. Procurement negotiations now take place online. Buyer-seller relationships have been strengthened by the private, online marketplace.
The e-marketplace also has a sell-side, allowing other hotels to buy Raffles-branded products, such as tiny shampoo bottles and bathrobes, from electronic catalogs. Even competitors buy Raffles-branded products because they are relatively inexpensive. Also, the luxury products make the hotel that purchases from them look upscale.
The Results
The public portal helps in customer acquisition. Using promotions and direct sales, the hotel is able to maintain high occupancy rates in the difficult economic times. The private marketplace is strategically advantageous to Raffles in forcing suppliers to disclose their prices, thus increasing competition among suppliers. The company is saving about $1 million a year on procurement of eight high-volume supplies (toiler paper, detergents, etc.) alone. The success of the company is evidenced by its aggressive expansion in the Asian markets.
What We Can Learn...
For an old-economy hotel to transform itself into a click-and-mortar business, it had to create two separate electronic markets: a B2C private market for selling its services to consumers and a B2B market to buy from its suppliers and to sell products to other hotel. In addition, it had to use several e-commerce mechanisms : a corporate portal, electronic catalogs, and e-procurement using reverse auctions.
Read More..
Raffles Hotel, one of Singapore's colonial-era landmarks, is the flagship of Raffles Holding Ltd., which owns and manages luxury and business hotel worldwide. Raffles Hotel operates in a very competitive environment. To maintain its world-renowned reputation, the hotel spent lavishly on every facet of its operation. For example, it once stocked 12 different kinds of butter, at a high cost. The success of the company and each of its hotel depends on the company's ability to lure customers to its hotels and facilities and on its ability to contain costs.
The Solution
To maintain its image and contain costs, Raffles must address two types of issues--business-to-consumer and business-to-business. On the business-to-consumer side, Raffles maintains a diversified public portal (raffles.com) that introduces customers to the company and its services. The portal includes information on the hotels, a reservation system, links to travelers' resources, a customer relationship management (CRM) program, and an online store for Raffles products.
On the business-to-business side, Raffles has interorganizational system that enables efficient contacts with its suppliers. To do business with Raffles, each of 5,000 potential vendors must log on to Raffles' private marketplace. As for purchasing, Raffles conducts e-procurement using reverse auctions among qualified suppliers, in which sellers bid for the sales contract, and the lowest bidder wins. With the reverse auction, the number of suppliers is reduced and the quantity purchased from each increases, which leads to lower purchasing prices. For example, butter is now purchased from only two suppliers. Procurement negotiations now take place online. Buyer-seller relationships have been strengthened by the private, online marketplace.
The e-marketplace also has a sell-side, allowing other hotels to buy Raffles-branded products, such as tiny shampoo bottles and bathrobes, from electronic catalogs. Even competitors buy Raffles-branded products because they are relatively inexpensive. Also, the luxury products make the hotel that purchases from them look upscale.
The Results
The public portal helps in customer acquisition. Using promotions and direct sales, the hotel is able to maintain high occupancy rates in the difficult economic times. The private marketplace is strategically advantageous to Raffles in forcing suppliers to disclose their prices, thus increasing competition among suppliers. The company is saving about $1 million a year on procurement of eight high-volume supplies (toiler paper, detergents, etc.) alone. The success of the company is evidenced by its aggressive expansion in the Asian markets.
What We Can Learn...
For an old-economy hotel to transform itself into a click-and-mortar business, it had to create two separate electronic markets: a B2C private market for selling its services to consumers and a B2B market to buy from its suppliers and to sell products to other hotel. In addition, it had to use several e-commerce mechanisms : a corporate portal, electronic catalogs, and e-procurement using reverse auctions.
Read More..
Thursday, March 5, 2009
INTERORGANIZATION AND COLLABORATION
THE INTERNET AND THE INTRANET SHORTEN TIME-TO-MARKET FOR NEW DRUGS
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) must be extremely careful in approving new drugs. However, there is public pressure on the FDA to approve new drugs quickly, especially those for cancer and HIV. The problem is that to ensure quality, the FDA requires companies to conduct extensive research and clinical testing. The development programs such research and testing cover 300,000 to 500,000 pages of documentation for each new drug. The subsequent results and analyses are reported on 100,000 to 200,000 additional pages. These pages then are reviewed by the FDA prior to approval of a new drug. Manual processing of this information significantly slows the work of the FDA, so that the total approval process takes 6 to 10 years.
