Intro' To Internet Business Systems

1
E-BUSINESS COMMUNITIES HOW THEY WORK AND WHY
THEY ARE NECCESSARY

• INBS 510
• Presentation 1
• E-Community driving E-Business
• The Necessary Strategy
• -Presenter- Clifton Morris

2
E-Business Communities as the Next Frontier for
Business Advancement

• E-Business is Constantly evolving
• E-Communities provide new avenues to new
  customers and profit
• Internet itself is a host of millions of
  Communities
• Virtual Communities and E-Business Communities
  can solve many of the obstacles to doing business
  on the net
• While extremely necessary and useful, they are
  not a panacea3. There needs to be a balance
  between online and off line communities for the
  power of E-Business Communities to work

3
E-Business Communities very good for business,
few successes?

• Growing trend in E-Business
• Great potential for Businesses
• Few success stories
• High startup costs
• Difficult to manage
• Must balance Online and Off-line relationships

4
E-Business Communities Defined
CM

• Virtual Communities
• Defined as a group of people who interact with
  one another by using the internet
• E-Business Communities (EBCs)
• Defined as network of suppliers, distributors,
  commerce providers and customers that execute
  large amounts of business communications via the
  Internet and other Electronic media.4

5
There are four general types of Online Communities

• Communities of Transactions
• Facilitate buying and selling
• Communities of Interest or Purpose
• People interact with each other on a specific
  topic
• Communities of Relations or Practice
• Organized around certain life experiences,
  situations or vocations
• Communities of Fantasy
• Participants create and/or interact in imaginary
  environments

6
Value Creation in Virtual Communities

• Virtual communities provide value to businesses
  in the following ways
• Member input useful information ( preferences,
  desires, interests) in the form of comment and
  feedback fields.
• Bring together consumers of specific demographics
  and interests

7
Tools for Building and Maintaining E-Business
Communities

• 8 Commonly used tools for creating Online
  communities
• Bulletin Board/Forum
• Chat
• Newsletters
• Home Pages
• Email
• Polls
• Quizzes
• Greeting Cards

8
Seven Principles to head off the obstacles to
successful e-business communities

• 7 Principals for Success5
• Invest in the means, not the ends
• Focus relentlessly on the needs of the members
• Resist the temptation to control
• Dont assume the community will become
  self-sustaining

9
Seven Principles continued..

• Consider environmental factors
• Extend community-building beyond the discussion
  space
• Seek out and support members who take on informal
  roles

10
Why Businesses are turning to E-Communities

• There are four forces behind the digital
  revolutions drive to e-business communities
• The redefinition of Value
• Digital Knowledge economics

11
Why Businesses are turning to E-Communities
..continued

• Accelerating, Technology-driven pace of growth
  and change
• Friction-free electronic business economics

12
Trends Effecting E-Business Community Development

• There is a growing trend for the need to have
  flexible business systems

13
Connecting to both online and offline Community

• Best EBCs establish both offline and online
  relationships
• Know what their core members want and meet those
  needs
• Cooperation with a broad spectrum of Businesses
  and Customers

14
Are you in or are you out?

• Now is the time to establish e-business
  communities
• NOW provides the leverage against competitors
• NOW - Secure the loyalty of your members before
  they find it elsewhere
• NOW You cant afford to miss out on the
  knowledge resources available to you

15
References

• 1 Blodgett, Mindy (10/02/2002). Cultural
  Happenings. Retrieved on 10/02/2002 from
  http//www2.cio.com/books/book.cfm?ID201
• 2 Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J., Warkentin, M.,
  Chung, H.M. (2002). E-Commuinites, Global EC,
  and Other Issues. In R. Horan D. Alexander
  (Eds.), Electronic Commerce A Managerial
  Perspective (pp. 786-794). Upper Saddle River,
  NJ Prentice Hall.
• 3 Alliance For Converging Technologies (01/1998).
  E-business communities the new strategy agenda.
  Retrieved October 10, 2002 from
  http//www2.actnet.com/pdf/new_strategy.pdf
• 4 About.com (01/16/2000). Community Tools.
  Retrieved October 2, 2002 from
  http//ecommerce.about.com/library/weekly/aa011600
  a.htm
• 5 Duffy, Daintry. (10//15/1999). The Seven
  Principles of Community Success. Retrieved
  October 2, 2002 from http//www.cio.com/archive/e
  nterprise/101599_virtent_content.html
• 6 Duffy, Daintry. (10//15/1999). It Takes An
  E-Village. Retrieved October 2, 2002 from
  http//www.cio.com/archive/enterprise/101599_virte
  nt_content.html
• 7 Hof, Robert D. (05/05/1997). Internet
  Communities. Retrieved October 2, 2002 from
  http//www.businessweek.com/1997/18/b35251.htm
• 8 Geoffrion, Arthur M. (09/1998). A Mini-Review
  of NET GAIN. Retrieved October 2, 2002 from
  http//www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/art.geoffrion
  /home/docs/VC_Review.html