Chapter 1
Problems and Background of the Study
With the advent of information technology, specifically the internet, e-businesses have emerged leaving behind non e–business companies. Accordingly, business model is an integrated and coordinated set of commitments and actions the firm uses to gain a competitive advantage by exploiting core competencies in specific product markets (Rindova & Fombrun, 1999). Only firms that continuously upgrade their competitive advantages over time are able to achieve long-term success with their strategy and implementation.
Choosing the appropriate business model is intended to create differences between the industry’s positions relative to those of its rivals (Porter, 1980). To position itself a firm must decide to whether it intends to perform activities differently or to perform the different activities as compared to its rivals. Thus, the firm’s business model is a deliberate choice about how it will perform the value chain’s primary and support activities in ways to create unique value. Over the years, different companies and organization are trying to utilize the business model in which they think should bring success to the over-all performance of a business. In addition, business model is also referred as the mechanism or system by which any firm or business aims to produce profit or revenue. It is the totality of how the industry intends to serve its target market. It involves both the marketing strategy and its strategic implementation. Throughout the years, the uses of business model are regarded as complicated and sophisticated. Business models have different kinds.
Prior to the use of Internet, business industries competition depend largely on how they locked their consumers. This means that the business industries are in control of their consumers by means of the kind of products or services that the business industries will offer. The relationship between the organization and the consumers are being embedded to consumer as a buyer and the organization as the producer. In this manner, the consumer would tend to buy the products from the store just to avail what they want. However, because of the globalization and information technology, different models of business have emerged. Primarily, the main goal of this dissertation is to analyse the difference between e-business and non e–business companies. The differentiation will be done on the strategies used by these two business models.
Background and overview
Virtually, globalization affects all industries and sectors in the world especially since economists believe that global integrationism is now possible, making possible the transfer of information via technology from geographically dispersed locations. Technology had played a pivotal role in the growth of business and their competitive edge. As commerce and trade became more complex and convoluted, the marketplace necessitates the implementation of strategies to make the trading process more effective and efficient. Industrial age was perceived to be the most innovative era of the entire business history as it open for a more technical and less manual systems that are used in overall manufacturing of an industry (Duray and Vering 2001). Today, the majority of the manufacturing and production process of the company was made more convenient by machines.
The application of information technology (IT) and other new e-business solutions helped transformed the operation of supply chain from production to customization. Innovation and such implementations assisted in improving productivity that helped to generate strong growth of many economies and helped to create much higher standards of living (Basu and Siems 2004). Although most of the businesses are focusing on their technological advancement for them to improve their processes of design and manufacturing, the focus now is on the needs of many organizations and businesses in improving the process of transferring raw materials, machinery and the finished product throughout the entire supply chain of a firm. Further, the application of new technologies with their transportation, telecommunications, as well as applications of computerized systems and the Internet had helped several companies to improve the ability of their organization to plan, organize, supervise and assess their overall processes.
As such, the use of IT and other computerized system, continuous innovations and the use of the Internet are considered as the most valuable and useful tool or weapon that can be used in order to maintain their competitive advantage as well as to absorb and adapt to the continuous growing market. Electronic business, or e-business as Lou Gerstner (former CEO of IBM) puts it, refers to the application of IT and other automated system in different aspects of the overall business processes of an organization. The key advantage of e-business is the enablement for various organizations to obtain competitive advantage by serving the customers any time and any place that they want, whether in a store, over the phone, online and even offline.
There are two common types of e-business model: business-to-business (B2B) and the business-to-consumer (B2C). The former focuses on the relationships, connections, and links of one company or organization to another. B2B is the application and implementation of different information system that links, connects, and relate to or more trading partners in order for them to exchange information, products and services as well as payments with the use of the computer and network technology. B2B is considered to be more popular than B2C because it focuses on targeting a larger market than focusing on individual customers. B2C, on the other hand, deals with the transactions between the business and their customers whereby all of their products or services will be delivered and served directly to their customers.
The advent of e-business models has paved the way for different arguments and questions with regards to the non e–business models approach. Accordingly, even if internet is existing there are still companies which are not in favour of the use of internet and still use traditional business approach. Hence, the goal of this dissertation is to know how non e–business industries gain competitive advantage in this information technology generation.
Competitive advantage refers to the position that a company occupies against its competitors. Competitive advantage is delivered by core competencies that provides benefits to the consumers, are not easy to imitate and can be leveraged widely across products and markets. Non e–business implementers are equally particular with their value chain as e-business implementers. Value chains are activities that an organization undertakes in order to add value to the product or services. However, unlike e-business, knowledge on gaining competitive advantage for non e–business companies is very limited.
The rationale behind this research is that non e–business companies have different demands from business models to value-adding activities from the point of origin to point of distribution or consumption. There is the necessity to understand what occurs within the domain of e-business and non e–business which impacts competitive advantage and what happens within the schema of competitive advantage that influence the conduct of e-business and non e–business. As such, the completion of this dissertation will provide understanding of the concepts presented so as to generate data and information that every organization could use in order to come up with plans and designs that will strategically position them in the highly competitive, diverse, and complex business environment that is experienced at present.
Research Objectives
In addressing the research questions, the researcher will be guide by the general aim to conduct a comprehensive analysis of e-business competitive advantage in comparison with non e–business competitive advantage. The following specific objectives will be accomplished.
- To evaluate the similarities and differences in terms of strategic planning and transforming strategies into action
- To analyze the manner of providing value to the products and services for end-consumption especially in aspects of customization, convenience, price reduction, efficiency and giving more control to the consumers
- To assess the similarities and differences in acquiring cost and differentiation advantages
- To investigate various strategies adapted and implemented towards achieving sustainable competitive advantage
Research Questions
The key question that this thesis will seek to address is: How e-business differs with non e–business in aspect of competitive advantage? In lieu with this, the following research questions will be given answer to:
1) How e-business and non e–business differs in adapting and implementing strategic plans?
2) How e-business and non e–business provides value to the consumers?
3) What are the factors that affect the competitive edge and position of e-business and non e- business companies?
4) How e-business and non e–business implementers strategize for sustainable competitive advantage?
Significance of the Study
The results and findings accumulated by this study proved to be beneficial to all e-business and non e–business industries in the global market. These industries benefit in general with the data and information that this research project presents in terms of being informed of the role the most appropriate business strategy to gain competitive advantage by enumerating the differences with the strategies used by each business models.
Considering the increasing competitiveness in the business sector, organizations are in need of maximizing its resources in order to operate successfully. By means of determining the role and significance of the business approach used by e-business and non e–business companies, business issues encountered by other companies may be resolved, specifically in terms of sustaining competitive advantage. In addition, companies intending to operate of expand on the global level may achieve this goal by assessing and improving their business strategies. In particular, this could also help non e–business models to know how internet and information technology can help them in sustaining competitive advantage and on one hand; this could also help e-business industries to know the advantages of not using the internet.
This research may also be of value to the management of the company as this could encourage business companies in general to give due value to their business approaches so as to achieve better business outcomes. This investigative study could also contribute to the management of the company particularly by increasing awareness on the business strategies and the new approaches other companies could apply. Clients or consumers may also benefit from this study as the increased awareness on the internet and information technology approaches can likely enhance both production and service provision of other companies.
Scope and limitation of the Study
This research endeavour focused primarily in the investigation of the differences between the strategy of e-business and non e–business industries. The study examined the how both organization or business models gain competitive advantage in providing its customers with products and services.
This study will be conducted in the attempt to investigate compare different strategies of e-business industries and non e–business industries. This research will cover the topics on the intensive differences among the business strategies or approach of these kinds of industries. The discussion of this study will mainly focus on the analysis of the strategy used by e-business company’s non e–business companies. The information that will be gathered for this study will be derived from primary and secondary resources. The primary source of data will come from a self-administered survey questionnaires prepared by the researcher, which will be distributed to the participants of the study. The respondents of this study will be selected from e-business company’s non e–business companies. . The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from social science journals, theses, and related studies on quality strategies and customer service.
Time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which may hinder long-term outcome objectives. Environmental factors, such as socioeconomic factors, are beyond the control of the researcher and can create many variables within the research. As this study will be utilizing a small sample of participants, the results may not effectively represent the general population.
Research Outline
The dissertation shall be divided into five chapters in order to provide clarity and coherence on the discussion of the comparisons of acquiring competitive advantage through e-business and non e-business. The first part of the dissertation will be discussing the problem uncovered by the researcher and provide ample background of the topic. The chapter shall constitute an introduction to the whole dissertation, and the statement of the problem in order to present the basis of the study. Moreover, the chapter shall also have a discussion on the scope of its study as well as the significance of the study to society in general.
The second chapter shall be discussing the relevance of the study in the existing literature. It shall provide studies on investing in new technologies such as B2B and B2C, customer value and e-marketplaces. After the presentation of the existing related literature, the researcher shall provide a synthesis of the whole chapter in relation to the study.
