Business Background

Lecture notes

The intention of the course is to teach how the information infrastructure provided by Internet influences the way of doing business. There are a lot of aspects of management, but we will limited our consideration to emphasise the activities associated with a single business transaction. The two parties, seller and buyer, exchange product (goods, services, technology, know-how, knowledge, data, etc.) with value.

The transfer mechanism includes the:

• parties involved,
• activities, and
• factors influencing the process.

Business transaction model

Transfer mechanism: Business Activities

Transfer mechanism: Factors

According to EWOS, these activities are called: Marketing, Contracting, Logistic, Settlement, and Interfacing with Administration and represented narrower the commercial aspect of the process. The terms chose here represent more general the essence of this activities.

Parties

Here we will consider the simplest single transaction, which includes only two parties: seller and buyer.

Usually a chain of value-added mediators are included into this process (a typical, but simplest one: producer <--> whole seller <--> retailer <--> buyer). We can consider it as a sequence of single two parties transactions.

The class of supporting mediators, providing services as banking, transport, insurance, etc. play a very important role in the business transactions, and their contribution to the process grows currently.

A special class of mediators are the information mediators, who serves the process on a fixed price basis (e.g. Yellow pages).

Activities

Information activities

The goal is establishing the conditions to meet the parties. Only little direct contact between the parties is involved, but mediators (especially information mediators) can play important role.

The seller:

• Advertises the product in a way to reach and to attract the potential buyers, as well as to inform them about the product quality and supplementary conditions (price, discounts, delivery, service, etc.) In many countries, the seller is obliged to ensure completely all of the advertised terms.
• Studies the market for better planning the development of the product, price, promotion, place (the four P of the marketing).

The buyer identifies the product and supply and choose the best one. 

Legal activities

The goal is establishing the relationship between the parties, negotiating, and fixing in a contract the conditions and terms the parties agreed. In many cases the contract is assumed in terms of the law (e.g. the producer responsibilities to offer products, as specified in the State's standards, ISO 9000 certificates, etc.).

The buyer: Orders the identified product (quantity, quality), specifying the conditions (price, payment, delivery).

The seller: Accepts and processes the order, issuing an offer (contract) and negotiated its terms.

The process require unstructured communication between the parties.

Delivery

The contracted product is delivered to the buyer. The process requires structured communication between the two parties and mediators involved. It includes requisition, shipping, transportation, and reception of the products, it depends on the type of the product (goods vs. services, tangible vs. intangibles, etc.), as well as on the volume of supply.

Settlement

The financial activities, such as invoicing and payment have to be done to settle the transaction.

Communication with Public Authorities (Reporting)

Business transactions take place within a particular regulatory framework and all parties involved in a business transaction need to communicate the Public Authorities to a variety of issues, including such as export/import licenses and/or certificates, authorisation to perform given activities, taxes and charges.

Factors

4.1. Formal factors includes procedures and institutions to verify the messages.

 4.2. Informal factors emphasise the established atmosphere of trust and personal beliefs, and perceptions about organisations, sources of information, way of receiving.

 A special case of Business transaction is Technology Transfer. (see the model proposed of J. Jolly)

Guest lecturers

Business Intelligence as a Key to Management of an Enterprise. The paper focuses on the Business Intelligence systems. At the beginning, knowledge as an important and strategic asset that determines a success of an enterprise is presented. Next, some characteristics of the Business Intelligence systems are discussed and their architecture is described. Purposefulness of applying such solutions in an enterprise is highlighted. An integrated approach to build and implement business intelligence systems is offered. The systems are shown in four dimensions: business, functional, technological and organisational. 

Role of Information Technology in Managing Organizational Change and Organizational Interdependence. This article sets forth the application of open systems theory for generating propositionsregarding the management of organisational change and organisational interdependence by application of IT. The commonly preferred approaches - goal theory, population ecology, systems resource theory and transaction costs theory - are inadequate in providing a &quot; wholistic&quot; perspective of the organisational issues. The article argues that the survival and growth of organisations in an increasingly turbulent environment would depend upon effective utilisation of information technology for aligning the organisational structure with environmental preferences and for creating symbiotic interorganizational structures.

Management and Marketing of Distance Education. Hhow to implement a Web-based Distance Course, how to apply the benefits of E-Commerce to Distance Education, how to manage all activities in running a particular Web-based Distance Course.

Assessment Remark: The completion of the assignments included in this module (test, essay and participation in discussion) will form 10% of the final assessment.

Test

Answer the following questions in several sentences and mail the answers to your tutor.

• Describe the differences of the particular value-added mediators.
• What is the meaning of the term Logistics?
• Shortly comment on the existing schemes of settlement.

