CHAPTER 15

CREATING COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

In this chapter, we learned about :

• Identify the different ways in which companies collaborate using technology
• Compare the different categories of collaboration technologies
• Define the fundamental concepts of a knowledge management system
• Provide an examples of a content management system along with its business purpose
• Evaluate the advantages of using a workflow management system
• Explain how groupware can benefit a business

Teams, Partnerships, and Alliances

• Organizations create an use teams, partnerships, and alliances to :

1. Undertake new initiatives
2. Address both minor and major problems
3. Capitalize on significant opputunities

• Organizations create teams, partnerships, and alliances both internally with employees and externally with other organizations

• Collaboration system : Supports the work of teams by facilitating the sharing and flow of information

  

• Organizations form alliances and partnership with other organizations based on their core competency

1. Core competency : An organization's key strength, a business function that it does better than any of its competitors
2. Core competency strategy : Organization chooses to focus specifically on it core competency and forms partnership with other organizations to handle nonstrategic business processes

• Information technology can make a business partnership easier to establish and manage

1. Information partnership : Occurs when two or more organizations cooperate by integrating their IT systems, thereby providing customers with the best of what each can offer

• The Internet has dramatically increased the aese and availability for IT-enabled organizational alliances and partnerships

 

Collaboration Systems

  

• Collaboration solves specific business task such as telecommuting, online meetings, deploying applications, and remote project and sales management

• Collaboration system - An IT-based set of tools that supports the work of teams by facilitating the sharing and flow of information

• Two categories of collaboration : 

- Unstructured collaboration (information collaboration) : Includes document exchange, shared whiteboards, discussion forums, and e-mail 

- Structured collaboration (process collaboration) : Involve shared participation in business processes such as workflow in which knowledge is hardcoded as rules

• Collaborative business functions

 

• Collaboration systems include :

1. Knowledge management systems - Support the capturing and use of an organization's "know-how"
2. Content management systems - Provides tools to manage the creation, storage, editing, and publication of information in collaborative environment
3. Workflow management systems - Controls the movement of work through a business process
4. Groupware systems - Software that supports team interaction and dynamic including calendaring, scheduling, and videoconferencing

 

Knowledge Management Systems

• Knowledge management (KM) : Involves capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing information assets in a way that provides context for effective decisions and actions

• Knowledge management system : Supports the capturing and use of an organization's "know-how"

Explicit and Tacit Knowledge

• Intellectual and knowledge - based assets fall into twp categories :

1. Explicit knowledge : Consists of anything that can be documented, archived, and codified, often with the help of IT
2. Tacit knowledge : Knowledge contained in people's heads

• The following are two best practices for transferring or recreating tacit knowledge :

1. Shadowing - Less experienced staff observed more experienced counterparts approach their work
2. Joint problem solving - A novice and expert work together on a project

• Reasons why organizations launch knowledge management programs

KM Technologies

• Knowledge management systems include :

1. Knowledge repositories (database)
2. Expertise tools
3. E-learning applications
4. Discussion and chat technologies
5. Search and data mining tools

KM and Social Networking

• Finding out how information flows through an organization

- Social networking analysis (SNA) : A process of mapping a group's contacts (whether personal or professional) to identify who knows whom and who works with whom

- SNA provides a clear picture of how employees and divisions work together and can help identify key experts

Content Management

• Content management system (CMS) : Provides tools to manage the creation, storage, editing, and publication of information in a collaborative environment

• CMS marketplace includes :

1. Document management system (DMS) - Support the electronic capturing, storage, distribution, archival, and accessing of documents
2. Digital asset management system (DAM) - Similar to DMS, generally works with binary rather than text files, such as multimedia files types
3. Web content management system (WCM) - Adds an additional layer to document and digital asset management that enables publishing content both to intranets and public Web sites

• Content management system vendor overview

Working Wikis

• Wikis : Web-based tools that make it easy for users to add, remove, and change online content

• Business wikis : Collaborative Web pages that allow users to edit documents, share ideas, or monitor the status of a project

Workflow Management Systems

• Work activities can be performed in series or in parallel that involves people and automated computer systems

• Workflow : Defines all the steps or business rules, from beginning to end, required for a business process

• Workflow management system : Facilitates the automation and management of business processes and controls the movement of work through the business process

• Messaging-based workflow system : Send works assignments through an e-mail system

• Database-based workflow system : Stores documents in a central location and automatically asks the team member to access the document when it is their to edit their document

Groupware Systems

 

• Groupware technologies

• Groupware : Software that supports team interaction and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling, and videoconferencing

 

Videoconferencing

• Videoconferencing : A set of interactive telecommunication technologies that allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmission simultaneously

 

Web Conferencing

 
 

• Web conferencing : Blends audio, video, and document-sharing technologies to create virtual meeting rooms where people "gather" at a password-protected Web site

Instant Messaging

• E-mail is the dominant form of collaboration application, but real-time collaboration tools like instant messaging are creating a new communication dynamic

