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Question Paper

E-Business (MB3H1IT): January 2009

Section A : Basic Concepts (30 Marks)

• This section consists of questions with serial number 1 - 30.

• Answer all questions.• Each question carries one mark.

• Maximum time for answering Section A is 30 Minutes.

1. In E-buying, various steps are to be carried. Which of the following represents the correct

sequence of steps?

I. Provide e-catalog.

II. Determine price.III. Configure solution.

IV. Check inventory.

V. Accept order.

VI. Order tracking.VII. Process order.

VIII. Payment.

(a) I-II-III-IV-V-VI-VII-VIII

(b) I-III-II-IV-V-VII-VI-VIII

(c) I-III-II-V-IV-VII-VI-VIII

(d) I-II-III-V-IV-VII-VI-VIII

(e) I-III-II-V-IV-VI-VII-VIII.

<Answer>

2. When designing a website for selling goods and services, a seller should ensure that the

site contains various components. Which of the following component is a special-purpose

software that enables users to define a product that meet their needs, access information

about products, compare prices and purchase them without the assistance of experienced

personnel?

(a) Bundling(b) Entrust

(c) Configurator

(d) Tapping

(e) Tying.

<Answer>

3. Suppliers may be classified into various categories depending on the type of components

they supply. Which of the following does not come under the classification?

(a) Suppliers of scarce products

(b) Suppliers of strategic products

(c) Suppliers of non-strategic products

(d) Suppliers of commodity products(e) Suppliers of integration products.

<Answer>

4. Which of the following is/are true about Internet Protocol Version4 (IPV4) and Internet

Protocol Version6 (IPV6)?

I. IPV4 uses 16-bit addresses.

II. IPV6 uses 32-bit addresses.

III. IPV6 uses hexadecimal system for denoting the address.

(a) Only (I) above(b) Only (III) above

(c) Both (I) and (II) above

(d) Both (II) and (III) above

(e) All (I), (II) and (III) above.

<Answer>

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5. Transferring a business into an e-business model requires the formulation of a strategy

and framework for applying the strategy. The formulation of an e-business strategy

includes

I. Knowledge building.

II. Capability evaluation.

III. E-business design.

(a) Only (I) above(b) Both (I) and (II) above

(c) Both (I) and (III) above



<Answer>

6. Partnerships are essential because no company can perform well in all areas of businesses.The primary requirements for developing a partnership plan for an e-marketplace are

I. Defining the e-value chain requirements of business and customers.

II. Identifying the partnership candidates.

III. Determining the degree of ownership that the company is willing to forego.

IV. Defining a non preemptive strike strategy.

(a) Both (I) and (II) above(b) (I), (II) and (III) above

(c) (I), (II) and (IV) above

(d) (II), (III) and (IV) above

(e) All (I), (II), (III) and (IV) above.

<Answer>

7. Each area of Operating Resources Management (ORM) and the requirements of employees, buyers and suppliers should be considered in the design of e-procurement

application. The integration of e-procurement is complete, when

I. Suppliers are able to achieve cost efficiency and speedy delivery.

II. Professional purchasers are able to control purchase processes in the organization,

manage effective supplier relations, reduce costs and increase efficiency.

III. Employees find it convenient and easy to use.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Both (I) and (II) above




<Answer>

8. Which of the following statements are true about supply chain management?

I. Supply chain management is a set of processes which helps organizations develop

and deliver products.

II. Supply chain management can help companies integrate their customers, suppliers

and channel partners.

III. Supply chain management also involves the integration of adhoc and fragmented

processes into a consolidated system.IV. Supply chain links all the activities only in procurement.

(a) Both (I) and (II) above

(b) Both (III) and (IV) above

(c) (I), (II) and (III) above

(d) (II), (III) and (IV) above(e) All (I), (II), (III) and (IV) above.

<Answer>

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9. Both first and second generation Sales Force Automation (SFA) tools met with little

success for the reasons that

I. The SFA tools were flexible and had unlimited capabilities.

II. The sales procedures differed from organization to organization but the SFA tools

could not be customized to suit their needs.III. The SFA tools brought about changes only in enterprise systems.

(a) Only (I) above(b) Only (II) above




<Answer>

10. Which of the following statements is/are true about Selling-chain applications?

I. Selling-chain applications emphasize an integrated approach to sales management.

II. Selling-chain applications take only on integrated approach of the sales and

marketing operations.

III. Selling-chain applications may be considered as tools to streamline the integrated setof activities in order to acquire and fulfill orders.

(a) Only (I) above(b) Only (II) above




<Answer>

11. Which of the following statements is/are true about various types of cryptographic

algorithms?

I. Symmetric key cryptography uses the same key for encrypting and decrypting the

messages.

