Fitness Club Members - Thesis Example

Running Head: E business Fitness Club Members Insert Name Institution Date Introduction Thesis The research will cover the listed areas below in deep. 1. www.auto.indiamart.com as the primary company 2. www.exide.com as a secondary company 3. www.sfsonicpower.com as a secondary company Introduction The word e-business comes from the word Electronic business which is concerned with technological application of information and communication in business activities (Beynon 2004). Electronic business focuses on the use information and communication technology to enhance business relationships with individuals and other businesses. Methods used in electronic business transactions in many times usually help the company create both internal and external links which bring in efficient and quite flexible systems of processing the company’s data and this result to a good and close relationships between the employees of the company with their superiors as well as good relation with partners (Laudon & Traver, 2004). If this is effectively there is general satisfaction of the expectations as well as the needs of the customer. In real practice e-business commands lot than the e-commerce in the world of business in sense that the strategies used in e-business mainly focus on an emphasis on the functions of capabilities of the electronic transactions. Business processes involving e-business usually span the entire value chain thus enhancing the volume of transactions which are involved in the business (Laudon & Traver, 2004). Such value chains will include management of purchasing and supply chain electronically, orders being processed electronically, customer service being met through the use of internet as well as the cooperation of business partners through the use of communication technology. E-business usually has standards which are quite technical and are good in helping the data exchange between companies be well facilitated. Software solutions which are used in e-business are of great importance in helping the integration of business processes when the firm uses the intra and inter firm connections. Various methods of how e-business is conducted vary from one company to another depending on what suits the company most, they include the use of the Internet, extranets, the Web as well as the use of intranets or a company may choose to combine all of them. Fundamentally, electronic business involves the transfer process of products or services or can include the buying and exchanging of products via internet. The three companies Indian Automobile, Exide Technologies as well as sonic batteries should be in a good position through their e-business to provide good international relations. This can be possible through the application of generally accepted accounting principles electronically. When these companies are able to show their accounting principles online then they will be on the right track towards the achievement of an efficient e-business. If the Indian Automobile needs to remain relevant in commanding a great share in the area of production then it is important that it puts various measures into consideration. An evaluation that can greatly help the Indian Automobile will be the online application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as well as the use of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the e-business. The application of the IFRS and GAAP in the e-business will be of great evaluation of Indian Automobile. When the company applies the international standards and the generally accepted principles it receives a credit on the area of its operation and stands a better chance of future progress. According to the information posted in the website of Indian Automobile the company has put into use the above said standards as well as principles and that is the reason behind the success of the company in e-business. For instance, Exide Technologies which has a global presence and posts high sales across boarders can apply the accounting principles such as principle of non-compensation by making it known well to the clients electronically. It needs to create an efficient online website so as to ensure that all accounting principles are well explained and understood by the clients. As noted by Laudon & Traver, (2004) by doing so, the company will strengthen the products it produces and service it provides hence spanning a global market as well as geographical limits thus becoming an expertise across company segments. The website of Exide Technologies clearly indicates that the company has put in to use the generally accepted accounting principles as acknowledged by the following information which was published by an administrator of the company; A reconciliation of net loss and net loss per share to non-GAAP adjusted net income or loss and adjusted net income or loss per share is provided. $25.6 million versus $76.0 million for the comparable fiscal 2009 period. Non-GAAP Financial Measures the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of its operational financial. $41.7 million versus $113.6 million for the comparable fiscal 2009 period. Non-GAAP Financial Measures the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of its operational financial. $113.6 million versus $63.4 million in the prior year period. Non-GAAP Financial Measures the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of its operational financial. 