E-commerce has aroused widespread concern, but people have not yet reached a unified and standardized understanding of e-commerce. Different experts and scholars, enterprises, social organizations and government agencies have made different descriptions of e-commerce from different aspects. It can be said that there are different opinions and no one can agree. Therefore, in order to have a scientific understanding of e-commerce, it is necessary to make a scientific comparison and summary of various statements.
☆ World e-commerce conference on the concept of e-commerce.
1997165438+10 In October, the International Chamber of Commerce held the World E-commerce Conference in Paris, and put forward the concept of e-commerce from the commercial point of view: e-commerce refers to the automation and electronization of the whole trade activities. The businesses covered by e-commerce include: information exchange, pre-sale and after-sale services (such as providing details of products and services, technical guidelines for product use, and answering customers' opinions), sales and electronic payment (such as using electronic fund transfer, credit cards, electronic checks, electronic cash, etc.). ), transportation (including goods delivery management and transportation tracking, as well as products that can be transmitted electronically), establishment of online enterprises, etc.
☆ The Canadian Electronic Commerce Association gives a strict definition of electronic commerce: electronic commerce is the sale of goods and services and the transfer of funds through digital communication, which includes all the functions that can be realized through e-mail, EDI, file transmission, fax, video conference and remote computer networking (such as marketing, financial settlement, sales and equipment negotiation).
☆IBM's definition of e-commerce
In 1997, IBM first put forward the concept of e-commerce, which they defined as: e-commerce is an interrelated dynamic business activity developed on the Internet under the background of the extensive connection of the Internet and the rich resources of the traditional information technology system, which can be divided into broad sense and narrow sense. E-commerce in a narrow sense is called electronic transaction, which is mainly conducted online by means of communication provided by the network. E-commerce in a broad sense includes electronic transactions, as well as all-round business activities carried out by using the network, such as market research and analysis, financial accounting, production planning, customer contact, material management and so on. All these involve the inside and outside of the enterprise.
☆ Shanghai Electronic Commerce Security Certificate Management Center defines electronic commerce as: electronic commerce refers to the exchange of business data and the development of business activities by digital electronic means. E-commerce mainly includes paperless business information exchange between individuals, enterprises and countries by using major technologies such as electronic data interchange (EDI), e-mail, electronic fund transfer (EFT) and the Internet.
E-commerce EB in a broad sense.
First of all, e-commerce is a way of business that adopts the most advanced information technology.
Secondly, the essence of e-commerce is business.
Third, the understanding of "broad sense", the broad sense of e-commerce includes a wide range, including both electronic data exchange and internet e-commerce; It not only includes obvious e-commerce activities such as online information inquiry, online marketing and online advertising, but also includes many aspects of enterprise information fields such as enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and customer relationship management. This is the mainstream view represented by IBM.
E-commerce EC in a narrow sense.
E-commerce in a narrow sense is also generally called electronic transaction, which refers to business activities conducted through the Internet. In most cases, the concept of e-commerce we generally talk about is e-commerce in a narrow sense.
In the Outline of Global E-commerce, the U.S. government generally pointed out that e-commerce refers to all kinds of business activities through the Internet, including advertising, trading, payment and services, which is narrow. Similarly, Intel defines e-commerce as: e-commerce = e-market+e-transaction+e-service.
E-commerce includes two aspects: one is business activities, and the other is electronic means. The relationship between them is that business is the core and electronic means is the tool.
★★★★★★★★★★★★ Why do enterprises conduct e-commerce?
The development of e-commerce challenges the operation of enterprises. Focusing on the relationship between e-commerce and business process reengineering, I think we can see what impact e-commerce has on China enterprises from three aspects.
The first is the influence of e-commerce on the living environment and lifestyle of enterprises.
First of all, the adoption of e-commerce means has completely broken the influence of cultural customs in economic life, eliminated the obstacles of language exchange and ideological differences, and integrated the whole world. The network already exists objectively. No matter whether you are online or not, you are facing the global competition brought by the network. This is obviously a huge challenge for our enterprise. It is very obvious that the network itself can reduce the product cost and operating cost of enterprises. Judging from these functions, it is obviously a potential and visible modern tool that has a great influence on the comparative cost of our enterprise, so e-commerce itself is a new growth point for the development of our enterprise. Some experts have analyzed the data of e-commerce cost changes in different industries, and the average level is basically set at 1%, which should be considerable. Therefore, globalization is both a business opportunity and a challenge. Economic globalization, global resource allocation, application of e-commerce. Economic growth and efficiency improvement are obvious, and the highest constraint of efficiency-seeking enterprises makes us have to face up to the new business environment brought by e-commerce.
