Internet based businesses

With the growth of Internet-based businesses that are almost virtual in nature (i.e., no manufacturing or fulfillment assets), the process is carried out by contracted specialists. This implies that information integration becomes the key interaction between the supply chain entities. 

Clicks and bricks" Internet-based businesses are teaming with retail chains. The purpose is to provide the convenience of online shopping plus the accessibility of the local Radio Shack or Best Buy. 

Choices of procurement policies. Some alternatives include volume consolidation, alliances and partnerships with suppliers, just-in-time (JIT), and manufacturing resource planning (MRP). From a technical perspective, various types of e-procurement can be chosen (for instance, EDI, Internet-based business-to-business (B2B) approaches, and trading networks)... 

Pontow has been writing resumes professionally for more than a decade. Prior to starting her own Internet-based resume-writing business. 

The Internet-based economy is multilayered. It can be divided into several layers that help us in grasping the nature of the new economy. Barua et al. (1999) have identified four layers of the Internet economy in their measurement of the Internet economy indicators. The first two, Internet infrastructure and Internet applications layers, together represent the IP or Internet communications network infrastructure. These layers provide the basic technological foundation for Internet, intranet, and extranet applications. The intermediary/market maker layer fadlitates the meeting and interaction of buyers and sellers over the Internet. Through this layer, investments in the infrastructure and applications layers are transformed into business transactions. The Internet commerce layer involves the sales of products and services to consumers or businesses. According to their measurements, the Internet economy generated an estimated 301 billion in U.S. revenues and created 1.2 million jobs in 1998. Estimates of revenues and jobs contributions by each layer are presented in Table 1. 

The term e-business has come into common use to coverthe use of Internet-based ICTs within a company and between businesses, customers, and suppliers. The breadth of e-business is shown in Figure 2. 

Lee and Whang (2001) show that e-business, which they define as the use of Internet-based computing and communications to execute both... 

The Internet has provided customers (both industrial and consumer) with a new way to interact with their supply chain. Electronic commerce has been widely hailed as a revolution that will permanently transform the landscape of customer/supplier relationships. Although the realities of the dot-com bust have tempered the rhetoric used to describe the changes brought forth by electronic commerce, the Internet will continue to serve an important role in business during the 21 century. During the nascent period of electronic commerce, independent e-tailers, funded by a heavy flow of money from venture capitalists, played a dominant role in the development of internet-based sales to end consumers. For many product categories, independent e-tailers continue... 

Agility. New business opportunities can be captured by engaging in relationships with innovative supply chain partners. Utilization of various Internet-based distribution options is a prominent example of supply chain redesign to find new business opportunities. 

The Internet-based information sharing and collaborations system (EQOS Collaborator) went live for Sainsbury s in 1998 and so far has demonstrated some significant business benefits. 

Early opportunities were observed in the enabling infrastructures and Internet-based networks (Internet, Intranet and Extranet), replacing existing telephone, fax and EDI networks. The early success of e-procurement vendors (e.g. Commerce One, Ariba, Info Bank) was well received. The old suppliers suffered many problems including that of authorization with no conformity of systems between business partners. It was like having different telephone systems for each of the people to whom you speak. This has been transformed by Trading Portals that interconnect the contents of different supphers and making them usable by all buyers. 

Cybersecurity and cybersafety are topics that have spawned from the computer security domain since the profusion of Internet-based systems. Businesses rely on a vast array of computer networks to communicate, plan, provide services, and literally run our economy. The cyber aspect denotes the ability to remotely, if not virtually, access an organization s networked computer systems. 

It is hardly surprising that it is extremely difficult to achieve this integration across the whole of a supply network. There are significant implications for small businesses, which have difficulty justifying the cost of the IT system and the associated training. These set-up costs can deter new companies with irmovative products from being able to supply. Recent developments in Internet-based applications are helping to resolve this situation because the implementation and data transfer costs are much lower. 

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