• Instant messaging : Type of communications service that enables someone to create a kind of private chat room with another individual to communicate in real-time over the Internet

• Instant messaging application

CHAPTER 19

OUTSOURCING IN THE 21st Century

In this chapter, we learned about :

• Describe the advantages and disadvantages of insourcing, outsourcing, and offshore ousourcing
• Describe why outsourcing is a critical business decision

Outsourcing Projects

• Insourcing (in-house-development) : A common approach using the professional expertise within an organization to develop and maintain the organization's information technology systems

• Outsourcing : An arrangement by which one organization provides a service or services for another organization that chooses not to perform them in-house

• Reasons companies outsource

• Onshore outsourcing : Engaging another company within the same country for services

• Nearshore outsourcing : Contracting an outsourcing arrangement with a company in a nearby country

• Offshore outsourcing : Using organizations from developing countries to write code and develop systems

• Big selling point for offshore outsourcing "inexpensive good work"

• Factors driving outsourcing growth include :

1. Core competencies
2. Financial savings
3. Rapid growth
4. Industry changes
5. The Internet
6. Globalization

• According to PricewaterhouseCoopers "Business that outsource are growing faster, larger, and more profitable than those that do not"

 

• Most organizations outsource their noncore business functions, such as payroll and IT

Outsourcing Benefits

• Outsourcing benefits include :

1. Increased quality and efficiency
2. Reduced operating expenses
3. Outsourcing non-core processes
4. Reduced exposure to risk
5. Economics of scale, expertise. and best practices
6. Access to advanced technologies
7. Increased flexibility
8. Avoid costly outlay of capital funds
9. Reduced headcount and associated overhead expense
10. Reduced time to market for products or services

Outsourcing Challenges

• Outsourcing challenges include :

1. Competitive edge
2. Confidentiality
3. Scope definition
4. Contract length

   - Difficulties in getting out of a contract

   - Problems in foreseeing future needs

   - Problems in reforming an internal IT department after the contract is finished

CHAPTER 14

E-BUSINESS

In this chapter, we learned about :

• Compare e-commerce and e-business
• Compare the four types of e-business models
• Describe the benefits and challenges associated with e-business
• Explain the differences among e-shops, e-malls, and online auctions

E-business

• The Internet is a powerful channel that presents new opportunities for an organization to :

1.  Touch customers
2. Enrich products and services with information
3. Reduce costs

 

• How do e-commerce and e-business differ?

1. E-commerce : The buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet
2. E-business : The conducting of business on the Internet including, not only buying and selling, but also serving customers and collaborating with business partners

 

Industries using business

 

 

E-business Models

• E-business model : An approach to conducting electronic business on the Internet

Business-to-Business (B2B)

• Electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) : Interactive business communities providing a central market where multiple buyer and sellers can engage in e-business activities

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

• Common B2C e-business models include :

1. E-shop - A version of a retail store where customers can shop at any hour of the day without leaving their home or office
2. E-mall - Consists of a number of e-shops; it serves as a gateway through which a visitor can access other e-shops

 

• Business types :

1. Brick-and-mortar business - Operates in a physical store without and Internet presence
2. Pure-play business - A business that operates on the Internet only without a physical store. Examples include Amazon.com and Expedia.com
3. Click-and-mortar business - A business that operates in a physical store and on the Internet. Examples include REI and Barnes and Noble

 

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

• Priceline.com is an example of a C2B e-business model

 

• The demand for C2B e-business will increase over the next few years due to customer's desire for greater convenience and lower prices

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

• Online auctions

1. Electronic auction (e-auction) : Sellers and buyers solicit consecutive bids from each other and prices are determined dynamically
2. Forward auction : Sellers use as a selling channel to many buyers and the highers bid wins
3. Rivers auction : Buyers use to purchase a product or service, selecting the seller with the lowest bid

 

• C2 communities include :

1. Communities of interest - People interact with each other on specific topics, such as golfing and stamp collecting
2. Communities of relations - People come together to share certain life experiences, such as cancer patients, senior citizens, and car enthusiasts
3. Communities of fantasy - People participate in imaginary environments, such as fantasy football teams and playing one-on-one with Micheal Jordan

 

 

E-business Benefits and Challenges

 

 

• E-business benefits include :

1. Highly accessible
2. Increased customer loyalty
3. Improved information content
4. Increased convenience
5. Increased global reach
6. Decreased cost

 

• E-business challenges include :

1. Protecting consumers
2. Leveraging existing systems
3. Increasing liability
4. Providing security
5. Adhering to taxation rules

 

• There are numerous advantages and limitations in e-business revenue models including :

1. Transaction fees
2. License fees
3. Subscription fees
4. Value-added fees
5. Advertising fees

 

 

Mashups

 

 

• Web mashup : A Web site or Web application that uses content from more than one source to create a completely new service

1. Application programming interface (API) : A set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications
2. Mashup editor : WSYIWYGs (What You See is What You Get) for mashups