E-COMMERCE VS BUSINESS

While several use e-business and e-commerce interchangeably, they are different concepts. In e-commerce information and communications technology (ICT) is used in business-to-consumer transactions (transactions between firms/ organizations and individuals) and inter-organizational or inter-business transactions (transactions between and among firms/ organizations).

In e-business on the other hand, ICT is used to improve one's corporation. It includes any procedure that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or non-profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more complete definition of e-business is:

"The alteration of an organization's processes to deliver additional customer value via the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy."

Three key processes are improved in e-business:

1.   Customer-focused processes- which comprise marketing and promotional efforts, processing of customer's purchase orders and payments, selling over the Internet and customer support, among others.

2.   Internal management processes- which comprise employee training, services, video-conferencing, internal information-sharing and recruiting. Electronic applications improve information flow between sales and production forces to get better sales force productivity. Workgroup electronic publishing and communications of internal business information are equally made more efficient.

3.   Production processes- which enhance ordering, procurement and replenishment of stocks; electronic links with suppliers; processing of payments and production control processes, among others.