II. Symmetric key cryptography is also known as private key cryptography.

III. Public key cryptography uses a set of two complementary keys for encryption and

decryption.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above




<Answer>

12. There are various types of business integration that is prerequisite for an efficient e-CRM

infrastructure. Which of the following is/are false about contact management?

I. Contact management refers to capturing, sharing and storing of customer

information through electronic means and making it accessible to the entire

organization.

II. Contact management opens up only few opportunities for customer interaction for

similar kind of departments in an organization.III. Contact management ensures the availability of current information on customers.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above

(c) Only (III) above(d) Both (I) and (II) above

(e) Both (II) and (III) above.

<Answer>

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13. Which of the following statements is/are true about Direct Attached Storage (DAS)?

I. DAS manage storage using network operating systems.

II. DAS are scalable.

III. DAS have much dependence on network bandwidth.

(a) Only (I) above


(c) Both (I) and (III) above(d) Both (II) and (III) above


<Answer>

14. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) standard is based on Internet standards like

I. HyperText Markup Language (HTML).

II. Extensible Markup language (XML).

III. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

(a) Only (I) above





<Answer>

15. The evolution of wireless telephony over the years can be examined in terms of various

generations. Which of the following is/are true about various generations?

I. First generation (1G) of wireless telephony was a voice service only, which used

analog signaling.

II. Second generation (2G) wireless telephony was also essentially a voice technology but used digital technology. It is faster due to the circuit switch-on and off.

III. 2.5 generation (2.5G) is an intermediate between 2G and 3G and uses General

Packet Radio Service (GPRS).

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above

(c) Both (I) and (II) above(d) Both (I) and (III) above


<Answer>

16. Data stored on mobile devices can be protected by

I. Maintaining confidentiality by using third-party solutions to authenticate and encrypt

products.

II. Encrypting critical information.III. Using built-in password functionality for authentication.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above




<Answer>

17. Which of the following statements is/are true about the benefits of Mobile Portals?

I. They allow direct contact with buyers.

II. They help in identifying customer needs.

III. They do not form a link between suppliers and customers.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above


(d) Both (I) and (III) above


<Answer>

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18. Under section 802(a)(i) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, organizations are required to store all

records related to an audit for at least

(a) Five years

(b) One year

(c) Two years(d) Three years

(e) Four years.

<Answer>

19. Which of the following statements is/are true about E-finance?

I. E-finance considers organizational processes as interrelated activities.

II. The efforts of e-finance are primarily to do away with activities that provide valueaddition.

III. The automated approach followed by e-finance helps organizations make transaction

processing quicker and devoid of errors.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above

(c) Both (I) and (II) above(d) Both (I) and (III) above

(e) Both (II) and (III) above.

<Answer>

20. The protocols used by Stored Account Payment System include First Virtual (FV),

CyberCash Secure Internet Payment System and Secure Electronic Transaction (SET).

Which of the following statements is/are false about the protocol First Virtual (FV)?

I. FV introduced in October 1994, is the first commercial transaction payment system.II. FV uses cryptography or encryption technology to secure transactions.

III. A transaction using FV is complex.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above




<Answer>

21. Which of the following petroleum company launched India’s first retail & loyalty card for

petroleum application with smart card capabilities known as petrocard?

(a) Bharat Petroleum

(b) Indian Oil(c) Hindustan Petroleum

(d) Indo Burma petroleum

(e) Reliance Petroleum.

<Answer>

22. Increase in the popularity of e-businesses has attracted many businesses to adopt it. E-

business has helped in evolving different business models. Which of the following model

is based on metering the actual usage of a service?

(a) Advertising model

(b) Brokerage model(c) Utility model

(d) Merchant model

(e) Community model.

<Answer>

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23. Public key Infrastructure (PKI) ensures security of communication and transfer of critical

information through internet. PKI improves the enterprise wide network security

architecture by integrating

I. Public key cryptography.

II. Digital certificates.

III. Certification authorities.

IV. Virtual private networks.(a) Both (I) and (II) above

(b) Both (I) and (III) above

(c) Both (I) and (IV) above

(d) (I), (II) and (III) above


<Answer>

24. Which of the following statements are true about computer virus?

I. A virus is a program that replicates itself on a system and spreads through networks.

II. The virus replicates and infects the system as many times as the code is executed.

III. Viruses are encrypted in a complex code by virus writers to avoid being decoded

easily.

IV. Virus does not reside in a disk which contains certain codes that need to be executed

whenever the disk is booted.

(a) Both (I) and (II) above

(b) Both (I) and (III) above


(d) (I), (II) and (III) above(e) All (I), (II), (III) and (IV) above.

<Answer>

25. Digital certificates can be broadly categorized into various types. Which of the following

statements is/are true about them?