2009 was $144.4 million versus $100.9 million in the prior year period. Non-GAAP Financial Measures the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of its operational financial. Non-GAAP Financial Measures The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of its operational financial. Company is unable to provide a quantitative reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to the comparable GAAP financial measurement. The metrics released today indicate continued improvement from the prior year period. Methods of meeting customer needs E-business must have the main objective which is subjective to customer needs and wants is of primary consideration since it is a key in driving sales of any business (Millett 2007). The objective will be on how the business will remain most profitable and enhance business relations with a vision of creating new territories. Gathering the needs of customers including their wants usually differ from one client to another but the main goal is ensuring that the company remain relevant in the e-business world and ensure that the work it is doing will continue to be recognized in the future. If the Indian automobile Industry has to meet the expectations of their customers then it is mandatory that it first understands what the expectations are. According to Laudon & Traver, (2004) there are various ways in which the Indian automobile can learn the expectations of his client which include: Through the use of e-conferences to meet with their clients. They should also post in the internet creative questions which are quite open relating to what their customers expect from them. Through the use of net the company should ensure that the language used while posting information in the websites is easily understandable to all their clients (Millet 2007). They should also ensure that the posted information is saved in the internet for future reference. Exide technologies should come up with ways of evaluating exact needs of their customer if they have to remain relevant in the market of e-business. When a certain need or want is not clear they is a need to go back to customer and get further clarification concerning their needs. According to Turban & Liang, (2010) the assumption that most clients have the knowledge of what they want should not be used as a way of determining their wants since some usually do not know what they want. Some clients usually have a smart idea concerning what they think is best for them though the particular idea may not always correspond to exactly what they need. Therefore it is important for companies such as Indian automobile and Exide technologies to put into consideration the ideas of their clients knowing well that they might not necessarily dictate what they want. The management of these companies has the responsibility of devising a plan which considers the needs of the customers in respect to their ideas. When Indian automobile and Exide technologies as well as Sonic batteries want to fully become competitive in the e-business world they must put in to use the SWOT analysis which helps them identify their weakness as well as their strengths through well formatted questions from their clients. After the Indian Automobile has established what their client desires and expectations are then their work of satisfying the client’s wants starts. The following steps can be used by the Indian Automobile and Exide technologies in fulfilling their client’s needs. The companies should come up with a promising way out to subject presented by the client. The Indian Automobile must outline development goals and how those goals will be achieved. The Exide technologies should ensure that the correct product that is designed to meet the needs customers is well determined. After the companies have laid out development goals and well designed the product for their clients there is need to professionally through the use of internet top present the solutions to the clients. Jae, K. (1999). Customer follow-up This is a very important thing for Indian Automobile, Exide Technologies as well as Sonic Batteries. Since the companies are operating online there need to ensure that after a particular product has been delivered the create programs which will enhance the follow up of their clients (Turban & Liang, 2010). Creation of such programs will bring about the sense of belonging to the clients. Following dissatisfaction from the customers, the companies should exhibit ownership and use the procedures of the company to fix or sort customer issues. Methods of sustaining Competitive advantage For Indian Automobile, Exide technologies and sonic batteries companies to ensure a durable competitive advantage, they have to initiate a competitive strategy that will ensure use of a variety of techniques. Competition can take place in areas like reputation, technology, price, image, service, experience, time, design, loyalty, information, innovation, quality, knowledge, image, consultancy value and process. Working perfectly on these areas will ensure a lasting competition According to (Paul 2003) to o ensure sustained competitive advantage the companies should focus on the price of their goods and services. Having a low price provides a great competitive advantage. In e-business it becomes very to do a competition based on price as customers are able to compare prices via the internet. Therefore to ensure competition the firms should make sure that the prices are customer favourable. A good competitive strategy originates from the companies price-based competition. Despite of Indian Automobile, Exide technologies and Sonic batteries companies competing on prices, they should also use time and convenience in their competition strategy. They should ensure that they offer various types of products to save customers time of going to other websites to look for other goods and services. They should also ensure their company’s reputation is good. The company should also work towards ensuring quality as a way of ensuring high competitive advantage. It should also work towards the company’s loyalty to its customers and also improve on the qualities of its services. Indian Automobile Company should not focus on price as the only competitive strategy but rather it should combine several strategies which lead to a lasting competitive advantage. Therefore, it should ensure that it is up to date with the current technology to enhance innovation. Competitive analysis Indian Automobile should use Porter 5 force to analyze the competitive advantage of the company so as to determine the approach to be use- First Mover Advantage. The company which bears ideas, resources and the desire to reach the market first usually have a competitive advantage over those who get to the market late. If the company has a large customer’s network than its competitors then it has a economic advantage which in turn lead to high customer attraction. Indian Automobile Company should access its first mover advantage by determining whether there is positive feedback and this will enable it to determine its competitor advantage Production Cloning: Competitive advantage in a e-business may result due to the presence of economies of scale. For Indian Automobile Company to enjoy competitive