Questions for Discussions

Comment some interesting publications. Here we provide you with the addresses of two Web magazines:

• Journal of Management Information Systems
• International Journal of Computational Intelligence and Organizations

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Essay

Write two-page essay that address the following question and send it to the tutor:

Your opinion on the benefits and weaknesses of the introduction of the common European currency for Bulgaria.

Resource Bank

• General Reference Links
• The School of Information Management and Systems The information revolution has created the need for a new kind of professional: someone who is skilled in locating, organising, manipulating, filtering and presenting information. The mission of the School of Information Management and Systems is to educate such information managers. Information managers must be familiar with the technology used to store, organise and retrieve information in business, government, libraries and academic settings. However, technical expertise alone is not sufficient for success; SIMS graduates will be expected not only to manage technology but to manage information and people as well, and they need to acquire the necessary skills to do this effectively.
• The Information Economy. The Economics of the Internet, Information Goods, Intellectual Property and Related Issues - links on several business related topics. The Information Economy is part of the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California Berkeley.
• Intellectual Property. Policy and Law. Industry Affairs and Commentary. Copyright &amp. Patent Information Resources and other useful links on Intellectual Property.
• Information Security: A Practical Solution For Senior ManagementTo promote a better understanding of information security among executives, information managers, system administrators, and MIS staff. It answers the question how does today’s senior management verify and substantiate their investments in information security in such a complex and competitive environment, like ours.
• http://www.dpma.rtp.brightleaf.org/index.html. The Data Processing Management Association is the oldest organisation representing IT professionals in the United States. DPMA is dedicated to the advancement of the information processing professional by promoting the effective, responsible management of information technology to the benefit of its members, their employers and society.
• Information Builders. Information Builders provides software and services used in the design of enterprise reporting and decision support systems, Internet/intranet data publishing, data warehousing, cross- platform application development, and integrated application solutions. These software solutions share a common middleware architecture fo enterprise data access.
• On the Internet, virtually no privacy. When most people surf the Net, they assume nobody knows where they go or what they do. They're wrong. Cyberspace blinks with thousands of electronic eyes that watch your every move, tracking where you're from, where you go, how long you stay. Computers can log every click of your computer mouse, and collect its electronic mouse droppings for future use by World Wide Web developers, marketers and others. The Anonymizer is an innovative on-line privacy tool.
• U.S. News 4/29/96: What you say on the Net could come back to bite you. IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE Watch what you say online. It could come back to bite you - an article on privacy on the Net issue.
• Web cookies can spy on your on-line travels. A little-known feature of Netscape's Navigator, as well as other World Wide Web browser programs, including Microsoft Corp.'s, allows Web sites to store any information about your visit that they want to by way of a file on your own hard drive. The file theoretically can be up to 1.2 megabytes big -- the size of a medium-sized computer program. The feature is called ''cookies,'' and while Netscape said the features have many legitimate uses, the company admitted its use could evolve to pose serious questions involving privacy and other issues. In response to queries Monday, the company said it is considering changing the way the feature works.
• Gateways: Netscape tricks raise security concerns. The latest version of Netscape Communications Corp.'s Web browser adds JavaScript and a feature called HTTP Cookies to the Mac. These two capabilities are at the heart of the controversy. JavaScripts can be sent to a browser whenever a particular page is requested. These scripts can perform a range of tasks from scrolling text to launching an applet. However, in between these mostly harmless functions are capabilities that some say border on invasion of privacy. For example, several Webmasters have reported using JavaScript to retrieve a user's e-mail address, real name and activity from the Netscape cache file, which documents a user's movements on the Web.
• CNET features - digital life - privacy in the digital age. It might sound sensational, but the fact is, electronic monitoring in the workplace is a lot easier to do--and a lot more common--than most people think. What's more, it's legal.
• The Public-Access Computer Systems Review. The Public-Access Computer Systems Review (PACS Review) is an electronic journal about end-user computer systems in libraries. It is distributed at no charge on the Internet and other computer networks. The journal publishes papers on topics such as digital libraries, document delivery systems, electronic publishing, expert systems, hypermedia and multimedia systems, locally mounted databases, network-based information resources and tools, and online catalogs. It is published by the University of Houston Libraries.
• The Computer Science Technical Report (CS-TR) Project: A Pioneering Digital Library Project Viewed from a Library Perspective [Anonymized]
• The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 1, no. 2 (1990): 91-93. As an increasing number of academic libraries provide Internet access to their online catalogs and other databases, the nature of library services is changing.