I. Type2 authenticate only e-mail and are not legally recognized in India.

II. Type1 authenticate e-mail, name and identity.

III. Type3 are used to authenticate e-mail, name and identity and are globally

interoperable.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (III) above




<Answer>

26. Smart cards use a special type of memory namely

(a) Electronically Erasable Read Only Memory (EEROM)

(b) Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM)

(c) Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM)

(d) Read Only Memory (ROM)

(e) Magnetic Coated Memory.

<Answer>

27. Which of the following statements is/are false about General Packet Radio Service

(GPRS)?

I. GPRS is a non-voice value-added service that allows information to be sent and

received across a mobile telephone network.

II. GPRS does not uses a packet-mode technique to transfer high-speed and low speed

data and optimizes the use of network and radio resources.

III. In GPRS, the radio interface resources are shared between speech and data services

depending upon the service load and operator preferences.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above

(c) Only (III) above

(d) Both (I) and (III) above(e) Both (II) and (III) above.

<Answer>

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28. Which of the following statements is/are false about i-mode technology?

I. i-mode technology offers web browsing and e-mail access through mobile phones.

II. i-mode technology was introduced in Japan in 1999 by NTT DoCoMo.

III. In i-mode technology data from the Internet is transmitted through DoCoMo’s

Internet gateway to a handset in packets containing 128 bytes of information.IV. i-mode browsing is costlier than Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browsing.

(a) Only (I) above(b) Only (IV) above



(e) Both (III) and (IV) above.

<Answer>

29. Which of the following statements are true about Middleware?

I. Middleware can be described as software which connects two separate applications.

II. Middleware is a distributed software layer which provides consistent and integrated

distributed programming environment.

III. Different programming models are supported by different middleware programs.IV. The most popular programming model is the event based middleware.

(a) Both (I) and (II) above(b) Both (I) and (III) above


(d) (I), (II) and (III) above


<Answer>

30. Wherever the inventory level fall below the predetermined levels, the machines

automatically place the order and replenish the stock. Which of the following statements

is/are true about Auto-replenishment system?

I. Auto-replenishment systems enable manufacturers to schedule their workflow,

minimize rush orders and shipment delays.

II. The Auto-replenishment systems work effectively when the optimal reorder points

are determined effectively.

III. The organizations using Auto-replenishment system will not have sufficient lead-time.

(a) Only (I) above

(b) Only (II) above

(c) Only (III) above

(d) Both (I) and (II) above


<Answer>

END OF SECTION A

E.Business (MB3H1IT): January 2009

Section B : Caselets (50 Marks)

• This section consists of questions with serial number 1 – 7.

• Answer all questions.

• Marks are indicated against each question.

• Detailed explanations should form part of your answer.

• Do not spend more than 110 - 120 minutes on Section B.

Caselet 1

Read the caselet carefully and answer the following questions:

1. Mention the various e-business initiatives taken by Escorts India Ltd., a leading twowheeler manufacturing company. ( 3 marks)

<Answer>

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2. B2B websites help streamline operations between organizations and their business

partners. In this context, explain the benefits offered by B2B marketplaces. ( 5 marks)

<Answer>

3. Explain the principles that can be followed by the companies to develop an

organizational culture which is for conducting e-business. ( 10 marks)

<Answer>

The Motor cycle manufacturing unit of Escorts India Ltd., was awarded Germany’s

prestigious GilzerMann award in 2001. It was the fifth company outside Germanyand the first 2-Wheeler company in the world to have been awarded the GilzerMann

award. Escort India Ltd., started the computerization move in the mid 90s and the e-

business initiatives, which started in late 90 have, seemed to have played a major

role in increasing the 2-wheeler Vehicle sales.

Escorts India Ltd., launched its e-business initiatives in 1999 which involved both

B2B and product-focused sites. The B2B site helped Escorts India Ltd., to do businessonline with its suppliers and dealers of Motor cycles and Scooters. The top

management led all e-business initiatives and they understood that the support of its

employees is essential for changing the organizational culture and sustaining the

change brought about by e-business, so they designed rewards and incentives that

align with e-business goals. Its suppliers centric site enabled it to send orders and

receive raw materials faster. The other sites created to do business with the dealersof utility vehicles and farm equipments respectively, made it easier and faster for

Escorts India Ltd., to get orders from the dealers and to know about the status of

sales at each dealer’s outlet. These sites were aimed at making customers to know

more about the outstanding features of Bikes as well as Scooter products and

consequently increase their sales. Escorts India Ltd., also used Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a data-mining tool. CRM helped Escorts to

know about the problems in the existing products, if any, and develop new products

with the help of information collected from the customers about the 2-wheeler

vehicle’s performance.