The third part of the study shall be discussing the methods and procedures used in the study. The chapter shall comprise of the presentation of the utilized techniques for data collection and research methodology. Similarly, it shall also contain a discussion on the used techniques in data analysis as well as the tools used to acquire the said data.
The fourth chapter shall be an analysis on the tabulated data. After the said tabulation, the data are statistically treated in order to uncover the relationship of the variable involved in the study. With the said data, the chapter seeks to address the statement of the problem noted in the first chapter.
The last chapter shall comprise of three sections, the summary of the findings, the conclusions of the study, and the recommendations. With the three portions, the chapter shall be able to address the problem stated in the initial chapters of the study.
Chapter 2
Review of Relevant Literature
Globalization, economic transition and the emergence of information technology have change how business is done. This part of the paper will discuss the context of e-business, e-commerce, non e-business, generic strategies and competitive advantage. This part will review relevant literatures to achieve the objective of this dissertation.
The Concept of E-Business
Internet usage is as diverse as the medium itself. Most people use it for visiting amusement websites featuring music, film, and television. Other people use it for eroticism or pornography website while others use it for online shopping. Online shopping is the fastest growing Internet use today. GVU (1998) reports that there are 40% of total users who have been using the Internet for shopping and that number of online shoppers has reached 20 million which is still expected to increase.
This widespread use of the Internet is supported by the results of NUA Online Surveys (2002) which reported that as of September 2002, there are 605.60 million online. It showed that the European region has the most number of users with 190.91 million online while the Middle East has the least number of people online with just 5.21 million users. The other results are as follows: coming in as second is the Asia/Pacific region with 187.24 million users; Canada and United States of America running third with 182.67 people online; Latin America with 33.35 million users and Africa with 6.31 million.
Electronic business (e- business) is any process that a business organization conducts over a computer-mediated network. It includes buying and selling, as well as a wide range of customer-, production-, and management-focused processes carried out by for-profit, government, or non-profit entities (Hecker, 2001). E-Business is based upon the processing and transmission of digitized information, including text, sound, and visual images, from one computer or some other electronic device to another. Most e- business processes are self-service, and some are or may soon become fully automated. Electronic business systems have many forms depending on the need of the industries that utilizes it. These may include consumers selling directly to other consumers which are more commonly known as consumer to consumer e-business or C2C. Electronic business system may also be in the form of including businesses that provide information and products to its target market. This is known as the business to consumer, and is often called as e-tailers. All sizes of industries have equal chances of utilizing that business to consumer e-business such as small and medium sized of enterprises and to the largest industry that operates locally or globally (Earl, 2000).
At its most basic level, e-business means building the links between companies and their customers and suppliers. It has changed how companies operate today, like buying and selling over the internet or e-commerce. It has also changed the way of how companies relate to the whole chain of enterprise from raw materials to satisfied customers. It is also about connecting departments, customers and locations. It involves taking processes currently functioning within a business and moving them to networks and shared applications. But taken further, e-business is a holistic, integrated, strategy-driven undertaking. It demands that enterprises examine, and probably change the way they perform basic business functions: sales, marketing, customer service, purchasing, operations, overseas initiatives, human resources, finance, and, of course, IT. Simply, it is the move to setting up your own company website.
When global e-business is embraced as a fundamental corporate philosophy it can serve as the mechanism for economic transformation – redefining business models, changing corporate cultures, injecting intimacy into relationships with customers and suppliers, and, ultimately, altering the competitive dynamics of entire industries and the companies that lie within.
Internet-based B2B e-commerce promises a new era of Low-entry cost, Larger and more inclusive trading communities, increased functionality and more comprehensive automation of the business cycle This shift in mind-share away from EDI and towards Internet-based B2B e-commerce has been sparked by the successful market entry of a number of application developers and Larger IT solutions and services companies who wish to embrace the ‘e-commerce’ ethos with their own brands.
Right now most companies use the Internet as a way to introduce their services to customers – a glorified and expensive business card. Others have web sites with catalogues or on-line stores where customers can look over their wares and fill up a shopping cart and pay by credit card. More than 90% of the world’s largest 500 companies believe the Internet will transform the global market place by 2001.
The Internet’s and e-business key role is allowing company networks to form a customized response to current demand. This is called “dynamic trade” and expands the customary buying and selling of goods into the realm of customer services. For example; web sites help customers decide what they want to buy, giving them full information about different choices; business partners obtain information that helps them manage stocks, expansion and finances; one-stop shopping can integrate a whole business ecosystem; demand drives production; prices can vary to meet market conditions and individual customers.
Critical Review
Accordingly, traditional business is consist warehousing and a pile of overheads employees, expenses for racking, crippling rules about occupational health and safety and other significant matters to be considers. However, with the advent of internet, these traditional business models have been changed.
The articles chosen in this study have tackled different contexts on how information system has been used in specific business sectors. One of the most important aspects to be considered in doing research is the instrument or data collection tools. For these articles, it can be said that the authors of each, has been able to describe the instruments used to collect the data. Accordingly, this research has used different approaches from secondary method, literature review and in-depth case study analysis. One of the advantage of this method is it enables the researcher to gather specific data coming from a group of individuals who have knowledge in the subject of the research. Herein, the chosen respondents are encouraged to express their ideas on each topic, and react to others’ views. Its advantages can be also seen as the ability to stimulate new ideas from other respondents in the same group which creates challenges and the ability to get a large amount of information within a short time. The researchers of these studies also avoided too many theoretical concepts or jargons, as the researcher’s understanding of such terms may vary from that of the interviewees. In addition, each of the researchers was determined to establish trust by not being too assertive and by being attentive to the interviewees’ responses. Based on the analysis, it can be said that the research tools has been widely used in the study and that these tools are appropriate to achieve the objective of the study.
The first article entitled “Information systems in supply chain integration and management” aims on identifying how information system influences the supply chain management approach of different companies. This paper has been able to provide information about supply chain management which is considered by the authors as the global operations of the 21st centuries. Supply chain management is basically an attempt to manage every process needed to make available to the customer value in a horizontal and integrated way. This statement is supported by many other researchers, who look at supply chain as a set of integrated processes where distributors, retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers work together in order to obtain raw materials and supply and transform the raw materials. Furthermore, they work together to convert parts into final products and lastly to deliver the final products to retailers. In order to achieve the objective of this report, the authors have used literature survey as a method for research. In this regard, this paper has collated literature from different journals which are in the concepts of operations management, supply chain management, information system and technology and operations research (Gunasekaran & Ngai, 2004). The authors of this research have excluded unpublished working papers, and conferences proceeding papers, textbooks and dissertation. Furthermore, this paper has been able to use models of information system and supply chain management and analyzed IT enabled supply chain management environments (Gavirneni, 2002).
According to this research study, the supply chain is composed of a system of facilities connected by material flow from suppliers to the production through end consumers and an information flow all the way through the network. In addition, this study recognizes three sub-systems within a supply chain, namely: production, distribution, and procurement subsystems. The researchers explained that these three subsystems are interrelated; decisions made at one of the subsystems have an effect to the performance of supply chain in general. In this study, the authors have been able to provide how information system enables supply chain management system becomes more effective. As noted in this article, the assurance of successful integration of e-commerce lies on the management (Adam et at, 1999). Herein, senior managers must decide how to organize, finance, manage, and provide IT solutions as part of the supply chain management system (Barua et al, 2001; Eckersley, Harris & Jackson, 2003). Furthermore, the research encourages a perspective that looks at the various alternatives and generally proposes a structure that leads to full integration of information system throughout the fabric of the organization’s supply chain management (Cross, 2000). The company should avoid the temptation of small benefits in one company segment in favour of the larger benefits of total or near-total integration. Moreover, proper systems also need to be carried out to make sure that e-commerce is successfully integrated. Corporate culture, performance and operational measures, and compensation systems must all be considered unique challenges. Customer data management and demand and supply chain management are vital to maximizing the value of information system (Johnston & Mark, 2000; Martin & Hafer, 2002). The introduction of changes to these systems may not have any deleterious effect on traditional commerce, but systems designed for traditional commerce may fail to provide proper management control for e-business. In designing an e-commerce or information system strategy, it is critical to recognize what the Internet changes. Not every value proposition in traditional commerce can attract customers in e-commerce, and not every traditional strategy is a viable source of increased profitability. Information system and Supply Chain allows online customers to pick up and return orders to physical stores provides customers with choices and convenience, bringing more traffic to the physical stores. Initially many traditional companies did not allow online customers to return purchased products to their stores. Today, virtually everyone allows customers to return undesired items to physical store locations. Numerous studies have shown the propensity of customers to make additional purchases when drawn to the store by online-generated functions. Because of this, many websites include an easily accessible store locator function that includes a map to the location, a phone number, and store hours. The physical store and online operations can each be used to stimulate sales in the other channel. It can be said that the first article has been able to show the role played by information system with the supply chain management of retail industry and manufacturing industry (Kulp, Lee & Ofek, 2004).