advantage, it should ascertain whether it has a large market which leads to a huge cost advantage Network Economies; In order for Indian Automobile Company to enjoy a network advantage, it should raise the price of operating outside the network. This is to ascertain whether the customers can get equal advantage when not in the network then the cost of switching is very low but this is accompanied by low network advantage (Beynon 2004). To break someone’s network advantage results Indian Automobile Company will try to reduce the switching off price and leads to a competitive advantage. If Indian Automobile Company has to determine its competitive advantage, it has to uphold its competitive advantage via investment or learning. Beynon-P. (2004). These calls for the company to use the current technology or maintain a dominant technology which is easy to up-grade leading to cumulative advantage. A technology that attracts a lion share of investors leads to a cumulative advantage. Therefore, in process of analyzing the company’s competitive advantage, the company should ascertain whether it is enjoying cumulative advantage. Decision Leverage: A minute dissimilarity in ability can lead to a large dissimilarity in value. A slight difference in the talents of the worker of the company to those of its competitors can lead to a change in the competitive advantage. Indian Automobile Company should ascertain the magnitude of the decisions it makes and their effects as they have a huge implication towards competitive advantage. Ken K (2004) Obtaining Market Lock-up Indian Automobile Company should check whether it has achieved market lock-up. This comes from the Bandwidth law, Moore’s law and Metcalf’s law. This strategy is derived from the use of lasting and renewable contracts whish leads to a high cost of switching from one supplier to another on the side of the customers. Whenever the customer is unable to move to another supplier the company is said to have achieved a competitive advantage Cost of switching. To determine its competitive advantage, Indian Automobile Company determines whether the cost of switching by the customer to another supplier is high in that it is unbearable to the customer (Paul 2000)This should be done quite carefully as trials to trap customer can lead to negative effects of reducing the switching-off costs. Customers who feel trapped will be prepared to pay a bit for independence. Ken K(2004) The generally excellent way to uphold a customer in the Company’s network is by ensuring better, additional, and low cost services than its competitors. The Porter Five-Force Analysis of Competitive Strategy It identifies five forces that a company need evaluate to establish whether it can uphold competitive advantage. These forces include: The magnitude of the rivalry among business competitors. The risk of new companies venturing into the market. The quantity of bargain influence in the hands of the suppliers to the organizations in the business .The quantity of bargaining influence in the hands of the client of the organizations in the business. Ken K(2004) The risk embodied by prospective substitute goods to existing goods. Conclusion The electronic or e. portal do offer a variety of services through the world wide web hence people will tend to follow links that are pasted and nested in the yahoo domains, this strategy is very effective whereby the clients will enjoy by generating more income from the advertisements, this is enhanced by yahoo portal or goggle adverts for their recognition in the global market. Therefore for the Indian Automobile, Exide Technologies as well as Sonic Batteries to remain as potential business sectors they need to ensure that all their business policies as well as terms of service and of selling their products are easily accessed in the internet. They need to ensure that they sustain the competitive advantage through the application of the relevant methods such cost of switching or even the first mover advantage approach in their e-business dealings. Having an online competitive advantage will boost the volume of sales of the said companies as well as increasing their returns. Furthermore E-marketing or business has dominated the entire world hence the managing directors of the said companies should avoid ignorance and instead they ought to keep up with the current information related to information and technology trends (Paul, 2000). The e-business has greatly changed the manner in which companies compete in the world of offering goods and services and therefore it is important that all the companies take note of the changing times and trends in the business world. The e-business has enabled the three companies in our discussion to effectively compete in their business sector since they receive appraisal from their clients online. Finally the senior management of the three companies needs to see that all relevant undertakings related to e-business is put in to place to help their companies remain on the global arena electronically. References Beynon-Davies P. (2004). E-Business. Palgrave, Basingstoke Laudon K.C., Traver C.G.(2004) E-commerce business. Technology. Society. Pearson. Addison Wesley Lee, King& Viehand (2004) Electronic Commerce, A Managerial Perspective 2004, Prentice Hall Jelassi T., Enders A (2004) Strategies for E-Business, FT Prentice Hall Millett, T. (2007). Meeting Customer Needs and Wants: Amazon publishers. Paul Timmers, (2000), Electronic Commerce - strategies & models for business-to-business trading, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Turban, Lee, King & Liang, (2010) Electronic Commerce 20010 - A Managerial Perspective (International Edition), Prentice Hall Muthen, L. K. (2006). MPLUS user's guide. Los Angeles: Muthen & Muthen. Joyce, P&Woods, A (2001). Strategic Management. New York: Kogan Publishers. Grushkin, P & Stone, W (2001), Treasure of the Hard Rock Café. Chicago: Rare Air Media. Jae, K. (1999). Operations Management. New York: Barron's Learning Series.Robert, J. (2005). Operations Management: Civilizing Service Deliverance. Virginia:Prentice Printing Press. Beynon-P. (2004). E-Business and marketing procedures. Palgrave, Basingstoke Ken K(2004) E-commerce business. Technology. Society. Pearson. Addison Wesley Lee, K(2004) Electronic Commerce, A Managerial Perspective 2004, Prentice Hall Read More