END OF

CASELET 1

Caselet 2

Read the caselet carefully and answer the following questions:

4. ‘The UK government targeted for the number of micro enterprises, and small and

medium sized enterprises becoming wired up to the digital marketplace. The targets

were specified in terms of the adoption of key e-business technologies like external

e-mail, websites and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).’ In this context, explain the

benefits of EDI. ( 8 marks)

<Answer>

5. What you think are the common selection factors while choosing Electronic DataInterchange (EDI) software? ( 4 marks)

<Answer>

The UK government’s 1998 white paper ‘Our Competitive Future – Building the

Knowledge Driven Economy’ set targets for the number of micro enterprises, and

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) becoming wired up to the digital

marketplace. The targets were specified in terms of the adoption of key e-business

technologies. Taking into account the current range of available technologies, this

was interpreted as the adoption and use of external e-mail, websites and Electronic

Data Interchange (EDI). Numerically, the target set was for adoption of these

underpinning technologies by 1 million micro enterprises and SMEs by the year

2002. When the white paper was published, an estimated 350,000 micro enterprises

and SMEs possessed these technologies. In 2001 some 1.9 million micro enterprises

and SMEs had either adopted e-mail, or EDI system or set up a website. Still, UK

SMEs are only beginning to experiment with new e-business solutions.

While 70% of small firms in the UK have some form of internet access, this remainslimited to the exchange of e-mails or a static company website. Very few UK SMEs

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• This section consists of questions with serial number 8 - 9.

• Answer all questions.

• Marks are indicated against each question.

• Do not spend more than 25 -30 minutes on Section C.

8. Discuss the major functions of each component in mobile value chain with a

neat diagram. ( 10 marks)

<Answer>

9. Explain the various components which are essential while implementing

Customer Relationship Management (CRM). ( 10 marks)

<Answer>

END OF SECTION C

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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Suggested Answers

E-Business (MB3H1IT): January 2009

Section A: Basic Concepts

Answer Reason

1. C In e-buying, various steps are to be carried. Hence the correct sequence of steps is

Provide e-catalog –Configure solution – Determine price – Accept order – Check

inventory – process order – Order tracking –Payment.

< TOP >

2. C Configurator component is special-purpose software that enables users to define a

product that meet their needs, access information about products, compare prices and

purchase them without the assistance of experienced personnel.

< TOP >

3. E Suppliers of integration products do not come under the classification depending on

the type of components they supply.

< TOP >

4. B IPV6 uses hexadecimal system for denoting the address. < TOP >

5. E Transferring a business into an e-business model requires the formulation of a

strategy and framework for applying the strategy. The formulation of an e-business

strategy includes

I. Knowledge building.

II. Capability evaluation.

III. E-business design.

< TOP >

6. B Partnerships are essential because no company can perform well in all areas of

businesses. The primary requirements for developing a partnership plan for an e-

marketplace are

I. Defining the e-value chain requirements of business and customers.

II. Identifying the partnership candidates.

III. Determining the degree of ownership that the company is willing to forego.

IV. Defining a preemptive strike strategy.

< TOP >

7. E • Suppliers are able to achieve cost efficiency and speedy delivery.

• Professional purchasers are able to control purchase processes in

the organization, manage effective supplier relations, reduce costs

and increase efficiency.

• Employees find it convenient and easy to use.

< TOP >

8. C Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a set of processes which helps organizations

develop and deliver products.SCM can help companies integrate their customers,

suppliers and channel partners.SCM also involves the integration of adhoc andfragmented processes into a consolidated system. Supply chain links all the activities

in procurement, transformation and storage of raw materials and intermediate

products and the sale of finished goods.

< TOP >

9. D The sales procedures differed from organization to organization but the sales force

automation (SFA) tools could not be customized to suit their needs. The SFA tools

brought about changes only in enterprise systems.

< TOP >

10. C Selling-chain applications emphasize an integrated approach to sales management.

Selling-chain applications may be considered as tools to streamline the integrated set

of activities in order to acquire and fulfill orders. Selling-chain applications take an

integrated approach of the sales and marketing operations and the order equisition

process.

< TOP >

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11. E Symmetric key cryptography uses the same key for encrypting and decrypting the

messages. Symmetric key cryptography is also known as private key cryptography.

Public key cryptography uses a set of two complementary keys for encryption and

decryption.

< TOP >

12. B Contact management opens up several opportunities for customer interaction for

different departments in an organization. Contact management refers to capturing,

sharing and storing of customer information through electronic means and making it

accessible to the entire organization. Contact management ensures the availability of current information on customers.

< TOP >

13. B Direct Attached Storage (DAS) manage storage using network operating systems.

DAS are scalable. DAS do not have much dependence on network bandwidth.

< TOP >

14. E Wireless Application protocol (WAP) standard is based on Internet standards like

Hypertext markup language (HTML), Extensible Markup language (XML) and

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

< TOP >

15. D First generation (1G) of wireless telephony was a voice service only, which used

analog signaling.2.5 generation (2.5G), is an intermediate between 2G and 3G that

uses General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Second generation (2G) wireless

telephony was also essentially a voice technology but used digital technology which

is slower due to the circuit switch-on and off.