The second article to be given attention in this report is the article entitled “Perceived versus realized benefits in e-commerce adoption”. The aim of this report is to analyse the perceived and realized benefits of e-commerce adoption in business industries. In this study, the findings have revealed that the type and focus of perceived versus realized benefits is distinctive from different organisation. In addition, this paper also discusses the implications of this research to theoretical contexts and practice which include the lessons learned by these organisations. If in the first article, the authors have used literature survey or secondary data, the researchers in this second article has used in-depth case study analysis to investigate perceived versus realized benefits in the adoption of e-commerce (Reynolds, 2004). Herein, the research question investigated in this article was why and how do perceived benefits lead to realized benefits in companies which have adopted the applications of e-commerce. In this study, the information collated was analysed through the pattern matching and also used cross-case analysis which enables the researchers to determine similarities as well as differences in the findings of three companies. The organisations included in this report has been chose specifically on their eagerness to be a part of this report as they are currently applying e-commerce approach which includes both the business to business and business to consumer e-commerce (Emiliani, 2000). The researcher used semi-structured questionnaire was used for this study.
The research has noted that with the development of e-commerce, Internet has become a well-accepted ground to purchase any kinds of products and services. The Internet reaches millions and millions consumers worldwide (Carlton, 2001; Pastore, 2001). This encouraging figure has resulted to the rapid increase in the number of firms that have integrated e-commerce philosophies into their systems. Accordingly, the use of Internet at all levels is maintaining its growth; with purchases over the Internet by both consumers and businesses are booming (Dutta & Biren, 2001; Fitzgerald, 2000).
This article investigate the perceived versus realized benefits in e-commerce adoption utilising three in-depth case approaches. The previous studies in e-commerce adoption mostly concentrate on the competitive advantages (Pitturo, 19999: Domke-Damonte & Levsen, 2002). This research aims on showing the distinction between the perceived and realized benefits in three aspects such as the use of technology, business operations and relationship with their business partners. The result of the study shows the importance of the commitment of the top management. In addition, this study also contributed to the theory giving a scale of measurement for both perceived and realized benefits that other researchers can apply. In addition, the study also contributes to practice by increasing the awareness of the contexts of e-commerce practitioners on the essence of top management commitment as well as maintaining relationships with their clients and business partners (Moxon & De La Torre, 2001). In addition, the organisations that used e-commerce noted that they used different e-commerce approach that other companies cannot follow.
The third article in this study is entitled “Operational Factors that Influence the Successful Adoption of Internet Technology in Manufacturing.” In this article, the goal of the authors is to determine the reasons why some industries fail on adopting e-commerce or internet as part of their business operations (Ramsdell, 2000; Kulp, Lee & Ofek, 2004). In addition, this paper also investigates business to business and business to costumer experiences from various sectors (O’Connell, 2000; Schneider, 2002). According to this study, internet technology is considered as inexpensive which is based on open standards and internet is supported by various applications, which can be configured to effectively (Martin & Hafer, 2002; Segal, 2000). This report uses secondary documents and concluded that e-commerce application and internet technology can be affected by motivational factors (Beach, 2002). Herein, they concluded that the management should be able to strategically plan their implementation of e-commerce and the management must see to it that they recognise internet technology as tactical rather than strategic (Ratnasingam, 2002).
This research has emphasized the challenges, the role and the importance of e-businesses and e-commerce in different company’s different industries in terms of the technological development that they are facing to ensure that they only use effective and efficient information system approach. It can be concluded that the internet and information and computer technology has been able to provide opportunities for businesses in different industries to improve their relationships with their customers and their suppliers. It can be said that global businesses especially those in industries are specifically fragile to the revolution of the e-businesses.
In addition, each of the research are able to see how e-commerce make businesses become In the study it can be said that some industries have in-depth approach and reacted slowly as other companies succeeded at using the Internet.
To be able to have a successful integration of e-business, the management of the industry and the government must decide how to organize, manage, finance, and provide information technology solutions for e-business. These papers have been able to provide different e-commerce or information system approaches that companies in the different industries can use as an alternative to have a better e-commerce or information system operations in the internet world. Furthermore, business in industries also suggested determining the proper systems to make sure that e-commerce or information systems successfully integrated with their business strategies and approaches. It can be noted that the management of the e-businesses in the industries must consider customer data management and demand and supply chain management as key factors for maximizing the value of e-business. The introduction of changes and transformation with this e-commerce or information system may not have any deleterious effect on conventional commerce and business transaction, but systems designed for conventional commerce may fail to provide proper management control for e-business.
The management of the e-businesses in industries should remember that not every value proposition in conventional business transactions can attract customers in e-business, and not every traditional business strategy is a viable source of increased profitability. It can be said that the best strategies do not ignore the Internet’s fundamental properties and the behaviour of its clients and costumers. In this regard, the e-businesses in industries must develop e-commerce or information system strategies for operations consistent with the corporate strategy on the whole. Their goals should include an increase approach in terms of enhanced channel optimization, customer acquisition, customer retention, improved customer loyalty, and capturing value for the organization. The simplest manner for companies to commence e-commerce or information system procedures especially those in the industries is to transfer their brand name to the Internet technology or the World Wide Web by having a domain name bearing the name of the industry so that existing clients and prospective new clients can easily find the company’s Web site. E-businesses in industries must also decide what products and services to be provided on the Web site. Many industries have found that they are able to give more total products to internet users through Web sites. It can be said that physical store space restricts the number of inventory items available in stores, while the Web enables the business to provide a larger product offering. The ability to offer a large quantity of products, especially in retail industries, is a major inducement to acquiring an online channel.
Another strategy that e-businesses in industries can use is to build trust in the online market. However, this requires more than a strong brand name for the e-businesses; it also needs strong customer service and inventory management, highlighting the convenience and the comfort given by the online channel. In this regard, the e-businesses in industries must be able to gain consumer’s trust. Accordingly, consumer trust can be established through assurances of privacy and transaction security by internet uses and by giving accurate information. Trust in the e-commerce or information system transaction’s completion is also established through prompt and accurate fulfillment of online inquiries and orders. Finally, physical stores and websites of the e-businesses in industries should not be seen as two disconnected entities which share a brand name. The management should be able to find ways on how to market the physical stores in the internet.
Differences of E-Business and Non E-Business
Accordingly, there are two types of businesses that exist in the market environment today and this includes the e-business industries and the non e-business which are also known as the brick and mortar companies. Oftentimes, the differences between these two types of model are being overlooked. Consequently, e-business is different from non e-business in various ways and these differences can show the benefits of e-business than non e-business. The obvious difference of these two includes the display of products, expenses location, communication approach, and technology. In terms of display, the non e-business companies used strategy to attract their customers by providing convenient store and attractive displays. By shopping in non e-business industries or by availing their services, the customers are able to personally and physically touch the products and other items, or they can easily see the service displayed by the company. On one hand, e-business products and services are available and accessible at their websites but they only used graphics, pictures and text and provide the description of such products or services for the customers to know.
In terms of expenses, there are three major differences in the amount of budgets or start-up capital to be able to establish a company. For non e-business companies, it usually needs bigger capital since the owner needs to rent property, lease business space and pay for other location costs while e-business companies do not usually worry on the lease and rents.
E-business companies are not bounded with one location and they also have no geographical limitations unlike the non e-business companies which are bounded with the location of the company since they can only reach customers near the company location. Non E-business has also limitations in terms of customer traffic while e-business have the ability to provide services to local, national, and international target audiences. In line with communication, the strategies of e-business are considered to be more complicated in terms of promoting than the non e-business models. It can be said that the major differences of the strategies of these two types of business models is technology. Most of the e-business companies are using high and advance technologies, specifically to manage their company well while those non E-Business company, they are rarely changing their technological facilities.
2.4 Generic Strategies to achieve competitive advantage
These generic strategies are used by different organisation because of the potentialities that the management have seen with these strategy and the benefits it may provide. However, if the company should not strongly commit themselves with these strategies, then, instead of achieving competitive advantage within the marketplace, the industry might be at risk of falling.
These generic strategies are guiding an organisation relative to challenges and opportunities appearing in the contingent environment. This environment is composed of those external elements that most directly affect organisational goal achievement and new goal development. Thus, organisation system design and management should complement strategic actions taken for productive subsystems, as well as those providing output delivery and other support functions for the organisation. To the extent possible, the organisation bases its actions on strategic planning that, rather than a one-time effort, is an ongoing process of adaptation of original conceptions of mission, goals, structure, roles, and so forth relative to environmental dynamics. There are five different generic strategies that a business can choose.
These include cost leadership; differentiation, focused cost leadership, and integrated cost leadership/differentiation. Each generic strategy helps the company to establish and exploit a competitive advantage within a particular competitive scope (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson 2003). By applying these strengths, three generic strategies are resulted: cost leadership, differentiation and focus (Johnson & Scholes 1997). The strategies used by the company include cost leadership, differentiation strategy and focused differentiation.