A Software program called Computer-Aided Drug Application Systems (Research Data Corporation, New Jersey) offers a computerized solution. The software uses a computerized solution. The software uses a network-distributed document-processing system that enables the pharmaceutical company to scan all related documents into a database. The documents are indexed, and full-text search and retrieval software is attached to the system. Using keywords, corporate employees can search the database via their company's intranet. The database is also accessible, via the Internet, to FDA employees, who no longer have to spend hours looking for specific piece of data. Information can be processed or printed at the user's desktop computer. Today, the U.S. government is able to offer an electronic submission and online review process for approval of new drugs (fas.gov/cder).
This system not only helps the FDA, but also the companies' researchers who now have every piece of required information at their fingertips. Remote corporate and business partners can also access the system. The overall result: The time-to-market of a new drug is reduced by up to a year. (Each week saved can be translated into the saving of many lives and can also yield up to $1 million profit.) The system also reduces the time it takes to patent a new drug.
An interesting use of this technology is the case of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (isip.com), which developed an extranet-based system similiar to the one described here. The company uses CD-ROMs to submit reports to the FDA and opens its intranet to FDA personnel. This step alone could save 6 to 12 months from the average 15-month review time. Simply by submitting an FDA report electronically, the company can save 1 month of review time. To cut even more time, SmithKline Beecham Corporation is using electronic publishing and hypertext links to enable FDA reviewers to quickly navigate its submissions.
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The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) must be extremely careful in approving new drugs. However, there is public pressure on the FDA to approve new drugs quickly, especially those for cancer and HIV. The problem is that to ensure quality, the FDA requires companies to conduct extensive research and clinical testing. The development programs such research and testing cover 300,000 to 500,000 pages of documentation for each new drug. The subsequent results and analyses are reported on 100,000 to 200,000 additional pages. These pages then are reviewed by the FDA prior to approval of a new drug. Manual processing of this information significantly slows the work of the FDA, so that the total approval process takes 6 to 10 years.
A Software program called Computer-Aided Drug Application Systems (Research Data Corporation, New Jersey) offers a computerized solution. The software uses a computerized solution. The software uses a network-distributed document-processing system that enables the pharmaceutical company to scan all related documents into a database. The documents are indexed, and full-text search and retrieval software is attached to the system. Using keywords, corporate employees can search the database via their company's intranet. The database is also accessible, via the Internet, to FDA employees, who no longer have to spend hours looking for specific piece of data. Information can be processed or printed at the user's desktop computer. Today, the U.S. government is able to offer an electronic submission and online review process for approval of new drugs (fas.gov/cder).
This system not only helps the FDA, but also the companies' researchers who now have every piece of required information at their fingertips. Remote corporate and business partners can also access the system. The overall result: The time-to-market of a new drug is reduced by up to a year. (Each week saved can be translated into the saving of many lives and can also yield up to $1 million profit.) The system also reduces the time it takes to patent a new drug.
An interesting use of this technology is the case of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (isip.com), which developed an extranet-based system similiar to the one described here. The company uses CD-ROMs to submit reports to the FDA and opens its intranet to FDA personnel. This step alone could save 6 to 12 months from the average 15-month review time. Simply by submitting an FDA report electronically, the company can save 1 month of review time. To cut even more time, SmithKline Beecham Corporation is using electronic publishing and hypertext links to enable FDA reviewers to quickly navigate its submissions.
Read More..
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
REAL-WORLD CASE
E-COMMERCE CURES HOSPITAL
Changes in U.S. government regulations and strong competition in the health care industry in the late 1990s and early 2000 caused headaches for many health care institutions. Even Kaiser Permanente, the largest U.S. health maintenance organization (HMO), could not escape the problem, losing $288 million in 1998 alone. Kaiser Permanente serves about 10 million members with 361 hospitals and clinics, 10,000 doctors, and tens of thousands of support employees.