Secondly, the change of factor circulation mode. On the issue of developing e-commerce, I think we must attach great importance to the ability of logistics distribution and the reform of logistics system. We can learn from the achievements of Shanghai Meilin Company in developing e-commerce. Based on the water supply system established by operating pure water, Meilin gradually extended to other daily necessities. Although this kind of logistics ability is manifested in tricycles, small trucks, and even their e-commerce ability is only telephone, but there is already the shadow of e-commerce, which is why it performs so well in the stock market. It should be noted that the whole logistics system inherited from the planned economy is seriously unsuitable for the requirements of modern mass production system. In this context, our enterprises need to study how to transform the existing sales network, which may not be well combined with e-commerce.
In fact, since the reform and opening up, some large foreign companies have paid great attention to the marketing ability and network foundation of China enterprises when choosing joint venture partners. For example, Nestle is interested in the network system of ordering and delivering milk formed under the planned economy, because this network can be well combined with modern e-commerce and transformed into modern logistics system. The emergence of e-commerce puts forward special requirements for logistics system, which must be paid enough attention to.
Third, it is the settlement method and the credit problem between enterprises. At present, triangular debts are widespread among enterprises. In the business environment of Chinese enterprises, the whole banking service and the enterprise's own ability to control the capital flow, as well as the changes in the credit image and settlement methods in enterprise operation, are facing a series of challenges. If e-commerce is not supported by a very good credit system and credit legal system, it is simply impossible. I think these are three aspects of the whole environmental change. In fact, the explanations of e-commerce given by several major foreign institutions in China are very enlightening to us, and also enlightening to how to truly understand e-commerce.
Second, the challenge of e-commerce to business philosophy.
Our enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, have long lived under the planned economy system and in the arms of the government, which cares a lot about state-owned enterprises directly. It can be said that up to now, our state-owned enterprises have been promoting the reform under the condition of enjoying preferential treatment from the profit retention to the debt-to-equity swap being implemented. Private enterprises have never enjoyed such treatment. It is also true that private enterprises have withstood various tests in their growth, have very strong strength and have a natural affinity with the market, which is a huge difference between private enterprises and state-owned enterprises. If our state-owned enterprises always want to rely on the government, it will be difficult to really go to the market in the end. So I think we should accept the challenge from the concept, because e-commerce itself is a modern tool, and everyone can participate, and the ability to pay and reputation are the thresholds for participation.
The key challenges are shown in three aspects: first, the unique capital ability of credit in e-commerce and its ability to carry out e-commerce activities. Our enterprise must establish a modern credit concept that fully adapts to the market economy, which is a point that needs special emphasis in our economic life, because in e-commerce activities, banks may rely entirely on your own statement, your account number and your password to provide services and conduct supervision. However, I feel that in the case that our laws and the order of the whole e-commerce activities are still unclear, more depends on the self-discipline ability of our enterprises. Here, the credit background and credit support in modern e-commerce activities and negotiation activities actually play a unique capital role. Habitually relying on the government and running forward (money) is obviously lacking in self-confidence and credit ability.
Why should enterprises develop e-commerce?
Secondly, the concept of the whole ordering process should be changed. In the past, the money was counted according to the goods, and the money was paid in one hand and delivered in the other. However, under the e-commerce mode, the concept of seeing is believing in business activities in the past must be changed. Because we can't see the goods, we just report the varieties, specifications, quotations and demands of the goods online. For our own enterprises, in the process of buying and selling commodities, many new standards of commodity quality, commodity standards and so-called standard contract mode must be established, so we need new standards suitable for the operation of e-commerce enterprises. It can be seen that e-commerce poses a challenge to enterprise management. I call the management of e-commerce enterprises "new management", which involves a series of problems. As the previous guests said, the concept of informatization will inevitably challenge the setting of the whole management position, the configuration of managers and the internal management process of enterprises, so we must accept new management concepts, such as time, such as the future management of expected benefits. Therefore, the management of enterprises using e-commerce must have a new management concept, and this concept is finally implemented in the reengineering of enterprise management processes. E-commerce is a new economic growth point with strong growth. In order to adapt to e-commerce activities, e-commerce activities should be "localized". The so-called "localization" means having China characteristics. We must proceed from the reality of China and introduce e-commerce activities instead of copying the western model. We lack the mature e-commerce infrastructure like the West.
The third aspect, associated with e-commerce activities, the process of enterprise operation needs to be rebuilt.