< TOP >

16. E Data stored on mobile devices can be protected by

I. Maintaining confidentiality by using third-party solutions to authenticate and

encrypt products.

II. Encrypting critical information.

III. Using built-in password functionality for authentication.

< TOP >

17. C Mobile portals allow direct contact with buyers. Mobile portals help in identifying

customer needs. Mobile portals form an important link between suppliers and

customers.

< TOP >

18. A Under section 802(a)(i) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, organizations are required to store

all records related to an audit for at least five years.

< TOP >

19. D E-finance considers organizational processes as interrelated activities. The automated

approach followed by e-finance helps organizations make transaction processing

quicker and devoid of errors. The efforts of E-finance are primarily to do away with

activities that do not provide any value addition.

< TOP >

20. D First Virtual (FV) introduced in October 1994, is the first commercial transaction

payment system.FV does not use cryptography to secure transactions. A transactionusing FV is very simple.

< TOP >

21. A Bharat Petroleum launched India’s first retail & loyalty card for petroleum application

with smart card capabilities known as petrocard.

< TOP >

22. B Examples of Brokerage models are eBay,escrow.com,bazee.com,priceline.com etc. < TOP >

23. D Public key Infrastructure (PKI) ensures security of communication and transfer of critical information through internet.PKI improves the enterprise wide network

security architecture by integrating Public key cryptography, Digital certificates and

Certification authorities.

< TOP >

24. D A virus is a program that replicates itself on a system and spreads through networks.

The virus replicates and infects the system as many times as the code is executed.

Viruses are encrypted in a complex code by virus writers to avoid being decoded

easily. Virus may reside in a disk which contains certain codes that need to be

executed whenever the disk is booted.

< TOP >

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25. B Digital certificates can be broadly categorized into three types:

• Type1: These authenticate only e-mail, and are not legally recognized in India

as per the IT Act 2002.

• Type2: These authenticate e-mail, name and identity and arelegally recognized in India as per the IT Act 2002.

• Type3: These are used to authenticate e-mail, name and identity

and are globally interoperable. These certificates are legallyrecognized in India as per IT Act 2002.

< TOP >

26. A Smart cards use a special type of memory namely Electrically Erasable Read Only

Memory (EEROM).

< TOP >

27. B General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a non-voice value-added service that allows

information to be sent and received across a mobile telephone network. GPRS uses a

packet-mode technique to transfer high-speed and low speed data and optimizes the

use of network and radio resources. In GPRS, the radio interface resources are shared

between speech and data services depending upon the service load and operator preferences.

< TOP >

28. B i-Mode technology offers web browsing and e-mail access through mobile phones. i-Mode technology was introduced in Japan in 1999 by NTT DoCoMo. In i-Mode

technology data from the Internet is transmitted through DoCoMo’s Internet gateway

to a handset in packets containing 128 bytes of information. i-mode browsing is

cheaper than Wireless Application protocol (WAP) browsing.

< TOP >

29. D Middleware can be described as software which connects two separate applications.

Middleware is a distributed software layer which provides consistent and integrated

distributed programming environment. Different programming models are supported

by different middleware programs. The most popular programming model is the

object based middleware.

< TOP >

30. D Auto-replenishment systems enable manufacturers to schedule their workflow,minimize rush orders and shipment delays. The auto-replenishment systems work

effectively when the optimal reorder points are determined effectively. The

organizations using auto-replenishment system have sufficient lead-time.

< TOP >

E.Business (MB3H1IT): January 2009

Section B : Caselets

1. E-business initiatives taken by Escorts India Ltd:

• Escorts India Ltd launched its E-Business initiatives in 1999. It involved both B2B and

product-focused sites. The B2B site helped Escorts to do business online with its

suppliers and dealers of 2- wheeler Vehicles.

• Its suppliers' centric site enabled it to send orders and receive raw materials faster. The

sites esco2wheelmanu.com and urfavoritemobike.com, created to do business with thedealers of

2-WheelerVehicles that led to easier and faster for Escorts to get orders from the dealers

and to know about the status of sales at each dealer's outlet.

• The sites were aimed at making customers aware of the features of Bikes and Scooters

and consequently increase their sales.

• Escorts India Ltd also used Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a data-mining

tool.

• CRM helped M&M to know about the problems in the existing products, if any, and

develop new products with the help of information collected from the customers about

the 2- WheelerVehicles' performance.

< TOP >

2. B2B is the most popular e-business model dealing with B2B transactions. B2B marketplaces

evolved with the primary goal of matching buyers and sellers. Thus enabling the exchange of < TOP >

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gods and services. B2B websites help streamline operations between organizations and their

business partners. B2B market places offer several benefits:

• Efficient management of inventory.

