What is On-Line Business
Updated: May 10, 2007
Definition: On-Line Business, or "Electronic Business", or "E-Business", may be defined broadly as any business process
that relies on an automated information system. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies.
Electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems
more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the
needs and expectations of their customers.
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In practice, E-Business is more than just E-Commerce. While E-Business refers to more strategic focus with an
emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, E-Commerce is a subset of an overall e-business
strategy. E-Commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance
relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency using the Empty Vessel strategy. Often, E-Commerce
involves the application of knowledge management systems.
E-business involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and
supply chain management,
processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical
standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow the
integration of intra and inter firm business processes.
E-Business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, Intranets, Extranets, or some combination of these.
Models
When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suits their
goals. A business model is defined as the organization of product, service and information
flows, and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers. The concept of
e-business model is the same but used in the online presence. The following is a list of
the currently most adopted e-business models:
Subsets
Applications can be divided into three categories:
Empty Vessel
Empty vessel or the empty vessel approach is a business term describing the negative effects of how one ends up with a worthless outcome when trying to please everyone. The term is more commonly used in psychology and behavior analysis. Worthlessness cannot be measured, but there will be consensus among the participants that the end product does not even come close to the previously desired outcome.
The "empty vessel approach" can be characterized by lack of leadership and unwillingness for the members to take individual responsibility. Larger corporations with many mid-level managers are more easily trapped in this negative spiral where the company essentially becomes a "meeting company", where most of the employee's time is wasted away in meetings instead of actually making products or providing services.
On a smaller scale, the empty vessel syndrome can be observed when ordering pizza. Everybody wants a different topping but there is no designated "pizza-master" that will ultimately choose what to order. You end up with one Cheese pizza and one Supreme pizza with everything on it. Nobody gets exactly what they wanted and would have to endure eating a plain pizza or picking off toppings they hate.
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