Cost leadership strategy is based upon a business organising and managing its value-adding activities so as to be the lowest cost producer of a product within an industry (Campbell, 2002). Cost advantage may achieve in terms of how product or services is designed or in terms of its quality. Differentiation strategy is based upon persuading customers that a product is superior to that offered by competitors (Campbell, 2002). The value added by the uniqueness of the product or services may allow the company to charge a premium price for it. However, the danger associated with differentiation may include imitation by competitors and changes in customer tastes.
Focus-differentiation strategy is aimed at a segment of the market fro a product rather than at the whole market or many markets (Campbell, 2002). The successful way using focus strategy is to tailor a broad of product or service development strengths to a relatively narrow market segment that they know very well. The risk may include imitation and changes in the target segments.
Accordingly, a firm that pursues a lower cost competitive advantage strives to improve its profitability by having lower costs, relative to its industry. Herein, when product value is at or near the competitors’, lower cost alters into superior returns. Hence, lower cost products and services derive their advantage from the fact that the clients’ purchase the products offered they get a comparably valued product for less cost (Galbraith & Schendel, 1983). On the other hand, if the company would be able to choose differentiation strategy, the firm has all the right to product goods and services at acceptable costs that clients perceive as being different in manners which are essential to them (Porter 1980; Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson 2003). Hence, by choosing differentiation approach, the company may have competitive edge than their rivals. The evaluation of this is that, if the company would not choose between these two strategies, they will not be able to know whether their customers would avail their products because of the costs or because of their innovativeness and differentiation approach. Such may generate conflict among the management on whether to produce products with lower costs or with acceptable costs.
In addition, being stuck in the middle can produce major conflict in terms of the performance of an industry. For instance, in the case of the General Motors, the company has been stuck in the middle for using both differentiation strategy and cost leadership, with this, GM is now facing issues with regards their organisational performance and profit. With this, General Motors’ competitive advantage is being affected due to poor financial performance. There are studies which have supported the idea of Porter. According to the study of Dess and Davis (1984), firms in the paint industry may likely to have higher performance if they choose one of the three generic strategies than those which are stuck in the middle. Accordingly, firms which are using inconsistent strategies were left behind by other industries that choose one generic strategy. In a study conducted by Hooley, Lynch & Jobber, 1992) that considers single business companies, have found that business which are stuck in the middle were mediocre performance.
In this regard, it is important that the firm must make essential tradeoffs. The company must choose between investing on higher value or in lower costs. The cost leaders emphasize on reducing costs by decreasing investments in value while the differentiator aims on producing value in an expensive manner which raise costs. Either way, the company should choose the best strategy to achieve competitive advantage and not stuck in the middle.
2.5 Synthesis
Based on this research studies it can be concluded that in order for the e-businesses in industries to become successful they must be able to use advanced internet technologies and the management must be able to know the latest in the online market. In a general sense, e-commerce or information system is being used to be able to impart to the consumers the availability of a particular product or service online. The success of the e-businesses in industries solely depends on how they are able to cope with the rapid changes in the online market and how they would be able to ensure that their consumers are secure in acquiring and providing information in these e-businesses. It can be said that e-business and non e-business differ in so many ways and each strategy must be able to use unique and effective management approaches to stay competitive in the global market.
Chapter 3
Research Methodology
Investigating how those companies that are not using the internet becomes competitive and achieve competitive position in the market involves the determination of their distinctive business strategy. Likewise, in order to know the difference, the investigation and determination of the business approach of e-business industries are also discussed in the study. The research would also attempt to analyze the manner of the two business models on providing value of the products and services for end-consumption, specifically in aspects of customization, price reduction, convenience, efficiency, and giving more control to their target market. The paper would also attempt to assess the similarities and differences in acquiring cost and differentiation advantages and to investigate various strategies adapted and implemented towards achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In order to achieve these objectives, data requirements for the investigation involve secondary and primary data. Secondary data constitute information derived for a different and original purpose contained in books, journal studies, articles, papers, and reports. Primary data comes from the first hand data collection made for the purpose of this study. Primary data collection in this research includes a survey of the loyal customers of Nokia. The survey would determine the perspectives of the company’s customers on the firm’s product quality and the degree of satisfaction as well as the degree of customer loyalty.
On one hand, the secondary sources of data will come from the company’s annual report, business articles and journals, research papers, and the related research organisational performance and customer loyalty. Furthermore, primary research involved using the survey strategy, which allowed the gathering of a large amount of information from a sizeable population in an economic manner (Saunders et al. 2003). The interview method offers means of collecting insights or descriptions of experiences of the respondents on a given phenomenon or situation with answers expressed in words and analysed to derive insight and meaning (Saunders et al. 2003).
3.1 Approach
The study combines qualitative and quantitative approach. The qualitative approach is used to derive accounts and/or descriptions from people that can provide first hand information on the situation or phenomenon being studied (Saunders et al. 2003). The main purpose of this method is to draw in-depth information on a particular phenomenon to derive explanations, interpretations, and generalisations. The study uses qualitative approach to derive accounts and/or descriptions from the management of the e-business and non e–business industries with regards with their business strategy and competitive advantage.
The quantitative approach is used to draw measurable or quantifiable information on the phenomenon subject of the study (Saunders et al. 2003). This reason for gathering measurable data is to determine the relationship between or among variables through descriptive statistics (i.e. frequencies and comparative data) expressed in the tables and graphs. In the study, quantifiable data is collected to identify the existence of a relationship between Nokia’s customer loyalty and the organisational performance of Nokia. Information would provide insight into the aspects of customer loyalty that affects Nokia’s organisational performance the most.
3.2 Sample Participants
The general population for this research will be composed of 60 managers in which 30 will be from e-business companies and 30 will be from non e–business industries. To make sure that the sample for this study is representative of the population, the researcher will conduct a random sampling. The sample will be composed of 30 managers.
3.3 Data Collection
3.3.1 Question design
Hussey and Hussey (1997) commented that a phenomenological approach to interviews suggests semi-structured questions, which allow for flexibility; the researcher can probe for more specific answers. The benefit of this type of questioning was that the findings could be enhanced by asking follow-on questions to points that had been raised. Furthermore, this discussion style questioning attracted uninhibited answers that may not have otherwise been received. This was especially important because of the ethical issues involved in the study. However, in a study of this kind care must be taken so as to not influence the respondent as this biases findings. The method of question design also relates to the design of the research questions, categorised into aims and research factor questions. These evolved during the research and were regularly modified and refined, as is common in phenomenological studies (Hussey & Hussey, 1997).
Some of the semi-structured questions also used closed questions. A closed question is one that has pre-coded answers. The simplest is the dichotomous question to which the respondent must answer yes or no. Hague (1993) classified three types of questions: behavioral, attitudinal and classification. Behavioral questions seek factual information on what the respondents do or own; attitudinal questions intend to know what respondents think of something; and classificatory questions seek information that can be used to group respondents to see how they differ one from another. For this study, the above mentioned three types of closed questions will be used to analyse the behaviours and attitudes of the respondents.
Closed questions will be used because the answers are easy to analyse and are straightforward as target respondents are mostly busy that they do not have enough time to give attention to open questions. Closed response questions save the respondent having to think of possible replies. They also make the process easier for the interviewer who simply has to tick a box or circle a number. Moreover, they spare the coding staff difficult judgments which, if wrong, can skew the findings.
3.3.2 Survey
The survey method applied in collecting primary data. Survey comprises a descriptive and non e-xperimental data collection method intended to draw information from a large sample. The survey method allowed the investigation to derive precise and impartial data to support conclusions and generalisations. This applies in studies requiring the determination and investigation of links or relationships between or among variables (Saunders et al. 2003). In this current study, the comparison of the business approach used by two models of business industries will be considered and the difference will be determined or identified.
However, there are advantages and disadvantages in using the survey method so that, the disadvantages should be addressed to justify the method and assure the validity and reliability of the data collection process. An advantage is the ability to establish a relationship among variables but a concurrent disadvantage is the failure of the method to specify the direction of the relationship (Salant & Dillman 1994). In the current study, combining the quantitative and qualitative approaches led to the determination not only of the emergence of a relationship as well as direction of the relationship and the explanation for this. Another advantage is the capability of the survey to draw data from many respondents but a related disadvantage is the heavy reliance of the method on self-reported data (Salant & Dillman 1994) by the respondents making it imperative for the researcher to apply ways of ensuring the willingness of the respondents to participate and freely share information to support research validity. In the study, respondents were contacted beforehand to seek their willingness to cooperate in the data collection process by explaining to them the purpose of the study and the need for their participation in the data collection process to ensure that answers given can validly support conclusions. In addition, combining survey with interview method also allows the company to derive explanations for answers. Still another advantage is the ability of the data collection method to derive a broad range of experiences as well as opinions on the subject of the study but this also involves the concurrent disadvantage of requiring a tedious process (Salant & Dillman 1994). The current study worked through a timetable that allotted sufficient time for data collection especially because of the need to draw willing customers and wait for replies to the questionnaire.
