669_Management Information System

1. Lecture Six
The Web-Enabled Enterprise

2. Web Technologies: A Review
• Several standards and technologies enable the
Web to deliver rich information, including:
– HTTP, HTML, XML
– File Transfe
– Blogs
– Wikis
– Podcasting

3. HTTP
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): transfer
and download Web information
• HTTPS: HTTP secure for confidential data
exchange
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL): unique
address given to each Web site
– IP address: a special numeric address
• Domain name: unique name for a Web site,
constructed with letters
– URL also refers to the domain name

4. HTML and XML
• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): helps
developer create Web pages
– Determines look and location of content
• Extensible Markup Language (XML): enables
creation of various data types
– Conveys the meaning or content of the data
• XHTML: combination of XML and HTML
– Uses opening and closing tags to control format

5. File Transfer
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP): used to transmit
whole files
– Used in all downloads from Web sites
– Any type of file can be transferred
– Can place files on a server for shared use
– Often used to deliver purchased software
products on Web sites

6. Blogs
• Blog: contraction of “Web log”
– Invites surfers to post opinions and art
– Focuses on a topic or set of topics
– Trackback: a tool that notifies bloggers when their
posts have been mentioned elsewhere on the Web
• Blogs are often used by businesses
• Importance of blogs to commercial organizations
is to find out what blog participants think and say
about the organization

7. Wikis
• Wiki (from Hawaiian, meaning “quick”): Web
application that enables users to add to and
edit the contents of Web pages
– All the software required to edit the Web pages is
embedded in the pages themselves
• Wikipedia: a popular online encyclopedia
• Wiki technology is a popular ingredient in
groupware (software used for collaboration)

8. Podcasting
• Podcast: publishing sound and video on the
Web for download
– Usually on a subscription basis
• Uses include:
– “Time-shifted” broadcast of radio station
programs for later listening

9. Proprietary Technologies
• Proprietary technology: intellectual property of
developer, not free for all to use
• Examples:
– Local search engine
– Shopping cart applications
– Wish lists
– Video streaming tools
– Tools to analyze and predict Web visitor behavior,
especially shopper behavior

10. Web-Enabled Business
• Web-enabled business are classified according
to the interacting parties:
– Business-to-business (B2B)
– Business-to-consumer (B2C)
– Government-to-business
– Government-to-consumer

11. B2B Trading
• Business-to-business (B2B): trading between
businesses only
• B2B forms include advertising through:
– Search advertising: advertisements placed on a
search site result page
– Banners: images placed on Web sites that link to a
company site selling a product or service
• Impression: occurs when a page with a banner is
downloaded
• Reach percentage: the percentage of Web users
who visited a site in the past month

12. B2B Trading (continued)
• Exchanges and auctions act as online
marketplaces
• Intranet: network used only by employees of an
organization
• Extranet: network shared by employees of
different organizations, usually business partners
• Exchange: extranet for organizations that deal in
products and services of a particular type
– Exchange operator profits from transaction fees
• Auction: sells a great variety of items

13. B2B Trading (continued)
• Online business alliances: collaboration
between businesses in establishing a Web site
– Site operator works for the allied companies
– Suppliers are invited to sell through the site and
compete among themselves, driving prices down

14. B2C Trading
• Business-to-consumer (B2C): trading with the
general public
• Fulfillment activities: picking, packing,
shipping
• Consumer profiling: know customers better
by gathering information about their online
activities
– Some consider this a violation of privacy
• Conversion rate: the proportion of site visitors
who make a purchase

17. Rules for Successful
Web-Based Business
• Business success depends on availability and
use of software
• Elements needed to support B2C commerce:
– Targeting customers
– Capturing the customer’s complete experience
– Personalizing the service
– Shortening the business cycle
– Let customers help themselves

18. E-Commerce is Every Commerce
• Web technologies have been highly integrated
into the business world
– Difficult to identify which business activities are
on the Internet and which are not
• Web has been highly integrated into daily
activities of customers also
• Commerce and e-commerce generally have
the same meaning today