The first is the adjustment of the relationship between internal management and external management. Under the means of e-commerce information network media, it is required to maintain good internal and external interaction ability, that is, the ability of internal management and internal processes to interact with the external environment through the Internet. Because e-commerce activities have clearly told us that it can greatly reduce the procurement cost and enlarge the optional procurement objects, and as a supplier, it can enlarge the scope of the demand side, which will have a direct and huge impact and change on both suppliers and demand sides. Therefore, whether you surf the Internet as a purchaser or a supplier, you must reorganize the internal process system and change your own internal management standards in accordance with the requirements of the Information Law on E-commerce Activities. Because in the network age and digital age, the consumption behavior of the whole consumer has changed, how can you provide personalized service and change the production mode of large quantities and few varieties? How to form a flexible manufacturing system in the internal and external environment of an enterprise? Specially designed according to the needs of users, so that this personalized product can be handled well on your assembly line, and the raw material supply requirements are in place.
The implementation of e-commerce is to produce according to the needs of users. For example, in automobile manufacturing, the past large-scale production mode has changed, so that the inventory of the whole enterprise no longer exists. Through e-commerce, it seems that with the germination of capitalism, on-demand production has emerged, and flexible production systems have emerged within enterprises. In the process of our whole enterprise, the first thing that happens is information, the source of which is the information of consumer demand, the material procurement within the whole enterprise, the material distribution in the production workshop, the working sequence of the assembly line itself, and even the information delivered to consumers. How to make the whole process orderly is a great challenge for enterprises. Large enterprises are used to mass production, but today the concept of personalized market share has changed, and the standard assessment direction of information flow and information is changing. So I think this is a benign interaction between internal and external management that our enterprise needs to pay special attention to. For example, Haier, Haier products are all white. He didn't make a fuss about the external color of the product in order to distinguish it. Instead, he distinguishes different products by adding many subheadings under the general brand, which is a change in the internal management process of enterprises to adapt to the personalized characteristics of modern consumption. In order to distinguish products, some enterprises have made articles on the packaging or color of products, which will inevitably lead to an additional painting assembly line in the production process, or in the case of only one painting assembly line, painting and spray guns are often replaced according to different colors. This will not only slow the response to the market, but also increase the production cost. It can be seen that how to distinguish products can not stay in the original concept, not by color, but by trademark subtitle.
Secondly, combined with the changes in the external environment, how can our enterprise operation cooperate with the transformation of the whole logistics process? For example, Shanghai Tobacco Group, as well as the wine and sugar industry, has a very good logistics system. A few years ago, tobacco and sugar industry cooperated to establish a "Jieqiang Chain", and the advantages were superimposed, which produced good economic benefits. In order to adjust the internal and external relations of enterprises, our enterprises don't have to build their own marketing and distribution network from scratch, but can take up the weapon of cooperation to solve our own business process reengineering, adapt to the requirements of e-commerce and change the interaction ability between enterprises themselves and the external environment. Recently, Wuxi's "Little Swan" and Guangdong's "Kelon" announced the establishment of a "strategic alliance", which is a successful model.
Third, it is the problem of enterprise internal process reengineering. What China enterprises are facing today is the process reengineering which is intertwined with marketization and electronization. In other words, the process reengineering of state-owned enterprises in China includes two levels. The first is how to adapt to the market economy, and at the same time, how to adapt to the e-commerce means under the market economy. Because the traditional process of state-owned enterprises is precisely the fatal weakness of state-owned enterprises. Enterprise internal process reengineering must be based on market demand and the basic requirements of e-commerce. Without these two aspects of reengineering or promotion, it is difficult to succeed. Through reengineering, the innovation of enterprise system can be realized. Process reengineering needs institutional innovation to consolidate. There is no system innovation, just general process reengineering, just following the fashion. I find it difficult to really catch up with the requirements of the new economy. In addition, in the development of human capital, the cultivation of team consciousness, the adjustment of property rights system and organizational structure, the whole enterprise system should be fundamentally reformed and innovated, which can complement the business process reengineering of enterprises.
★★★★★★★★★★★★ How should enterprises implement e-commerce?
E-commerce has gradually penetrated into people's daily life, and many of us are already enjoying the fun it brings. Of course, e-commerce is not only about browsing, sending and receiving e-mails and trading goods through the intranet, but also has rich connotations, including enterprise competition, government departments and public institutions, education and entertainment, which have changed the way of human interaction. E-commerce adopts Internet communication channels based on open standards. Compared with the traditional communication methods of mail, fax, newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and other business activities, its content and connotation have changed greatly. The interactivity of e-commerce has turned one-way communication into two-way communication; Expand the function of the channel, not only to transmit information, but also to pay and deliver services. In addition, e-commerce can also provide a virtual global trade environment for enterprises, greatly improving the level of business activities and service quality. Analysis of the needs of enterprises to develop e-commerce The development of e-commerce is to organize social resources, use existing information technology to realize information sharing, meet industry service needs and social needs, and realize real e-commerce. The realization of e-commerce is a huge system engineering, and its demand analysis includes the demand analysis of each subsystem.