The survey used a questionnaire, as shown below, composed of two parts. The first part of questionnaire contained demographic information while the second part involved the survey proper. The questionnaire was administered to managers of two business models In addition; another primary data collection method is interview with selected survey respondents conducted to derive insight on the responses. The data collection instrument to be considered in this research is structured questionnaire which would be based on Likert scale. In this regard, a Likert Scale is a rating scale which needs the subject to specify his or her degree of disagreement or agreement with a statement. Through this rating scale we calculate the mean that are usually used to measure attitudes towards an object, the degree to which an object contains a particular attribute, (Like or dislike), toward some attribute, or the importance attached to an attribute. The equivalent weights for the answers would be:
Range Interpretation
4.50 – 5.00 Strongly Disagree
3.50 – 4.00 Disagree
2.50 – 3.49 Uncertain
1.50 – 2.49 Agree
0.00 – 1.49 Strongly Agree
The use of the questionnaire would provide the researcher the capability to test the perceptions of the respondents. The collation and distribution methods utilised to manage the questionnaire process is done with anonymity. In line with the validation purposes, the researcher will initially distribute a sample of the set of survey questionnaires will be initially conducted to five participants. After the questions are answered, the research will ask the participants for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to make sure of further improvement and the validity of the instrument.
The researcher will again examine the content of the survey questions/statements to find out the reliability of the instrument. Afterwards, the researcher also excludes irrelevant questions and changed terms which would be deemed hard to understand by the respondents, to much simpler terms. In addition, the researcher excludes the five respondents who will be initially utilised for the validation of the instrument. The researcher then tallies score and tabulate all the answers in the provided questionnaire.
3.4 Ethical Considerations
The ethical considerations arising in the examination covers consent of the respondents to the information collection process and the confidentiality of the information given by the respondents. This could raise concerns on the part of the participants. In order to allay this concern, the questionnaire includes a letter explaining how their information was obtained, the extent of information obtained on them, the researcher, the purpose of the study, the participation expected from them, and an assurance that personal information obtained would be kept in confidence and utilised only for the objectives of the study. Responding and mailing back the questionnaires indicates consent and voluntary participation to the data collection process. In addition, protecting the confidentiality of identities of the respondents and the information given would also be assured the respondents during the interview process. These steps are necessary to ensure that the respondents knowingly and willingly extend their cooperation and participation to the research process.
3.5 Data Processing
The approach of data analysis for the qualitative data is deriving and interpreting meaning and deriving implications in line with the aim and objectives of the research. Results and analysis are presented in text discussions and graphs or charts to facilitate readability. In relation to the quantitative data, correlation analysis identifies the existence of the relationship between the dependent and the various independent variables.
3.6 Statistical Handling of the Data
After the gathering of data from self-administered queries, and allied researches, the investigator assembled all the information. The arithmetical analysis for the data from semi arrangement questionnaire was made using Microsoft Excel where the information is put into table, graphed, and estimated. The testing of the aptitude of importance was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and tabulated in the Excel files. The SPSS is the typical software in making statistical analysis.
Percentage – to know the degree of the answers to the questionnaire:
Where: n = response’s number
N = whole number of respondents
Weighted Mean:
where: f – given weight to every response
x – Response number
xt – whole number of responses
To evaluate the information gathered, the percentage analysis and mean analysis are used.
3.6.1 Independent Samples T-Test
The t-test is the most commonly used method to evaluate the differences in means between two groups. For example, the t-test can be used to test for a difference in test scores between a group of patients who were given a drug and a control group who received a placebo. Theoretically, the t-test can be used even if the sample sizes are very small (e.g., as small as 10; some researchers claim that even smaller n’s are possible), as long as the variables are normally distributed within each group and the variation of scores in the two groups is not reliably different. As mentioned before, the normality assumption can be evaluated by looking at the distribution of the data (via histograms) or by performing a normality test. The equality of variances assumption can be verified with the F test, or you can use the more robust Levene’s test. If these conditions are not met, then you can evaluate the differences in means between two groups using one of the nonparametric alternatives to the t- test.
The p-level reported with a t-test represents the probability of error involved in accepting our research hypothesis about the existence of a difference. Technically speaking, this is the probability of error associated with rejecting the hypothesis of no difference between the two categories of observations (corresponding to the groups) in the population when, in fact, the hypothesis is true.
Some researchers suggest that if the difference is in the predicted direction, you can consider only one half (one “tail”) of the probability distribution and thus divide the standard p-level reported with a t-test (a “two-tailed” probability) by two. Others, however, suggest that you should always report the standard, two-tailed t-test probability. When testing for a relationship between two variables, sometimes there is a 3rd variable, which we are not interested in at the moment, which influences our results.
So, the null hypothesis (Ho: x and y are independent), can also be written as:
Ho: mD= 0, where mD = population mean of difference scores
df = N – 1, where N = the number of pairs of participants
Then, using the standard “template” for our inference test, we have:
Assumptions of the Tests
One last note: It is important to know the assumptions we make in using the 2 sample t-test.
- Characteristics of the Dependent Variable: It is assumed that y is interval, continuous, and normally distributed.
- Homogeneity of Variance: We assume that the variances are equal for both groups in the population. If the sample estimates are vastly different, such as 9:1 or 3:1, then you probably have violated this assumption. As you can see, the two sample estimates have to be very different from each other before we worry about the assumption. For this reason we say that t is robust with regard to violations of this assumption. In other words, t still works well, unless the sample variances are drastically different from each other.
When homogeneity of variance is violated, Hays suggests use of the following modified 2 group tdf for independent samples.
Chapter 4
Presentation and Data Analysis
In this chapter, the data gathered from managers working in companies that use e-business and non e- business industries will be assessed and analysed. This chapter discusses the result of the survey questionnaire responded by 60 participants (30 managers from companies that used e-business and 30 from non e- business companies). Before the initiation of the research study the significance, rationale and purpose of the study were provided respondents. Furthermore, the respondents have also been given the assurance that all the data they will give are used for the purpose of the research and the identities of the respondents will be confidential. All questions asked in the survey questionnaire pertain only to the current situations of these industries. For a clearer presentation, the findings of the study are divided into sections. The first part summarizes the demographic profiles of the respondents and the second part provides the insights of the respondents regarding the differences of the strategies of e-business and non e- business.
4.1 Demographic Profile
This part of the paper discuses the demographic profile of the chosen managers from e-business and non e- business industries. The description of the respondents includes their age, gender, highest education, length of service in the company. Since we have indicated that managers will be the participants of this study, the occupation will not include in the demographic profile analysis. This part will be subdivided into two parts: demographic profile of the managers of e-business and demographic profile of the managers from non e- business companies.
4.1.1 Demographic Profile of Managers (E-Business)
This part will provide the demographic profile of the managers working at e-business industries. Note that the companies of the managers remain confidential and private to avoid issues and problems.
Frequency Table 1
Figure 1
Age of E-Business Managers
The table and figure above presents the frequency and distribution of the managers from e-business companies in terms of their age. In this regard, it shows that 50% of the respondents are 32-38 and 30% out of 30 belongs to 39-45 years of age. This indicates that the managers of the e-business companies are mature enough to handle the company effectively.
Frequency Table 2
Figure 2
Gender of E-Business Managers
The table and figure above shows the frequency and distribution of the managers from e-business companies in terms of their genders. Interestingly, majority of the managers of e-business companies are male comprising 70% of the total respondents and only 30% were female. In this result, it can be perceived that e-business companies prefer to have male in top positions than female.
Frequency Table 3
Figure 3
Educational Attainment of E-Business Managers
In terms of educational attainment, the table and above shows the frequency and distribution of the managers from e-business companies. It shows that 13 (43%) of the total respondents are graduate and 11 (37%) are post graduates. In this regard, it indicates that e-business companies tend to promote graduate and post graduate managers than other companies.
Frequency Table 4
Figure 4
Length of Service of E-Business Managers
The length of service of the e-business managers are also considered and based on the table and figure above, it shows that 53% (16) are in the company for 11-15 years while 17% (5), 30% (9) are working for 10 years and below and 17% of them are working in the company for 16-20 years. This could mean that the respondents are experienced enough when it comes to the strategies of the company.
4.1.2 Demographic Profile of Managers (Non E-Business)
This part will provide the demographic profile of the managers working at non e-business industries. Note that the companies of the managers remain confidential and private to avoid issues and problems.
Frequency Table 5
Figure 5
Age of Non E-Business Managers
The table and figure above presents the frequency and distribution of the managers from non e-business companies in terms of their age. In this regard, it shows that 40% of the respondents are 39-45 years old and 30% out of 30 belongs to 32-38 years of age and 6 (20%) belongs to 46-52. This indicates that most of the managers from non e-business are mature enough to handle the company effectively.
Frequency Table 6
Figure 6
Gender of Non E-Business Managers
The table and figure above shows the frequency and distribution of the managers from e-business companies in terms of their genders. Interestingly, majority of the managers of e-business companies are female comprising 63% of the total respondents and only 37% (11) were male. In this result, it can be perceived that non e-business companies prefer to have female in top positions than male.
