Role of IT in International Business:
The use of computers increased the pace of business, globalization, increased competition. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) :- facilitated the speedy, secured and accurate transfer of documents across the globe. Computers make possible a paperless working system. If the computer of a businessman is linked up with those of his customers and suppliers all the transactions can be done electronically. All these and a few other developments have brought a phenomenal change in global trade and commerce. "E-Business :-- is about using the convenience, availability and world-wide reach to enhance existing businesses or creating new virtual business." IBM defines e-business as "a secure, flexible and integrated approach to deliver differentiated business value by combining the systems and processes that run core business operations with the simplicity and reach made possible by Internet technology. " According to the concept developed by the IBM, E-business combines the traditional information systems with the vast reach of the Web and connect critical business systems directly to critical business constituencies - customers, employees and suppliers via Intranets, Extranets and via the Web. E-business can be divided into three areas. (a) within the organization, (b) business to- business (B2B) dealings and (c) business-to-customer (B2C) transactions. Role of IT in International Business
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E-mail E-mail is "the exchange of text message and computer files over a communications network such as a local area network or the Internet, usually between computers or terminals." It is also defined as "an electronic text message". Communication is the basis of all businesses. "The Internet breaks into the traditional communication markets. Postal services and telecommunications companies are losing market share to the electronic communication, especially e-mail. E-mail combines the strengths of phone calls and letters. The advantage of a phone call is its immediacy and the letter has the advantage that everything is in written form. The Internet enables instant communication in written form, either bye-mail or online chat." "More and more businesses are talking digitally to each other. Other than a phone call, e-mails can contain more than just the text.· It is possible to attach files, which may, for example, contain formatted documents, presentations, images or sounds. Information can be shared much more easily."! Internet Internet is "the world wide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major modes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational and other computer systems, that route data and messages. One or more Internet nodes can go off line without endangering the Internet as a whole or causing communications on the Internet to stop."
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E-Auctioning Auctioning on the Internet has become popular nowadays. In traditional methods of auctioning all those who would like to participate in the auction either assemble at one place or bid· over the phone. Some, who are busy may find it difficult to spare time to participate in the auction. But nowadays all those who have Internet connection can participate in the auction by sitting in the home itself. The Internet enables everyone, irrespective of the country to which he belongs and where he is located, can visit the auction web site with a click and participate in the auction. In auctioning the people who want to participate in the auction visit the web site with a click, go through the details of the goods offered on the concerned web pages and place the price or prices they would like to offer on the web page. The auctioneer waits until a certain value has been reached or a time limit has been passed and then hands out the goods to the highest bidder. Http://www.eba http://www.qxl.cc.uk/, are some of the popular auction web sites which provide an opportunity for everyone to become either a bidder or an auctioneer, or both at the same time for two different products. In this category of business the web site becomes an infrastructure for exchanging goods based on the auction model, which works basically by setting the prices by demand. E - Banking Electronic banking is one of the most successful online businesses. E-banking allows customers to access their accounts and execute orders through a simple-to-use web site. Electronic banking saves individuals and companies' time and money. Online banking allows the customers to self service themselves. Customers can get money from an automated teller machine (ATM) instead of walking up to the cash desk in the bank, can view their accounts, transfer funds and can pay bills.
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E-Marketing In traditional marketing the marketing team could not get immediate results on the customer reaction. They conducted market surveys, processed the data and prepared the reports. On the basis of those reports the management took decisions, formulated the policies, prepared the plans and implemented them. For all this they took lot of time. Those who took less time and acted quick outwitted their competitors. In the pre-information age this worked well. But in the information age the information flowing back from the customer in real-time, needs to be passed on to the appropriate department within the company to react in real-time to the ever faster changing demands or the customers. The Internet allows companies to react to individual customer demands immediately without any loss of time. It does not matter where the customer is located. This is called e-marketing. E-Trading E- trading, where the basic requirements are a PC, a modem and the Internet connection, the investor can log on to an online trading portal, go through a comprehensive database of information, use the online analytical tools, and pass on instructions to a friendly and reliable online broker. online trading is the perfect combination of the medium of net catering to a real life concept. Online trading is the perfect solution to investor needs. It brings together under one site all the relevant factors to enable an informed investment, rather cheaply to the user. Before the Internet was introduced buying and selling stocks at the right time was dependent on the availability of a well-informed broker, who used to be ever busy and never available to a small individual investor. The other sources of information relating to the prices were newspapers, magazines, telecommunication systems, radio and television. They were relatively slow, costly and less exhaustive. Retrieving the relevant information and processing that information was difficult. The Internet has changed the way stocks are traded. E-trading is also called E-broking. E-broking offers the real-time stock prices to every desk throughout the world. People are able to react in real-time to changes in the stock market.