First of all, e-commerce is a brand-new concept, which realizes the movement of things in real life through the network. In real life, there are basically complete laws and regulations and many rules to regulate the movement of things, and there will be many changes in the operation process after the implementation of e-commerce, so it is necessary to formulate corresponding rules and regulations to regulate its online operation process. Making perfect e-commerce rules is the primary requirement to realize e-commerce.
Second, e-commerce is based on informationization. To carry out e-commerce activities in a certain industry, the industry must have certain preconditions. According to China's reality, e-commerce rules have not yet been formulated and electronic payment has not yet been realized. The primary requirements of the industry implementing e-commerce are easy to realize informatization and simple and standardized online operation. For example, there are a large number of voice query service systems (stock information query, weather information query, etc. ), and their information resources already exist. If we make full use of the existing telephone network, we can serve the whole society with little investment, which is also the initial e-commerce.
Third, the development of e-commerce activities in China must suit the national conditions of China. At present, China's e-commerce laws and regulations need to be improved, electronic payment needs to be improved, and industry e-commerce rules need to be formulated. Under the national conditions, the operation of e-commerce cannot cover the whole transaction process in real life. If there is a lot of information exchange between the upper and lower management departments and social needs in an industry, but the contact is inconvenient and the information source is complex, it is most suitable for China to carry out e-commerce in this industry. For example, since1October 28th, "China Commodity Exchange Center (CCEC)"1997 10 opened its market, CCEC actually had to go to the step of initialling the contract due to the imperfect domestic financial system and low reputation among enterprises.
Fourth, the social demand analysis of e-commerce. To develop e-commerce in a certain industry, it is necessary to analyze whether there are a large number of social needs for its information, whether the industry has met the social needs under the existing service methods, and understand the urgency of developing e-commerce in this industry. For example, the "Hunan Tourism E-commerce", which was once prepared, found through analysis that the existing tourism model can no longer meet the social needs. Tourists need an integrated process of playing, living and traveling, but the reality is several separate parts. In turn, grasping the social needs, meeting the needs of tourists and realizing tourism e-commerce are the catalysts for the development of tourism, which will greatly prosper the tourism industry. Through tourism e-commerce, foreign tourists can better understand the tourism situation in Hunan Province and enhance their attraction. The urgency of developing "Hunan tourism e-commerce" is very high, which has greatly promoted the development of tourism in Hunan Province.
In a word, at the present stage of our country, the rules of e-commerce have not been fully formulated, the relevant financial system is not perfect, and the laws and regulations are not perfect. To carry out e-commerce activities in the industry, we must fully understand the needs of social services and information organizations, fully organize information resources, and achieve maximum benefits at a lower cost, with the ultimate goal of realizing the leap-forward development of the industry.
Steps and methods for enterprises to realize e-commerce
The steps for enterprises to establish and realize e-commerce can be gradually improved. First of all, the most extensive e-mail system can be established, even if there is no special internet domain name, all employees in the country/the world can have personal mailboxes. In this way, leaders convey their opinions to all departments, and all departments report their work to their superiors, so there is no need to rely on telephone, fax or meeting to communicate with each other. E-mail has the advantages of being detailed, recordable, recheckable, communicating in different places, sharing time, copying multiple recipients at the same time, saving time, expenses and space. At the same time, if conditions permit, you can make and commission your own home page about the enterprise and publish it to the world. The content can include enterprise introduction, product recommendation, enterprise trends, technical questions and answers and other information. Therefore, enterprises suddenly face more market opportunities, many of which were previously unavailable.
With the deepening of e-commerce application, enterprises can gradually establish e-commerce application systems. First of all, we can establish contact with some fixed partners, such as customers and suppliers, and directly establish e-commerce activities, such as product quotation, order placing, inventory information, product after-sales service and so on. In addition, this system is linked with the existing enterprise management and business system to establish a timely response business system. Therefore, we can communicate with customers and suppliers faster and improve the operational efficiency of enterprises. At the same time, such a system is also provided for the internal use of branches, affiliated companies, offices and other enterprises that may be distributed all over the country, which greatly improves the management level of enterprises. Finally, summarize the application results of the above aspects, cooperate with the appropriate security mechanism, further improve the e-commerce system and achieve the effect of facing a wider range of users. Finally, a comprehensive enterprise management e-commerce system will be formed.