In this week we discussed two different topics. The first one is a discussion regarding the relationship between C-commerce and Corporate Portal. I, being the managing director of the Thai-Lay Garment Manufacturing Company in Hong Kong, am really benefited from the discussion. I realized the modifications that are to be brought to the business field of mine with regard to online retailing.
C-commerce is the key factor for the success of any company in today’s tough competitive world. This is the method in which enterprises act together to plan, design, build, buy, sell, distribute, and support goods and services. “Collaborative commerce software coordinates interactions among suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to improve acquisition, delivery, and payment for goods and services.” (Lamont 2005, p.1). The discussion on the importance of corporate portals is highly helpful to me to get awareness about applications of c-commerce and corporate portals in supply chain management. Through this discussion, I understood personally and professionally that efficient corporate portals help the c-commerce to overcome security problems and privacy issues. “Collaborative commerce should help companies forge long-term relationships while reducing the cost of co-operation.” (Alexander 2000).
The second topic in this week deals with a research study on the e-commerce applications in a selected company. As I am familiar with the Thai-Lay Fashion company, I focused my research on the e-commerce applications in Thai-Lay. This helped me to present the research report in an accurate and efficient manner. The SWOT analysis on the research study helped me to find out the strategic strength and weaknesses of the company in relation to its e-commerce applications. The application of e-commerce transactions in the company is discussed with the intention to identify the competitive benefits and defaults attached to each type of e-commerce tools. The key strength of the company is the application of e-commerce tools such as B2B, B2C, and corporate portals. It improves the operational and marketing efficiency of the company to a greater level. Through this research, I understood that the major weakness of the company is related to the management of online marketing. In the competitive online garment retailing, Thai- Lay is only in the introduction stage, thus it suffers from a lack of business experience in online retailing.
“Today, Corporate Portals can provide employees, customers, prospects, partners, and suppliers with a wide range of information about the company, its products, services, and business information. A single corporate portal can serve as an entry point for all types of users, with secure authentication controlling the types of information each user is allowed to see.” (Corporate Portals. 2007).
In the export business of Thai-Lay, supply chain management is a very important topic. Thus, in order to combine production and marketing in the most appropriate manner, e-commerce based supply chain management is adopted by the company.
The topics helped me personally and professionally to establish better customer relations in the online retail business sector of Thai-Lay Company. I have attended the classroom 6 days a week. The discussion about the topic with other students in the class helped me greatly to prepare and present the assignment in a perfect and timely manner. I have submitted all the assignments for this week as per the given time schedule. Greater support from my tutor also helped me to learn all aspects of the topic and include them in the assignment. This week’s material helped me personally and professionally to improve my company’s operational performance and profitability.
Bibliography
ALEXANDER, Steve. (2000). Collaborative Commerce. Computer World: Software. Web.
Corporate Portals. (2007). EKI: Electronic Knowledge Interchange. Web.
LAMONT, Judith. (2005). Collaborative Commerce Revitalizes Supply Chain. KM World. 1. Web.