The company realized that the old way of doing business, working with old-fashioned paper records and communicating with telephones, faxes, and letters, would aggravate its financial problems. So in a bold move, Kaiser Permanente decided to move toward EC by investing $2 billion in various Web-based systems. Here are some of the projects that were undertaken :
> An Internet-based communications system was implemented. The system includes customized Web pages for each organization with which Kaiser has a contract. Staff from those organizations can locate particular rates or coverage online, and do not have to call Kaiser's employees for the information.
> Kaiser's portal allows patients to schedule and check their appointments via the Internet and to e-mail routine queries to Kaiser employees.
> Kaiser's corporate intranet allows doctors and other employees to electronically order supplies, equipment, and services.
> The corporate intranet has an application that checks the drugs that a doctor suggests for each patient. The computer suggests cheaper or less dangerous alternatives, and the doctor can then decide if the substitution is acceptable.
> As an HMO, Kaiser has to compete with other HMOs for customers, both organizational (with all their employees) and individuals. The intranet allows for real-time quotes, enabling Kaiser's sales force over 4,000 brokers to provide customers with customized rates within minutes.
> Digital records of patients' test are kept on Kaiser's intranet and can be accessed by authorized personnel in seconds. This means that staff no longer need to repeat 10 to 15 percent of patient tests due to lost or misread paper records.
> An e-procurement system expedites shipments, reduced inventories, and cuts costs.
> All medical record are digitized. A doctor can instantly tap into a patient's records from a keyboard and a flat-panel computer screen attached to the wall. The doctor can also add notes to the electronic file.
Dozen of other EC applications are in the works. All of the EC applications will be part of huge network that will be completed in 2003.
EC implementation has not been easy. The HMO started phasing in EC in the northwestern states in 1999. During the phase-in, some employees resisted, mistakes were made, and vendors had to be managed. But the results are clear. The Internet is the most effective medicine for large health care organizations. In the first 2 years, processing costs in the Internet system were about 60 percent lower than costs in comparable non-Internet systems. Most importantly, the use of EC has also improved the quality of delivery, and that is what really matters.
Read More..
Changes in U.S. government regulations and strong competition in the health care industry in the late 1990s and early 2000 caused headaches for many health care institutions. Even Kaiser Permanente, the largest U.S. health maintenance organization (HMO), could not escape the problem, losing $288 million in 1998 alone. Kaiser Permanente serves about 10 million members with 361 hospitals and clinics, 10,000 doctors, and tens of thousands of support employees.
The company realized that the old way of doing business, working with old-fashioned paper records and communicating with telephones, faxes, and letters, would aggravate its financial problems. So in a bold move, Kaiser Permanente decided to move toward EC by investing $2 billion in various Web-based systems. Here are some of the projects that were undertaken :
> An Internet-based communications system was implemented. The system includes customized Web pages for each organization with which Kaiser has a contract. Staff from those organizations can locate particular rates or coverage online, and do not have to call Kaiser's employees for the information.
> Kaiser's portal allows patients to schedule and check their appointments via the Internet and to e-mail routine queries to Kaiser employees.
> Kaiser's corporate intranet allows doctors and other employees to electronically order supplies, equipment, and services.
> The corporate intranet has an application that checks the drugs that a doctor suggests for each patient. The computer suggests cheaper or less dangerous alternatives, and the doctor can then decide if the substitution is acceptable.
> As an HMO, Kaiser has to compete with other HMOs for customers, both organizational (with all their employees) and individuals. The intranet allows for real-time quotes, enabling Kaiser's sales force over 4,000 brokers to provide customers with customized rates within minutes.
> Digital records of patients' test are kept on Kaiser's intranet and can be accessed by authorized personnel in seconds. This means that staff no longer need to repeat 10 to 15 percent of patient tests due to lost or misread paper records.
> An e-procurement system expedites shipments, reduced inventories, and cuts costs.
> All medical record are digitized. A doctor can instantly tap into a patient's records from a keyboard and a flat-panel computer screen attached to the wall. The doctor can also add notes to the electronic file.
