Web enablement implications for business strategy

E-business is a term used to describe businesses run on the Internet, or utilizing Internet technologies to improve the productivity or profitability of a business. In a more general sense, the term may be used to describe any form of electronic business – that is to say, any business which utilizes information technology. This usage is somewhat archaic, however, and in most contexts e-business refers exclusively to Internet enabled businesses.

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals. Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs.

With developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace-such as business capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down. The name of the game is e-business strategy, and the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills (such as intellectual resources) to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and new economic environment is making all the differences. With its effect of leveling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses.
In this study, an attempt is being made to study various individual studies that have focused on e-business strategies, and on how technology impacts the various popular models of strategy. For the same, a literature survey has been done to show case the emerging business models and how the areas of difference for various models of strategy arise, with the advent of internet technology, and their usage in businesses, and thus their implications.