• Quick response to customer demand.

• Reduction in the cost of paperwork.

• Efficient and fast product launch.

• Control over fraudulent purchases.

B2B websites focus on providing solutions to various industries such as the banking,

hospitality, and automotive industries. These are meant only for business organization:

individuals are not allowed to carryout transactions over such sites.

3. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE FOR E-BUSINESS

In e-business, organizations need to continuously make efforts to enhance and leverage their

business processes and technology to achieve the highest degree of customer satisfaction.

Organizational culture plays an important role in maintaining this focus. The principles that

must be followed to develop an organizational culture which is conducive for conducting e-

business are discussed below:

Ensure Commitment of Top Management

Employees will not understand the importance of e-business unless top managementemphasizes it. The top management should lead all e-business initiatives. Their support is

essential for changing the organizational culture and sustaining the change brought about by

e-business.

Create Incentives that Support E-Business Goals

One of the goals of an e-business strategy is to achieve maximum customer satisfaction thatshould finally lead to customer retention. An organization should design rewards and

incentives that align with the e-business goals. Customer satisfaction should be the top

priority in the organization. The sales force should emphasize customer retention instead of

ust focusing on customer acquisition. This may require revamping of the incentive schemes

to suit the multi-channel strategy.

Develop and Maintain a Bias for Action

Short customer life cycles and the rapid pace of business growth make speed and agility keyfactors in the e-business environment. For fulfilling customer's demand of wider choice of

products, superior quality service, and faster product delivery, businesses need to be highly

agile. The four factors that will ensure e-business agility are discussed below.

Avoid lengthy analysis

Organizations tend to spend a lot of time analyzing the market and their competitors. Time is a

crucial factor in e-business. Spending more time on analysis gives competitors the opportunity

to move ahead. So it is essential that organizations complete their analysis within a short span

of time.

Flatten the hierarchy

The lower the number of hierarchical levels that communication passes through, the moreaccurate and more effective it is. Hence, organizations should review the number of

hierarchical levels present and reduce them to the minimum.Expect occasional sub-optimal results

Organizations are not always able to achieve their set targets. They may sometimes fall short

of their targets. Such failure should be tolerated and regarded as a learning opportunity.

Test everything and test all the time

One of the primary goals of organizations is to build capabilities that will help them better understand its customers, marketplace, and business processes. To achieve this goal,

organizations must regularly test new approaches in marketing, sales, and service. Thus,

controlled experimentation is a part of an effective e-business strategy.

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4. Benefits of EDI

EDI is a quick, inexpensive, and relatively safe method to transmit invoices, purchase orders,

customs documents, shipping notices, other business documents between different firms.When these documents are transferred from computer to computer, the delay and cost incurred

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for re-keying the information is saved. Errors will be reduced to nearly zero percent. For large

businesses like Boeing, GE, etc., who have thousands of suppliers and large number of

purchase orders involving shipping notices and other documents, the cost saving will be

considerable.

Reduced paper based system

Since EDI transactions are from system to system, a company is saved from maintaining a

large number of records, paper related systems, stationary and the personnel required to

maintain them.

Improved problem resolution and customer service

Inter-business problems caused due to erroneous data entry can be eliminated using EDI. EDIhelps in quick transfer of documents, invoices, quick filing of orders, shipping notices, etc.,

which ultimately improves customer service.

Enhanced partnership

If a supplier accepts the manufacturer's request and becomes EDI enabled, he can move up in

the relationship chain from the supplier to the partner. When evaluating the capabilities of

suppliers, manufacturers prefer the suppliers who are EDI enabled. Even the ability toimplement EDI can also be plus point in evaluation.

5. The most important factors taken into consideration while selecting EDI software are:

1 .Number of Installations: A firm, which goes for buying the software, should inspect the popularity of the software with regards to the sectoral break down of installations. This is

because some software may be good for some sectors like transportation, freight

forwarding etc., but may not be so good for others.

2. Financial stability of software house: The software vendor should be able to support the

software and execute maintenance contracts. This is of great importance because the

software would have to be upgraded periodically to meet changing business needs.

3. Ease of use of software: The software selected should be user-friendly so that valuable

man hours are not lost in providing specialized and long training to the personnel. For

example, the package could be Windows based or menu driven for ease of use.

4. Hardware compatibility: The software should be compatible with different platforms. If

a user wants to change its operating platform, the EDI software should be scalable to the

new platform.5. Ease of upgrade: The EDI software should be able to accommodate future changes that

will arise as the EDI trading relationships of the company mature.

6. Network connectivity: The software should be checked whether it is providing

connectivity to all other major EDI networks.

7. Multi-standards capability: When a firm sends messages to different partners with

different standards, the EDI software should be able to accommodate them also.