Dozen of other EC applications are in the works. All of the EC applications will be part of huge network that will be completed in 2003.
EC implementation has not been easy. The HMO started phasing in EC in the northwestern states in 1999. During the phase-in, some employees resisted, mistakes were made, and vendors had to be managed. But the results are clear. The Internet is the most effective medicine for large health care organizations. In the first 2 years, processing costs in the Internet system were about 60 percent lower than costs in comparable non-Internet systems. Most importantly, the use of EC has also improved the quality of delivery, and that is what really matters.
Read More..
INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITIES
THE SUCCESS STORY OF CAMPUSFOOD.COM
Campusfood.com’s recipe for success was a simple one: Provide interactive menus to college students, using the power of the Internet to enhance traditional telephone ordering of meals. Launched at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), the company took thousands of orders for local restaurants, bringing pizzas, hoagies, and wings to the Penn community.
Founders Michael Saunders began developing the site in 1997 while he was a junior at Penn. With the help of some classmates, the site was launched in 1998. After graduation, Saunders began building the company’s customer base. This involved registering other universities, attracting students, and generating a list of restaurants from which students could order food for delivery. Currently, some of these activities are outsourced to a marketing firm, enabling the addition of dozens of schools nationwide.<
Financed through private investors, friends, and family members, the site was built on an investment of less than $1 million. (For comparison, another company with services also reaching the college-student market invested $100 million.) Campusfood.com’s revenue is generated through transaction fees; the site takes a 5 percent commission on each order.
When you visit campusfood.com, you can :
Read More..
Campusfood.com’s recipe for success was a simple one: Provide interactive menus to college students, using the power of the Internet to enhance traditional telephone ordering of meals. Launched at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), the company took thousands of orders for local restaurants, bringing pizzas, hoagies, and wings to the Penn community.
Founders Michael Saunders began developing the site in 1997 while he was a junior at Penn. With the help of some classmates, the site was launched in 1998. After graduation, Saunders began building the company’s customer base. This involved registering other universities, attracting students, and generating a list of restaurants from which students could order food for delivery. Currently, some of these activities are outsourced to a marketing firm, enabling the addition of dozens of schools nationwide.<
Financed through private investors, friends, and family members, the site was built on an investment of less than $1 million. (For comparison, another company with services also reaching the college-student market invested $100 million.) Campusfood.com’s revenue is generated through transaction fees; the site takes a 5 percent commission on each order.
When you visit campusfood.com, you can :
- Navigate through a list of local restaurants, their hours of operation, addresses, phone numbers, and other information.
- Browse an interactive menu. The company takes a restaurant’s standard print menu and researches each one in order to convert it to an electronic menu that lists every topping, every special, and every drink offered, along with the latest prices.
- Bypass “busy” telephone signals to place an order online, and in doing so, avoid miscommunications.
- Get access to special foods, promotions, and restaurant giveaways. The company is working to set up meal deals that are available exclusively online for Campusfood.com customers.
- Arrange electronic payment for your order.
Read More..
QANTAS AIRWAYS—A NEW WAY TO COMPETE
THE PROBLEM
In 1999 and 2000, rising fuel costs placed pressure on the airline industry. Increased fuel prices arrived quickly and without warning. For Qantas Airways (qantas.com.au), Australia’s largest airline, the increase in fuel prices was just one of several problems. The airline faced two new domestic competitors, Impulse and Virgin Blue, as well as higher fees at Sydney Airport. In 2001 traffic dwindled, especially after the September 11 disaster. In addition, the airline needed to upgrade its fleet to stay competitive, replacing aging aircraft and purchasing new 500-seat planes. Finally, the Australian economy slowed down in 2000 and 2001, and the Australian dollar was sinking against the U.S. dollar. Can Qantas, the world’s second-oldest airline, survive against such business pressures?
