توسعه کسب و کار الکترونیک برای مزایای رقابتی : یک مطالعه موردی

Electronic business (e-business) today plays a major role in the world’s economy. Forester Research estimated that, by 2003, the value of e-commerce of US and Europe will reach US$ 3 trillion. As the e-marketplace becomes more lucrative, it attracts new entrants and created turmoil in the market. There have been many spectacular successes and many failures. This paper presents a study of e-business competitive advantage strategies using the success at Intel. After the initial deployment of its e-business pilot system in July 1998, Intel ramped US$ 1 billion sales on e-business each month for the rest of the year. Intel became the fifth most profitable company in the US in the year 2000, up from the rank of eighth in 1999. Despite the rapid decline in stock values of many Internet related companies and the recession, Intel is still successful. By the end of 2001, Intel was the seventh largest market capitalization company in the US.

E-business has received much attention from entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and industry observers recently. As information technologies (IT) develop, novel ways of business process redesign (BPR) emerged, creating turmoil in the industry. Organizations today frequently integrate Internet technology to redesign processes in ways that strengthen their competitive advantages. Success breeds imitation and invites more entries. The rapid expansion of e-commerce values in the past few years convinced many people that a new economy has emerged. Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, frequently expressed his fear that Microsoft is about 2 years away from failure, that somewhere out there is a formidable competitor, unborn and unknown, who will use better business models to put companies like Microsoft into obsolescence. And the most successful new business models are probably those that can integrate Internet technology to all activities of the enterprise-wide value chain.

With rapid advances in technology, novel ways of business process redesign, which include entering the e-business marketplace have emerged. Organizations today frequently redesign their processes in ways that provide competitive advantage. However, gaining competitive advantage requires building on the proven principles of effective strategy. Key success factors include maintaining distinctive strategic positioning, using e-business technology to improve efficiency and competitive advantage, maintaining support from top management, putting emphasis on the quality of e-business operations, and maintaining good system security. Although one can argue that the spectacular successes of many e-businesses may be due to the advance of e-commerce today, we have seen that those who abandoned fundamental ways of competing eventually fail. Good e-business strategies have contributed to Intel’s long lasting and solid financial success. By using e-business to enhance its distinctive positioning, operational efficiency, and competitiveness, Intel has continued to strengthen its strategic position in the global market. The strategies and success factors discussed here can help managers to develop and integrate e-business technology into their overall business.