• Public-Access Computer Systems Review 1, no. 1. Campus Strategies for Libraries and Electronic Information.
• The Virtual Library: Pitfalls, Promises, and Potential. The Virtual Library: Pitfalls, Promises, and Potential. The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 4.
• Competencies for Electronic Information Services. Electronic information services and the competencies required for providing them are defined. The personal, basic, general, and special competencies that will be needed are described. Both how the competencies are acquired initially and how they will be maintained thereafter (as well as responsibilities for gaining and maintaining competencies) are also discussed.
• Interactive Electronic Serials Cataloging Aid. Electronic data and information resources on the Internet are growing at a rapid rate. To identify and organize these resources becomes not only necessary, but crucial to the Internet community. This interactive training tool has been developed and tested at Northwestern University Library to instruct serials catalogers how to catalog electronic serials on the Internet. This tool primarily provides ready access to cataloging rules, interpretations, examples of MARC bibliographic records in serial and computer file formats linked to instructional annotations, and a glossary of cataloging and computer terminology.
• University of Michigan Virus Busters. Virus Busters is a group of staff members at the University of Michigan who are dedicated to assisting the U-M community with the control and prevention of computer viruses.
• PRACTICE ONLINE HOME PAGE. PRACTICE ONLINE:The Electronic Complement to INTERFACES (POL) is a practice-oriented electronic information service of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences).
• The Document Management Industry, 1995. As businesses searched for ways to make their information easy to find, easy to distribute and share, and easy to update, the document imaging industry emerged.
• Telemax-U OSS. US Telecom Advanced Technology Systems introduces Telemax-U ™ Operation Support System (OSS), a comprehensive system specifically designed for international telephone and cable television companies and automates all business operations - from service order entry, to billing, to line and fault management.
• Document Management Magazine - for DMS,EDMS,Intranets,Workflow, and more!. Looking for helpful, practical, and detailed information about document management, OCR, HWR, and Workflow, that you can solve problems with today? If so, you just found the source! Document Management magazine is written by industry professionals to help you solve daily production problems, plan for the future, and boost your bottom line. And best of all, you can get a FREE subscription! If you can't find a solution to a difficult problem here then try DMS_Advisor!
• CSCW Technology Online Discussion. This is the CSCW Technology Online Discussion.
• G7 Information Society Pilot Project "A Global Marketplace for SMEs"
• Objectives and Framework for Action
• European Electronic Commerce Initiatives
• Case Studies
• A Business Researcher's Interests (tm): @BRINT A Business Researcher's Interests is a searchable knowledge map of Contemporary Business, Management and Information Technology issues. It provides access to hundreds of full-text articles, papers, magazines, journals, case studies and tools, and thousands of other resources on some of the hottest issues of interest to Business, Technology and Information professionals. Cutting-edge topics include Business Process Reengineering, Knowledge Management, Organisational Learning, Complex Systems & Chaos, Intranets, Virtual Corporations, Outsourcing, Electronic Markets & Electronic Commerce. Also included are a research jumpstation for all areas of business research, international business issues, intellectual property issues, information policy issues, web strategy and marketing issues, and key applications of information systems research.
• Management Information Systems Research: @BRINT (tm). "For its breadth and depth, but especially for its relevance to the multifaceted needs and concerns of IS professionals, A Business Researcher's Interests is an effective tool for 1997" -- Computerworld, W(h)ither MIS? Papers on Information Systems.
• Briefing Book. Book is a specialist research, consulting and publication company that focuses on the Business Intelligence arena. The company tracks local business intelligence market players in South Africa, positions product offerings and keeps up with product enhancements. The main emphasis of the research is on the appropriate APPLICATION of this area of technology in business.
• Knowledge Sharing Within Management Consulting Firms Reports on How U.S.-Based Management Consultancies Deploy Technology, Use Groupware and Facilitate Collaboration. At a time when a growing number of client companies are seeking their advice and counsel on how to deploy technology to enhance collaboration within increasingly dispersed organisations, identify legitimate best practices,distinguish between an over-abundance of information and data from knowledgethey can actually use and fully leverage tools like groupware, a recent nation-wide surveyby Consultants News revealed that a majority of U.S.-based management consultanciesare grappling with many of those same challenges themselves.
• Harvest your Workers' Knowledge. Harvest your workers' knowledge It's a brave new world out there. Call it post-modern reengineering, and to make your organization perform, you'll have to build systems that support knowledge--not data.
• Literature
• Electronic Commerce in Support of SMEs: The White Book.
• Kalakota, Whinston Frontiers of the electronic commerce, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1996.
• Technical Guide on Electronic Commerce, EWOC 1996.
• Jolly J. A., Creighton J. W., George P. A. Technology Transfer process Model, NPS, USA 1978.