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6. The following are the modules of Supply chain planning

Advanced scheduling and manufacturing planning modules

The manufacturing and supply functions are coordinated, as per customer orders, using this

module. Job schedules for manufacturing processes and supplier logistics are also created inthis module.

Demand planning modules

Organizations rely on demand forecasts for their production schedules. These forecasts are

generated and consolidated in this module using statistical tools and forecasting techniques.

Distribution planning functions

Operating plans are developed in this module. The demand and manufacturing modules are

integrated with distribution planning for effective order fulfillment. The requirements

specified by the customer are also incorporated using this module.

Transportation planning

The movement of materials and products in and out of the company is taken care of in this

module. The products, materials, finished goods, etc., should be delivered to the specifiedaddress or persons at the right time according to the delivery schedule. Cost is a very

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important variable to be taken care of. The module also keeps track of -variables such as

loading dock space, trailer availability, transportation modes, etc.

ERP provides, the necessary support for the SCP modules. With the help of ERP, SCP

processes can determine the demand for a product, the raw materials needed for the product,

the time taken to manufacture and deliver it, and the inventory stock of the finished goods and

raw materials. SCP applications should be flexible enough to accommodate multiple planningstrategies like Profitable-to-Promise (PTP), ATP, Capable-to-Promise (CTP), etc. Usually

when a customer requires a few changes in the order placed, a lot of variables like pricing, jobsequencing, production schedules, transportation schedules are affected. A SCP application

records these changes and makes these changes visible to all the people involved in the

process. This makes it possible to coordinate the delivery schedules, shipping schedules,

promotion schedule, etc. Since it acts as a single information source, different departments cancoordinate their activities optimally.

7. The differentiator between sellers in today's competitive business environment is level of

efficiency of a firm, leading to cost-effective customer service. It is no longer sufficient for

companies to handle inventory efficiently, they need to adopt a customer-centric strategy.

Though planning is beneficial to companies in streamlining processes and reducing costs, it

does not necessarily deliver benefits to customers if a customer-centric approach is not

adopted. Execution in the supply chain needs to be based on all available information details

at every stage. There should be no mismatch in this regard for a well-coordinated supply

chain. Software applications for Supply Chain Execution (SCE) are commonly used by

companies for managing outsourcing agreements. These applications manage assets,

inventory, and orders. They are growing in popularity because:

• Businesses are trying to optimize coordination with external channel partners, after

having maximized internal efficiencies

• Since there is a need for external focus, companies feel that enterprise

applications will be able to cater to varying data requirements in the real

world scenario.

While using enterprise applications, companies can either focus on warehousing and

transportation, or integrate planning systems with other enterprise software. The components

of SCE are order planning, production, replenishment, distribution management, reversedistribution and logistics.

Order planning

Order planning is becoming increasingly complex because of the rise in customer

expectations and shorter delivery cycles. Therefore organizations need to develop efficient

execution plans. The plans that best satisfy customer needs should be selected keeping in

mind the constraints (such as transportation). The selection process should take intoconsideration supply chain constraints such as inventory availability, production capacity,

suppliers' ability to deliver on time and limitations posed by transportation modes (like truck

capacity, maximum load for a truck, and availability of downstream resources).

Production

Modular product designs have facilitated the assembling of products in warehouses. Unlike a

few decades ago, today sub-assemblies are procured when products are to be assembled. Thetime, quantity and location where the sub-assemblies will be required, are determined by the

master production schedule and the Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) system.

Replenishment

Production is not restricted to the manufacturing of products; it includes replenishment

strategies that help reduce inventory in the supply chain and facilitate product exchange between the channel partners. Timely replenishment of goods in the warehouse is a critical

activity so that the risk of returning a customer empty-handed from a store is minimized.

Distribution management

Distribution management includes all the activities in transporting goods from the

manufacturer to distribution center and finally to customers. Distribution management can be

streamlined by integrating it with transportation planning and scheduling. Transportation

management facilitates delivery, tracking of shipment and access to shipping details. It alsosupports a set of complex and dynamic requirements like document generation and regulatory

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compliance for international trade.

Reverse distribution or reverse logistics

Products get outdated very fast. Rapid changes in fashion and generous warranties have

resulted in a higher rate of return of goods in recent years. Reverse logistics is concerned with

goods returned by customers due to dissatisfaction or defects. The goods are either sent back

to the manufacturer or disposed off after the money is returned to the customers. It also

includes products designed for re-manufacture, hazardous material and reusable packing.

Section C: Applied Theory

8.The value chain in the wireless industry consists of seven major components. The mobile value chain starts

from suppliers of equipments and includes networks, software, and services, finally ending at the consumer

. The players are:

Equipment Component Manufacturers:

They manufacture parts and sub-assemblies that maintain the mobility and utility of mobile devices. Thecomponents enhance the technological capability of mobile devices. For example, batteries with longer life

and other technical advancements help improve the performance of mobile phones.