Frequency Table 7
Figure 7
Educational Attainment of Non E-Business Managers
In terms of educational attainment, the table and above shows the frequency and distribution of the managers from non e-business companies. It shows that 12 (40%) of the total respondents are graduate and 10 (33%) are post graduates. In this regard, it indicates that non e-business companies tend to promote graduate and post graduate managers than other companies.
Frequency Table 8
Figure 8
Length of Service of Non E-Business Managers
The length of service of the non e-business managers are also considered and based on the table and figure above, it shows that 40% (12) are in the company for 11-15 years while 23% (7) are working in the company for 21-25 years, 20% (6) are working for 10 years and below. This could mean that the respondents are experienced enough when it comes to the strategies of the company.
4.2 Part 2: Perception of the Respondents
This part of the paper will discuss and analyze the perception of 60 respondents who participated in this dissertation. The discussion will focus on identifying the differences of e-business and non e-business company in terms of their strategies.
Table 9
Figure 9
Table 9a
Figure 9
The tables and figures above show the frequency and distribution of the answers of the respondents when it comes to the generic strategies used by their specific company (e-business and non e-business). It shows that majority of the managers revealed that their e-business companies. Accordingly, generic strategies include differentiation, cost-leadership and focus strategy. Based on the tables and figures above, it shows that majority (43% out of 30 respondents) of the e-business companies are using differentiation approach while majority of respondents from the non e-business revealed that their company usually considered cost-leadership approach gaining 47% out of 30 respondents. It can be said that in terms of generic strategies, the strategy used by e-business companies is different from that of the non e-business companies.
4.2.1 How E-Business and non e- business differs in adapting and implementing strategic plans?
Table 10
Perception of E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. Our company establish comprehensive strategic plans before implementing new strategies and approaches.
11
19
0
0
0
1.63
Agree
2. Our company conducts marketing surveys and researches in adapting and implementing strategic plans.
14
11
0
5
0
1.87
Agree
3. As part of our strategy, the company easily adapts to the new environment brought about by the implementation of new information communication technology
30
0
0
0
0
1.00
Strongly Agree
4. The company uses customer relationship management when adapting and implementing strategic plans.
12
18
0
0
0
1.60
Agree
5 The company adapts and implement strategic plans by considering efficient marketing communication approach
16
8
0
2
4
2.00
Agree
6. Our company uses internet as the primary medium of adapting and implementing strategic plan.
30
0
0
0
0
1.00
Strongly Agree
7. Our company consider customer feedbacks to know which aspect of the business needs improvement
18
12
0
0
0
1.40
Strongly Agree
Table 10 presents the perception of the e-business manager’s perception with regards to the strategies used by the company when it comes to in adapting and implementing strategic plans. Based on the analysis, it shows that most of the answers of the respondent’s ranges from agreed to strongly agree. Herein, the e-business managers agreed that their company establish comprehensive strategic plans before implementing new strategies and approaches. In addition, they also agreed that each of their company conducts marketing surveys and researches in adapting and implementing strategic plans and uses customer relationship management when adapting and implementing strategic plans. Lastly, they agreed that their specific company adapts and implement strategic plans by considering efficient marketing communication approach.
On the other hand, the analysis shows that majority of the e-business managers strongly agreed that as part of their strategy, the company easily adapts to the new environment brought about by the implementation of new information communication technology and they strongly agreed that they use internet as the primary medium of adapting and implementing strategic plan. Lastly, they also revealed that they strongly agreed that their specific company consider customer feedbacks to know which aspect of the business needs improvement. In this analysis, it shows that e-business managers adapts and implement strategic plans by means of using the internet.
Table 10a
Perception of Non E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. Our company establish comprehensive strategic plans before implementing new strategies and approaches.
18
12
0
0
0
1.40
Strongly Agree
2. Our company conducts marketing surveys and researches in adapting and implementing strategic plans.
13
15
0
2
0
1.70
Agree
3. As part of our strategy, the company easily adapts to the new environment brought about by the implementation of new information communication technology
0
2
5
11
12
4.10
Disagree
4. The company uses customer relationship management when adapting and implementing strategic plans.
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
5 The company adapts and implement strategic plans by considering efficient marketing communication approach
23
7
0
0
0
1.23
Strongly Agree
6. Our company uses internet as the primary medium of adapting and implementing strategic plan.
0
0
0
12
18
4.60
Strongly Disagree
7. Our company consider customer feedbacks to know which aspect of the business needs improvement
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
The table above presents the distribution of the responses of the non e-business managers in terms on how they adapt and implement strategic plans. Based on the analysis, it shows that non E-Business managers’ answers ranges from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The managers strongly disagreed that they uses internet as the primary medium of adapting and implementing strategic plan. On one hand, they disagreed that part of their strategy, the company easily adapts to the new environment brought about by the implementation of new information communication technology. This means that most of the non e-business companies do not rely on the internet or the information communication technology. The non e-business managers agreed that their company conducts marketing surveys and researches in adapting and implementing strategic plans. majority of the non e-business managers who took part on this study revealed that they strongly agreed that their company establish comprehensive strategic plans before implementing new strategies and approaches. They also strongly disagreed that their company uses customer relationship management when adapting and implementing strategic plans and their company adapts and implement strategic plans by considering efficient marketing communication approach. Lastly, they strongly agreed that the company consider customer feedbacks to know which aspect of the business needs improvement.
4.2.2 How e-business and non e–business provides value to the consumers?
Table 11
E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. With respect to marketing strategy, the company has been able to initiate efficient and effective strategy to meet the needs of the customers.
20
10
0
0
0
1.33
Strongly Agree
2. Staff or employees understand the mission, vision, and goal of their present organisation as part of their efficient marketing strategy to meet the needs of their customers
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
3. The organisation adopts an employee and costumer-focused strategy to satisfy the needs of the clients.
12
18
0
0
0
1.60
Agree
4. The company handles customer relations effectively.
8
9
0
11
2
2.67
Uncertain
5. With the help of the current marketing strategy, our company enables to understand and reach out to the needs of its customers.
9
8
0
12
1
2.60
Uncertain
6. The management of our company address the need to cope with different marketing strategy development.
22
8
0
0
0
1.27
Strongly Agree
7. The management of our company respond to the need to have qualified and competent personnel as part of the marketing strategy.
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
8. The management of our company used efficient communication approach to satisfy customers.
18
12
0
0
0
1.40
Strongly Agree
9. Our company used the internet or the concept of e-commerce as part of their marketing strategy.
26
4
0
0
0
1.13
Strongly Agree
Table 11 presents the distribution of the response of the e-business managers with regards to how their company provide value to their customers. Herein, it shows that the answers of the e-business managers range from Uncertain to Strongly Agree. Majority of the e-business managers who took part in this research revealed that they are uncertain on whether their company handles customer relations effectively and if their current marketing strategy, our company enables to understand and reach out to the needs of its customers.
On one hand, they agreed that their company adopts an employee and costumer-focused strategy to satisfy the needs of the clients. In addition, the gathered data revealed that the e-business managers strongly agreed that with respect to marketing strategy, the company has been able to initiate efficient and effective strategy to meet the needs of the customers and their staff or employees understand the mission, vision, and goal of their present organisation as part of their efficient marketing strategy to meet the needs of their customers. Further, they strongly agreed that the management of our company address the need to cope with different marketing strategy development and respond to the need to have qualified and competent personnel as part of the marketing strategy. They also revealed that their e-business company used efficient communication approach to satisfy customers and they used the internet or the concept of e-commerce as part of their marketing strategy.
Table 11a
Non E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. With respect to marketing strategy, the company has been able to initiate efficient and effective strategy to meet the needs of the customers.
18
12
0
0
0
1.40
Strongly Agree
2. Staff or employees understand the mission, vision, and goal of their present organisation as part of their efficient marketing strategy to meet the needs of their customers
16
14
0
0
0
1.47
Strongly Agree
3. The organisation adopts an employee and costumer-focused strategy to satisfy the needs of the clients.
19
11
0
0
0
1.37
Strongly Agree
4. the company handles customer relations effectively.
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
5. With the help of the current marketing strategy, our company enables to understand and reach out to the needs of its customers.
23
7
0
0
0
1.23
Strongly Agree
6. The management of our company address the need to cope with different marketing strategy development.
13
17
0
0
0
1.57
Agree
7. The management of our company respond to the need to have qualified and competent personnel as part of the marketing strategy.
