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E-business aims to improve an organization's competitiveness through information and communication technologies. E-business does not simply involve using technology to automate existing processes, but also evolving processes through the application of technology within the company, with partners or customers.
E-commerce is a great example of e-business. It automates customer service, personalizes the consumer experience, optimizes the distribution chain, and is highly scalable. It turns previously manual processes into automated information flows that generate competitiveness, reduce costs, and add value through previously impossible connections.
E-business management involves analyzing how electronic communications can be used to improve all aspects of an organization's supply chain management. In addition, it involves optimizing an organization's value chain through value-adding activities that connect a company's supply (production) to demand (consumption).
Digital transformation is the buzzword of the day and is closely related to e-business. Basically, companies that have not yet adopted e-business as a business management methodology are those that need or are undergoing digital transformation. It is much more than just introducing technological advances into our companies: it is a radical paradigm shift that is changing the way business is done. There is no company in the world that is immune to the metamorphoses brought about by this inevitable evolution. To succeed in e-business management, it is necessary to have a broad knowledge of the different business processes and activities throughout the value chain, such as marketing, sales, and even new product development, manufacturing, and logistics. That is why e-business is more closely linked to strategy than to technology, and should not be an IT department project, but a company-wide project.
How is e-business transforming companies?
Transforming the customer experience
- Customer understanding: assessing customer and prospect behavior on social media, as well as geographic, market, and digital marketing analyses, are some of the methods used to understand consumers and deliver value more effectively.
- Sales growth: new technological possibilities are used as tools to enhance customer relationships and increase revenue.
- Touchpoints: with the proliferation of channels, consumers can meet their needs digitally, in a way that is faster for them (often autonomously) and cheaper for the company.
Transforming operational processes
- Process digitalization: people focus on more strategic and intelligent activities, while automation handles everything that can be done by machines and systems.
- Professional development: with work concentrated in the online environment, communication becomes faster, and teams gain productivity through horizontal interaction.
- Performance management: digital transformation is truly changing the strategic decision-making process, with data-driven management (data-driven) and operational transparency.
Transforming the business model
- Digitally modified businesses: it is not about changing the way technology is managed, but rather the way business is done based on customer needs and the possibilities offered by the tools.
- New digital businesses: new products or services complement the original activity by delivering an enhanced product.
- Digital globalization: companies stop being multinational and become global. They use global digital services in an integrated way, make decisions more quickly, and can conduct international business as if it were in the next town.