Wireless Network Infrastructure Providers:

These include companies that provide hardware, fiber networks, wireless, communications towers and

satellite networks to enable the convergence of the telecommunications and Internet Protocol (IP)networks. These players provide the points of connection that make possible a mobile network. The business

transactions of these companies usually comprise hardware sales or leasing to telecom companies.

Examples include Alcatel, American Tower, Ericsson, and Motorola,

Mobile Device Manufacturers: These companies sell hardware like mobile phones, Personal Digital

Assistants (PDAs), handheld PCs and other networking equipment to facilitate mobile applications. The

device manufacturers are the customer's gateway to the wireless network. This segment also includes

somecomplementary markets like PCs, semiconductors, servers, and telecommunications service and equipment.

These companies sell mobile devices and other hardware directly to the users or network operators.

Players in this segment include Handspring, Compaq, HP, and Sun Microsystems.

The Mobile Value Chain

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Network Wireless Carriers: These companies sell network connections to provide mobile access

services. They manage connectivity and charge monthly fee for their infrastructure. The fee is

determined by the speed of connection and/or the volume of data transferred. Examples include AT&T

Wireless, Cingular, Go America, OmniSky, and Palm.Net.

Software and Services Providers: These companies sell software, including operating systems, security

and applications software, which enables communication and commerce within and amongorganizations. They add value by expanding application solutions to business and consumer needs,

enabling m-commerce. These companies derive revenues from software consulting, hosting, licensing,maintenance, and operation services. Players in this industry include Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Tibco.

Solution Providers: These companies provide various services including consulting, design &

implementation, information databases, hosting, renting applications and transaction processing. These

companies provide solutions through storage and/or application of information for businesses andconsumers. M-Businesses require radically different approaches in design, development, and

implementation of mobile applications. The solution providers license/rent software or charge

subscription fees for their services. Companies in this industry include Aether, Air2Web, and Mobilicity.

Content and Portal Companies: These companies include mobile portals and mobile syndicators. They

aggregate, organize and provide access to the content created by content development companies on

mobile devices. Their business model is based on advertising and subscription fees. Players in this

industry include About.com, Rediff.com, and Yahoo!

9.Following are few components which are essential while implementing Customer RelationsManagement (CRM)

Cross selling and Up-Selling Software

The purpose of using cross selling and up-selling software is to identify prospective customers, track their details and forward them to the salespersons. The software can be used to schedule sales calls,

track order progress, and to record sales transactions. To make the software more effective, it can be

integrated with inventory and customer service software. Cross selling and up-selling efforts of an

organization can be linked with the life cycle of customers. For example, banks and financial institutions

can link their financial products and services with customer's life cycle. They can offer retirement plans,

annuity plans, and so on to a customer approaching retirement and offer education savings plan to loanapplicants with young kids.

By selling complementary products to customers, companies can foster customer relationships. For

instance, ICICI Bank in India offers a wide range of financial products and services including personal banking, bonds, brokerage services, insurance, and home loans. Hence, the bank derives significant

benefits through cross selling (e.g. a home loan customer can be offered car loans) and up-selling (for

e.g. a customer of ICICI brokerage services is offered investment advisory services and financial news)these financial products.

Direct Marketing and Fulfillment

Direct marketing includes advertising campaigns and other sales promotion techniques that provide

product information and enable customers to make purchases. Automating this function is essential when

there are multiple marketing programs that need to be handled across multiple channels. For instance,

campaign management is a marketing process that uses automated systems to handle responses, managelogistics, and to convert leads into purchases. The objective of fulfillment is to handle customer's request

for information quickly and effectively irrespective of the type of information requested. Fulfillment has

to be integrated well with sales and marketing functions. A good fulfillment package provides timely

reply to customers' inquiries on products and services.

Customer Support and Service

Customer support consists of several activities like service request management, customer surveys,

accounts management, and detailed service agreements. Customer service essentially handles customer

problems related to products and services. Help desk software is used to handle customers' queries and

solve their problems efficiently. The software helps in verification of customer status, tracking specific

tasks, maintaining history of inquiries, and monitoring support level agreements.

Field Service Operations

Field service is an extension of customer support and service. It is used when problems cannot be

resolved over telephone or through e-mail. A field service executive is sent to the customer's site for

repair or maintenance. Field service executives can render good customer service at reasonable cost. The

field service software supports activities like scheduling and sending service personnel, managing

logistics and inventory,>and also handling contracts and accounting problems.

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Retention Management

An effective CRM application helps in distinguishing customers based on the number of years of

association with the company and the business given by each customer. A Decision Support System

(DSS) helps in customer segmentation. A good DSS gathers detailed customer information and helps the

organization in understanding their highly profitable customers.

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