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
8. The management of our company used efficient communication approach to satisfy customers.
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
9. Our company used the internet or the concept of e-commerce as part of their marketing strategy.
0
0
0
17
13
4.43
Disagree
In order to compare, the same statements were used to know the perception of the non e-business managers with regards on how their company value their consumers. Table 11a presents the analysis of the responses of the non e-business managers on each statement. Herein, the answers ranges from disagree to strongly agree. The data gathered from the non e-business managers revealed that they disagree that their company used the internet or the concept of e-commerce as part of their marketing strategy. On the other hand, they agreed that their management of our company address the need to cope with different marketing strategy development to value their consumers. The data analysis also revealed that majority of the managers strongly agreed that with respect to marketing strategy, the company has been able to initiate efficient and effective strategy to meet the needs of the customers and their staff or employees understand the mission, vision, and goal of their present organisation as part of their efficient marketing strategy to meet the needs of their customers. The non e-business managers also strongly agreed that their company adapts an employee and costumer-focused strategy to satisfy the needs of the clients which result in handling their customer relations effectively. In addition, they strongly agreed that with the help of the current marketing strategy, our company enables to understand and reach out to the needs of its customers and that their management respond to the need to have qualified and competent personnel as part of the marketing strategy and used efficient communication approach to satisfy customers.
4.2.3 What are the factors that affect the competitive edge and position of e-business and non e- business companies?
Table 12
E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. The brand affects the competitive edge and position of the company
16
14
0
0
0
1.47
Strongly Agree
2. The recommendation or referral of the family and friends affect the competitive position and edge of the company
19
11
0
0
0
1.37
Strongly Agree
3. The affordability of the products affect the competitive position and edge of the company
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
4. The quality of the services affect the competitive position and edge of the company
23
7
0
0
0
1.23
Strongly Agree
5. The convenience of the store location affect the competitive position and edge of the company
0
0
0
13
17
4.57
Strongly Dis-agree
6. The Shop Environments affect the competitive position and edge of the company
0
0
0
18
12
4.40
Strongly Disagree
7. The buying behaviour of the consumers affects the competitive position and edge of the company.
18
12
0
0
0
1.40
Strongly Agree
The perception of the e-business managers with regards to the factors that affect the competitive edge and position were also considered. Based on the data gathered, the result of the analysis is shown in Table 12. In this, it can be seen that the answers of the respondent’s ranges from strongly disagreed and strongly agree. Obviously, the e-business managers strongly disagreed on the statement the convenience of the store location affect the competitive position and edge of the company and the shop environments affect the competitive position and edge of the company, since they do not have physical stores and their business largely depends on the internet. On one hand, majority of the e-business managers strongly agreed on other factors such as the brand, the recommendation or referral of the family and friends, affordability of the products, the quality of the service and the buying behaviour of the consumers affects the competitive position and edge of the company.
Table 12a
Non E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. The brand affects the competitive edge and position of the company
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
2. The recommendation or referral of the family and friends affect the competitive position and edge of the company
23
7
0
0
0
1.23
Strongly Agree
3. The affordability of the products affect the competitive position and edge of the company
13
17
0
0
0
1.57
Agree
4. The quality of the services affect the competitive position and edge of the company
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
5. The convenience of the store location affect the competitive position and edge of the company
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
6. The Shop Environments affect the competitive position and edge of the company
28
2
0
0
0
1.07
Strongly Agree
7. The buying behaviour of the consumers affects the competitive position and edge of the company.
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
Table 12a presents the perception of the respondent with regards to the factors that affect competitive edge and position in the marketplace. In this regard, the analysis shows that majority of the non e-business managers strongly agreed on all the factors which include the brand, the recommendation, or referral of the family and friends, affordability of the products, the quality of the service, the convenience of the store, the shop environment, and the buying behaviour of the consumers affects the competitive position and edge of the company.
4.2.4 How e-business and non e–business implementers strategize for sustainable competitive advantage?
Table 13
E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. Appropriate implementation of marketing and strategies determines the success of the company in sustaining competitive advantage
16
14
0
0
0
1.47
Strongly Agree
2. The corporate strategies used by the company may contribute to their possible success rate especially in sustaining competitive advantage
19
11
0
0
0
1.37
Strongly Agree
3. The ability of the management to choose a unique and effective strategic management system helps in sustaining competitive advantage
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
4. The information communication technology capabilities of the management system used within the company is one of the critical success factors of the company
23
7
0
0
0
1.23
Strongly Agree
5. The online accessibility of the management and marketing system used within the company makes it applicable as a method for managing successfully the performance of the company.
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
6. The different methods of having external connection and links with the use of strategic management approach of the company enables them to successfully handles organisational performance activities and other logistics
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
7. The ability of the management to maximise effective communication is another critical success factors of the company
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
8. The next critical success factor is forecasting: A company can effectively use customer data to synchronize its operations with consumer needs
28
2
0
0
0
1.07
Strongly Agree
9. Being able to meet the needs and demands of both the customers and suppliers effectively.
18
12
0
0
0
1.40
Strongly Agree
The table above presents the result of the analysis of the perception of the e-business managers with regards to how they strategize for sustainable competitive advantage. Majority of the respondents strongly agreed with the given statements. They strongly agreed that appropriate implementation of marketing and strategies determines the success of the company in sustaining competitive advantage and their corporate strategies used by the company may contribute to their possible success rate especially in sustaining competitive advantage. The ability of the management to choose a unique and effective strategic management system was also strongly agreed to help in sustaining competitive advantage as well as the information communication technology capabilities of the management system used within the company is one of the critical success factors of the company and their online accessibility of the management and marketing system used within the company makes it applicable as a method for managing successfully the performance of the company. Aside from this the different methods of having external connection and links with the use of strategic management approach of the company enables them to successfully handles organisational performance activities and other logistics and the ability of the management to maximise effective communication is another factor that they use to achieve competitive advantage. And lastly, the strategies used is forecasting through the use of customer data to synchronize its operations with consumer needs and the ability to meet the needs and demands of both the customers and suppliers effectively are strongly agreed to be used to achieve competitive advantage.
Table 13a
Non E-Business Managers
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
1. Appropriate implementation of marketing and strategies determines the success of the company in sustaining competitive advantage
21
9
0
0
0
1.30
Strongly Agree
2. The corporate strategies used by the company may contribute to their possible success rate especially in sustaining competitive advantage
23
7
0
0
0
1.23
Strongly Agree
3. The ability of the management to choose a unique and effective strategic management system helps in sustaining competitive advantage
13
17
0
0
0
1.57
Strongly Agree
4. The information communication technology capabilities of the management system used within the company is one of the critical success factors of the company
0
0
0
18
12
4.40
Disagree
5. The online accessibility of the management and marketing system used within the company makes it applicable as a method for managing successfully the performance of the company.
0
0
0
19
11
4.37
Disagree
6. The different methods of having external connection and links with the use of strategic management approach of the company enables them to successfully handles organisational performance activities and other logistics
28
2
0
0
0
1.07
Strongly Agree
7. The ability of the management to maximise effective communication is another critical success factors of the company
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
8. The next critical success factor is forecasting: A company can effectively use customer data to synchronize its operations with consumer needs
28
2
0
0
0
1.07
Strongly Agree
9. Being able to meet the needs and demands of both the customers and suppliers effectively.
17
13
0
0
0
1.43
Strongly Agree
The non e-business managers were also considered and the result of the analysis is shown in table 13a. Herein, it shows that majority of the respondents strongly agreed on almost all the given statements except that they disagreed on statements 4 and 5 which is about information communication technology capabilities of the management system used within the company is one of the critical success factors of the company and online accessibility of the management and marketing system used within the company makes it applicable as a method for managing successfully the performance of the company. This is because the company do not use the internet as part of their marketing and management approach.
4.3 Part 3 Statistical Analysis: Independent Samples T-test
To determine the differences between the e-business and non e-business companies, the researcher conducted t-test in each variable (differs in strategies used, adapting and implementing strategic plans, provides value to the consumers, factors that affect the competitive edge and position and how they strategize to sustain competitive advantage). This part of the study discusses the variation of perception of respondents/manages from e-business and non e-business regarding the aspects that makes e-business and non e-business companies different.
4.3.1 Strategies used by each company
Table 14
Table 14a
The tables above display the number of cases mean value, standard deviation as well as the standard error for the test variables within categories defined by the group. Since the Independent Samples T Test procedure compares the two group means, it is useful to know what the mean values are. In this regard, since the significance values of the Levene test is low (.001), the researcher used the results that do not assumed equal variances for both groups (e-business managers and non e-business managers). Having a low significant value for the t-test which is .000, it can be said that there is a difference in the generic strategies used by e-business companied and non e-business companies.
4.3.2 T-test for adapting and implementing strategic plans, valuing customer, factors affecting the competitive edge and position and strategizing to sustain competitive advantage.
Table 15
Samples Statistics
Table 15a
Samples Correlation
Table 15b
Samples Test
The samples T-test procedure compares the means of two variables that represent group. In this case, group of managers from e-business and non e-business companies. It is said that a low significance value for the t test (typically less than 0.05) indicates that there is a significant difference between the two variables. In this regard, based on the tables and analysis above, it can be said that with .000 significant value, there is a significant difference in the strategies used by e-business companies and non e-business companies based on adapting and implementing new strategies. On one hand, having .050 significance value, it can be concluded that there is slight significant difference with the strategies of both companies in terms of valuing their customers. Likewise, the two companies have significant differences with regards to the factors affecting their competitive edge and position and strategies in sustaining competitive advantage with the significance value .000.
