E-Business AssignmentNAME: GONG YUCHENGDATE: 02/2003The Internet and Web provide an infrastructure that enables buyers and sellers to find each other online. Companies are now having new sales channels for their products and services, and numerous electronic markets are available for buying and selling at offer prices or through various auction mechanism.Therefore, e-business could include almost all of the issues facing companies who practice business online, including: payment processing, software applications that manage customers or trading partners, outsourced applications and globalization.In the past two years, e-business seems to have permeated every aspect of daily life. In jus ...view middle of the document...
With the trend that more and more companies set up their e-business, I will firstly give the reason why I choose BMW & Ford as my E-business research objectives. We could have a glance of two pieces of news of their efforts on e-business. The first one titled ¡®BMW and Softlab found E-Business-Company¡¯ (Source1) which presents that the BMW Group will bundle its e-business activities in a new company named Nexolab, which founded by its IT subsidiary Softlab. With the founding of this company, the BMW Group chooses a different approach on providing e-business consulting and services especially for the manufacturing industry. Another news comes from Ford named ¡®Daman and Trilogy Help Drive Ford's Online Success¡¯ (Source2) which stated that ¡°working to enhance and extend the process of online car purchasing, Trilogy Software and Ford Motor Company recently teamed up in a unique Internet joint venture. This new business entity then tapped Daman Consulting to provide the customized technology solution that would move Ford's e-commerce success into the fast lane.¡±Before we research their business models, I would like to give some background of these two corporations.The history of BMW could stretch back over ninety years. As they presented in their website ¡°A history which features outstanding personalities and legendary automotive¡±. The brand come and discovers the two automotive brands of the BMW Group. Vehicles from BMW and MINI bring excitement and mobility into the lives of people all over the world. High-performance, luxurious, on-road or off-road: the brands of the BMW Group stand for driving pleasure at its best.In case of Ford, in 1903 Henry Ford and 11 investors signed articles of incorporation with the state of Michigan, US, for Ford Motor company, which had been started with just $280,000 in capital. Today, Ford Motor Company had becoming one of the largest and most influential automakers in the world which has several brands including Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mazda, Volvo and Land Rover. Even more, the brand value of Ford has arrived $36.4 billion which is in the first place of automobile industry.There are basically four components of a business model as Rayport and Jaworski (2001) pointed out:1) A value proposition or a value cluster for targeted customers¡ªproducts;2) A marketspace offering¡ªmarket;3) A unique, defendable resource system;4) Financial model.Firstly, a value proposition or a value cluster is one of the most important components of a business model. The construction of a value proposition or a value cluster requires management to specify the following three items according to Rayport and Jaworski (2001): (1) choice of target segment/segments, (2) choice of focal customer benefits/combination benefits, (3) rationale for why the firm/and its partners can deliver the benefit pack...