电子商务英文论文

BulletinoftheTransilvaniaUniversityofBraşovSeriesV:EconomicSciences•Vol.8(57)No.1-2015Thee-commerceasawaytosustainastrategyBogdanBĂCANU1Abstract:Thestudyexplorestheimpactofthenewe-commercetechniquesonthebusinessstrategy,guidedbytheideathatitcouldentrenchapossibleoutcomeindiminishingcosts.Thispotentialeffectisdiscussedusingthepresentconceptsonstrategycoinedandestablishedbyacademics.Thediscussionisbasedmainlyonaccustomedopinionsaboutthenewformofcommerce,statingthatthecostfigureshaveaminorrelevanceindefiningstrategy.Thefindingspinpointthatcostleadershipcouldbeastrategicoption,butthedifferentiationremainstobediscussedasalternativewhilenewformsofretailmayperpetratetoredefinestrategicapproachunderchallengingtimes.Key-words:e-commerce,strategy,costleadership,differentiation.1.Alinkbetweene-commerceandstrategy?Understandingandstudyingthewaysofexpressionandtheeconomicaspectsofthee-commercebecomeseasierifitisconnectedtoaddressingthestrategiesofnowadayscompanies.Assumingthatthetheorybehindthesestrategiesiscoherent,alargenumberofstatementscanbemadeinrelationtothebusiness’sevolutionassociatedtothee-commerce.Basicstrategicconceptswhichthisstudyreferstoareinspiredbythecurrentliteratureandaretobeseenasvalid.Thee-commercebecomesvisiblemainlythroughsalesvolumeexpansionofexistingproductsinamaturemarket,whichwouldcorrespondtotheso-calledpenetrationofthemarket,accordingtoAnsoff(1965).Toalesserextentwealsofindelementsofthestrategyofmarket(orproduct)development–basedonthetypologybythesameauthor-whichleadstotheideathate-commerceoccursasaconsequenceoftechnologicalmaturityofaneconomyoramarket.Intermsofcompetitiveadvantage,asintroducedbyPorter(1985),theuseofthenewtechnologiesseemstobeguidedbytheideaofloweringthecosts(mainlythroughstaffcostsreduction).Thisimpressionisinducedbythefactthate-commercetendstoexcludedirectinvolvementofpersonnelinsomesegmentsofthebusinessprocesses.1TransilvaniaUniversityofBraşov,[e-mail]ĂCANU120Morespecifically,e-commercematerializesintradingaproductwithknownorreadilyrecognizablefeatures,basedonimages,andproposedatanattractivepriceforthebuyer.Wecanenvisage,morerealisticallythanthegenericPorterianschemeonstrategies,thatafirmwouldchoosesuchwaystosustainitsoffer,becauseitsvalueisperceivedbythesellerasbetterthantheclassicone.Similarlyapresumptioncanbemaderelatedtothebuyer:heoptsforthistypeofexchangeonlywhentheprice-qualityratioappearstobebetterthanintheclassictransactioncase.Thepricebecomessignificantwhene-commercereducesthenumberoffeaturesonwhichthebuyingdecisionismade.Formostproductsthepriceseemstobedecisivewhenthechoiceismade.Thisassumptionwillguidebothstrategyformulationandtheresearchpathontheimpactofe-commerce.Ontheotherhand,thenewformsofe-commercearetheresultofatechnologydevelopment,sothe“push”aspectofthecompany’sstrategy(calledtechnologypush)becomespredominant.Theadvantagesrelatedtotheoperationalcostsareoffsetbythemarketingcostsinvolvingaculturalconversionofthebuyer.Inthiscontext,themainfocusofthestudyisgivenbytherelationshipbetweenthee-commerceandthecostsincurredtothecompaniesthatapplythem.Morespecifically,itistobeseenwhethere-commerceareawaytosupportaspecificstrategy,probablythatfallsintothegenericcostleadershipcategory.2.OutlookmethodologyforarealisticapproachonstrategyTheresearchofthemaintopicofthisstudyiscarriedoutbyanalyzinggenericexamplesofbusinessmodelsthatusee-commerce.Studyingthesebusinessmodelsisfocusedonkeyissuesaboutstrategy.Basicallythestudyisexploratory,basedonaqualitativeanalysisofsomeaspectsrelatedtostrategiesandrevealedbyacademicsandexperts.Clearlythereisalackofdetaileddatafromcompaniesinthedesignatedarea,buttrendsarepickedupfromstudyingthepricesevolutionforagivengood.ThestudyismadeintermsofthetheoreticalguidelinesgivenbyYin(2003)forthestudycase.CasestudiesareusedinawaythatexemplifiesPorter'sgenericstrategies.Specifically,itisusedtheoriginator’sinitialstyleforthetheoreticalapproach,andnotanysubsequentmethodsbroughtbytheenthusiasticfollowersofthepositioningschoolinspiredbythesameauthor.Itcouldbestatedthatthedatacollectedarerelativelyscatteredandformapuzzleofinformationonwhich,nonetheless,extrapolationscanbemadeonthestrategiesbeingfollowedandtheiraffiliationwithcostleadership.Investigatingthevisibleaspectsthatreflecttheallegedstrategywaspreferredastooltoanapproachbasedonsurveys,whichwouldrecordopinionsontheinvestigatedphenomenonratherthanrealfactsrelatedtoit.Asmostresearchone-commerceusetheITtechnologies-asonlinequestionnaireseemstobequiteinThee-commerceasawaytosustainastrategy121fashion-areturntoanapproachguidedbytheeconomictruthseemed,apriori,moreapplicabletoastudyonstrategies.3.FindingsinbusinessliteratureanddiscussionsoversomeconservativestrategicapproachesLiteratureresearchisconductedontheideaofidentifyingthelinkbetweenacertaintypeofbusinessstrategyande-commerce,relatedtothecompany’sinteresttoreducethecosts.Whendiscussingabusinessstrategywiththeintentiontofocusoncostsresearch,thentheeasiestreferenceconsistsofso-calledgenericstrategiesandvaluechain,putforwardbyPorter(1