THE SOLUTION
In addition to traditional responses, such as buying fuel contracts for future dates, Qantas took major steps to implement electronic commerce (e-commerce, EC), which involves buying, selling, and exchanging goods, services, information, and payments electronically. Qantas undertook a number of major initiatives :
Joined Airnew Co., a procurement business-to-business (B2B) electronic-marketplace (e-marketplace), that links dozens of major airlines with suppliers of fuel, fuel services, flight maintenance services, catering, and other services and suppliers. The e-marketplace uses electronic catalogs and conducts a variety of auctions. Joined Corprocure.com.au together with 13 other large corporations in Australia to electronically purchase general goods and services, such as office supplies, light bulbs, and maintenance services. Formed a Pan-Pacific electronic marketplace that provides a full spectrum of travel services (airline tickets, hotels, cars, etc.). This e-marketplace provides products and services to business partners, such as travel agencies, who can use the same marketplace to sell directly to individual consumers. This type of transaction is known as a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) transaction. Qantas also implemented the following EC activties :
Sends e-mails to all 2.4 million of its frequent-flyer members, inviting them to book a flight online. As an incentive to book online, customers are rewarded with mileage bonuses and an opportunity to win $10,000 AU. Provides information on arrival and departure times, as well as flight delays, to travelers via mobile phones and other wireless devices. Increases brand visibility by providing online training to travel agents Assists in the training of its 30,000 employees in 32 countries via Qantas College Online. This program is part of Qantas’s business-to-employees (B2E) initiative (qfcollege.edu.au). Operates a credit union with 50,000 members worldwide (another B2E project). Members make over 100,000 transactions a month at qantascu.com.au. Services are comparable with those of commercial online banks.
THE RESULTS
Leading an old-economy company into e-commerce is not easy. It requires changing existing organization structures and processes and fitting new-economy strategies with old-economy ways of thinking. Qantas knows that this is the path it must take. Results are not expected overnight. It will take years and hundreds of millions of dollars to implement these and dozens more EC initiatives. Yet, Qantas expects to see an estimated $85 million AU in cost reductions per year by 2003. It also expects to increase annual revenues by $700 million from nontravel sales. One piece of bright news for Qantas is that it has successfully outlasted competitor Impulse, which went out of business in 2001.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN…
As the story about Qantas demonstrates, traditional brick-and-mortar companies are facing increasing competitive and other environmental pressures. A possible response to these pressures is to introduce a variety of e-commerce initiatives that can reduce costs, increase customer service, and open markets to more customers.
Read More..
In 1999 and 2000, rising fuel costs placed pressure on the airline industry. Increased fuel prices arrived quickly and without warning. For Qantas Airways (qantas.com.au), Australia’s largest airline, the increase in fuel prices was just one of several problems. The airline faced two new domestic competitors, Impulse and Virgin Blue, as well as higher fees at Sydney Airport. In 2001 traffic dwindled, especially after the September 11 disaster. In addition, the airline needed to upgrade its fleet to stay competitive, replacing aging aircraft and purchasing new 500-seat planes. Finally, the Australian economy slowed down in 2000 and 2001, and the Australian dollar was sinking against the U.S. dollar. Can Qantas, the world’s second-oldest airline, survive against such business pressures?
THE SOLUTION
In addition to traditional responses, such as buying fuel contracts for future dates, Qantas took major steps to implement electronic commerce (e-commerce, EC), which involves buying, selling, and exchanging goods, services, information, and payments electronically. Qantas undertook a number of major initiatives :
THE RESULTS
Leading an old-economy company into e-commerce is not easy. It requires changing existing organization structures and processes and fitting new-economy strategies with old-economy ways of thinking. Qantas knows that this is the path it must take. Results are not expected overnight. It will take years and hundreds of millions of dollars to implement these and dozens more EC initiatives. Yet, Qantas expects to see an estimated $85 million AU in cost reductions per year by 2003. It also expects to increase annual revenues by $700 million from nontravel sales. One piece of bright news for Qantas is that it has successfully outlasted competitor Impulse, which went out of business in 2001.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN…
As the story about Qantas demonstrates, traditional brick-and-mortar companies are facing increasing competitive and other environmental pressures. A possible response to these pressures is to introduce a variety of e-commerce initiatives that can reduce costs, increase customer service, and open markets to more customers.
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