Chapter 5
Summary, Conclusion and recommendation
5.1 Introduction
With the emergence of the internet, different companies are trying to make their company accessible worldwide by adapting to the use of the e-business. However, since there are still companies that do not adhere to the use of internet, it is important to know the difference of the strategies used by e-business and no e-business companies to sustain their competitive advantage. In this regard, the goal of this paper is to determine whether there is a difference on the strategies of these companies with regards to various factors.
The research is done by cautiously examining the perception of the m managers of e-business companies and non e-business companies. The data collated form these managers provided answers to the questions and objectives of the researcher. The primary source of data will be from the survey-questionnaire distributed to the 60 managers. The cooperation of these managers was fervently soughed after and the descriptive and statistical analysis was carried out.
5.2 Summary
5.2.1 Profile of the Respondents
The respondents for this study were consists of 60 managers, 30 from e-business companies and 30 for non e-business companies. They are chosen to ensure that the research will only gather pertinent data. The description of the respondents was based on their age, gender, educational attainment and their length of service in the company. Based on the analysis of the gathered data, the age of the respondents for e-business managers and non e-business managers ranges from 32-52 years of age. This indicates that the managers of both companies are manure and experience enough in knowing the strategies of their company.
In line with the genders, it can be said that there is a large difference between the genders since there are more male managers in the e-business companies than the non e-business companies. This indicates that e-business companies prefer to have male in top positions than female and the non e-business companies prefer to have female in top positions than male.
In terms of the educational attainment, it is said that majority of the respondents are graduate and post graduates indicated that both companies tend to promote graduate and post graduate managers in top position level within their industries. In terms of length of service, majority of the managers for e-business companies are working for 11-15 years indicating that some of these e-business stores started from brick and mortar before integrating online and with regards to the non e-business managers, majority of them are staying in the company for 11-15 years. This could mean that the respondents are experienced enough when it comes to the strategies of the company.
2. Perception of the Respondents
This part of the study discussed the research queries and the analysed data to answer such queries. This paper aims on identifying the differences in the strategies used by e-business and non e-business companies in terms of different factors such as the generic strategies used, valuing consumer, adapting, and implementing strategies, factors affecting their competitive edge and position and the strategies used for sustaining competitive advantage.
Based on the data gathered and through the help of the SPSS and other statistical analysis, analysis revealed that e-business companies and non e-business companies are using different generic strategies because majority of e-business managers revealed that they are using differentiation strategy more and majority of non e-business managers revealed that they companies are using cost-leadership approach. Based on the analysis through the use of T-test, it can be said that e-business companies and non e-business companies have significant differences when it comes to the following factors; valuing consumer, adapting, and implementing strategies, factors affecting their competitive edge and position and the strategies used for sustaining competitive advantage.
5.3 Conclusion: Hypothesis Analysis
This research study is conducted to reject or accept the following hypotheses:
There is a difference on strategies of e-business companies and non e-business companies based on:
1. generic strategy used
2. valuing consumer,
3. adapting, and implementing strategies,
4. factors affecting their competitive edge and position; and
5. the strategies used for sustaining competitive advantage
Based on the analysis the researcher accepted the hypothesis that there is a difference on the strategies on the above factors used by e-business companies and non e-business companies as perceived by the managers from both industries.
5.4 Recommendation for future research
There are several opportunities for additional research in the field of e-business and non e-business companies which would assist practitioners in knowing how each company can sustain their competitive position and advantage. Additional research in this topic is warranted for several reasons. First, while this study indicated Difference between the strategies used by e-business and non e-business company it did not establish the difference based on Industry type. Second, the findings may be contingent upon the context and environment in which the strategy is implemented, and, therefore, may not be generalizable to environments significantly different from those in the study units. Finally, the findings of the study are based on perceptions by the managers rather than direct measurement observation of events. Furthermore, research could build on these empirical findings by replicating this study as closely as possible in other respondents such as employees and customers and other stakeholders. The primary value in replicating the study is to test the contingency theory, i.e., measure whether the findings hold regardless of environment or situation, or whether they are different under differing conditions.
In replicating the study, researchers could attempt to measure behaviors of managers, rather than reported perceptions of managers’ attitudes (as did this study). Exactly replicating this study, however, would mean sacrificing the examination of alternative models and/or testing different hypothesis.
The importance and effect of Strategies is another area ripe for future research. Empirical studies have not analyzed the effect of Strategy. While this research found strategies adopted and the reasons for it the result was not determinants of the outcomes measured. In addition, research is necessary in the qualitative phase of the study
In particular, practitioners need to know much more about the strategies and differences, and if so, what the optimal times and methods are for creating them and/or phasing them out. There is a great need among practitioners for empirical data on the importance and nature of formal business strategy differences. Ideally, any further research that is conducted in the field of e-business and non e-business should include both quantitative measures and qualitative documentation and measurement of the nature of implementation efforts. For the reasons discussed above, additional case studies or quantitative analyses alone, are unlikely to contribute, empirical knowledge about the e-business and non e-business strategy differences.
6. Reference
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7. Appendix
Dissertation Questionnaire
The researcher is conducting a study on identifying the difference in E-Business and Non e- Business companies. To enable the researcher to make the necessary conclusions and recommendations for this study, it would be very much appreciated if you answer all the items in the questionnaire.
Information given will be treated in strictest confidence.
Thank you.
Part 1: Personal Data
Directions: Please fill up in all the necessary information about yourself. Don’t leave any item unanswered.
a. Age
[ ] 25-31
[ ] 22 – 38
[ ] 39 – 45
[ ] 46 – 52
[ ] 53 above
b. Gender
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
c. Educational Attainment
[ ] Vocational
[ ] College
[ ] Graduate
[ ] Post Graduate
d. Experience(in Years)
10-below
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-above
Present Organization
Total
Part 2: Perception of the Respondents
1. What Strategic Strategy does your company used?
a. Differentiation Strategy £
b. Cost-Leadership Strategy £
C. Focus Strategy £
2. Choose the number that corresponds to your answer:
1
Strongly Agree
2
Agree
3
Uncertain
4
Disagree
5
Strongly Disagree
4.31How E-Business and non e- business differs in adapting and implementing strategic plans?
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
1. Our company establish comprehensive strategic plans before implementing new strategies and approaches.
2. Our company conducts marketing surveys and researches in adapting and implementing strategic plans.
3. As part of our strategy, the company easily adapts to the new environment brought about by the implementation of new information communication technology
4. The company uses customer relationship management when adapting and implementing strategic plans.
5 The company adapts and implement strategic plans by considering efficient marketing communication approach
6. Our company uses internet as the primary medium of adapting and implementing strategic plan.
7. Our company consider customer feedbacks to know which aspect of the business needs improvement
4.32How e-business and non e–business provides value to the consumers?
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
1. With respect to marketing strategy, the company has been able to initiate efficient and effective strategy to meet the needs of the customers.
2. Staff or employees understand the mission, vision, and goal of their present organisation as part of their efficient marketing strategy to meet the needs of their customers
3. The organisation adopts an employee and costumer-focused strategy to satisfy the needs of the clients.
4. the company handles customer relations effectively.
5. With the help of the current marketing strategy, our company enables to understand and reach out to the needs of its customers.
6. The management of our company address the need to cope with different marketing strategy development.
7. The management of our company respond to the need to have qualified and competent personnel as part of the marketing strategy.
8. The management of our company used efficient communication approach to satisfy customers.
9. Our company used the internet or the concept of e-commerce as part of their marketing strategy.
4.33What are the factors that affect the competitive edge and position of e-business and non e- business companies?
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
1. The brand affects the competitive edge and position of the company
2. The recommendation or referral of the family and friends affect the competitive position and edge of the company
3. The affordability of the products affect the competitive position and edge of the company
4. The quality of the services affect the competitive position and edge of the company
5. The convenience of the store location affect the competitive position and edge of the company
6. The Shop Environments affect the competitive position and edge of the company
7. the buying behaviour of the consumers affect the competitive position and edge of the company.
4.34How e-business and non e–business implementers strategize for sustainable competitive advantage?
Statements
1
2
3
4
5
1. Appropriate implementation of marketing and strategies determines the success of the company in sustaining competitive advantage
2. The corporate strategies used by the company may contribute to their possible success rate especially in sustaining competitive advantage
3. The ability of the management to choose a unique and effective strategic management system helps in sustaining competitive advantage
4. The information communication technology capabilities of the management system used within the company is one of the critical success factors of the company
5. The online accessibility of the management and marketing system used within the company makes it applicable as a method for managing successfully the performance of the company.
6. The different methods of having external connection and links with the use of strategic management approach of the company enables them to successfully handles organisational performance activities and other logistics
7. The ability of the management to maximise effective communication is another critical success factors of the company
8. The next critical success factor is forecasting: A company can effectively use customer data to synchronize its operations with consumer needs
8. Being able to meet the needs and demands of both the customers and suppliers effectively.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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