The Multi-Channel CRM Application Framework for M-Business Practices

In every industry, customers’ preferences are changing faster than ever before. Customers can no longer be categorized into well-defined market segments or homogeneous groups. They need to be treated as individuals each with specific needs. The information must be available to anyone from anywhere at anytime. Therefore, service quality becomes an important measure for both enterprises and customers. In real-time economy, sales and services have deep impacts on up/downstream decisions, as well as decisions related to supply chain trading partners. Thus, customer relationship management (CRM) has more transparency than ever, by shifting from a sales productivity tool to a technology-enabled relationship management strategy. Today’s businesses are typical collaborative multienterprise multi-channel supply chain consisting of several specialists. Mobile technology and personalized customer care open the door to new opportunities by offering valueadd services in CRM practices. The key to customer satisfaction and loyalty resides in the enterprise’s core offering and efficient transaction management. This paper provides a broad discussion on the design of mobile-toenterprise application framework for CRM practices. The purpose is to provide an overview and schematic to design an integrated mobile CRM suite. The ideal of this approach is to maximize the value of an enterprise’s customer portfolio through more efficient and effective marketing, sales, and customer service and to put the customers in control, by providing self-service and solution-centered support. With the mobile CRM application framework, the enterprise is also extended to suppliers and trading partners so that when customers get in contact with the resources of an enterprise, they also touch the resources of the value chain. The customers who drive the entire value chain (or supply chain), determine what is to be produced, when it is produced, and at what price

The Quest for Mobility: Designing Enterprise Application Framework for M-Business Practices

With the advent of the “road warrior,” a growing part of the workforce is mobile and using all sorts of mobile devices to stay in touch and transact business. As the global economy shifts toward the mobile economy, enterprises need to be progressively more flexible and globalize. Mobile businesses open up new opportunities for innovative enterprises and give them new means of communications with customers and employees. In a changing business landscape, mobile business addresses new customer channels and integration challenges. The current transformation is simply the movement of e-business to a mobile environment. It is still a developing concept as are the business models that support it. The usefulness of the mobile channels will be largely driven by new enterprise applications that enhance the overall customer values. This paper provides a broad discussion on the movement of mobile integration strategies. Several issues will be addressed, such as value chain, the data access of mobile computing, m-business application framework, and the future development of mobile computing. All of these efforts attempt to provide an overview and schematics for the integration of modern e-business application strategies into future m-business practices. This paper will show that any proposed system or strategy must recognize the primary value and mechanism of how people “work,” and technological solutions must be devised in order to facilitate people who conduct business. With mobile technologies, enterprise applications will go beyond the four walls of organizations to a workforce on the mov

The Value Proposition and Service Orientation Principle View of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

Businesses have become increasingly complex over the past few decades. Every aspect of business operation and service requires the use of information technology (IT), and many enterprises are showing a growing interest in service oriented architecture (SOA). Because they recognize the competitive advantage that can be achieved by linking all phases of the business operations and deliver business services to customers. However, the adoption of SOA in organizations and the configuration of IT in direct support of their business are a very complex process. This paper provides a broad discussion on the building of service oriented architecture from value proposition and service orientation principle point of view. A SOA model will provide the technology underpinnings for working with services that are value business activities. This will transform IT into building blocks and services that are easy to assemble and configure or reconfigure. In today’s changing business environment, the SOA provide a viable solution for enterprises to keep moving forward to the next level of business operations

E-Supply Chain Integration for Inter-Enterprise Business Practices

Traditional business partnerships are changing in response to technology advancements and business innovations. Many companies have already reengineered their internal processes, and now the focus has shifted to their trading partners. With network connectivity, supply chain integration is the core strategic competence that enables many companies to act as one. A supply chain represents the cross-functional integration of activities that cross the borders of individual companies. This feature is very important in many industries, because many firms must collaborate intensively throughout a project lifecycle. The issues involved in selecting esupply chain partners extend beyond choosing a trading partner or a contractor and must include configuring the business-to-business inter-enterprise processes among partners. In the future, supply chains, rather than enterprises will compete with each other. There will be no isolated islands of automation, and the future of business applications will support inter-enterprise collaborative commerce (C-Commerce). The c-commerce e-supply chain scheme enables a dynamic “virtual team” to fulfill many mission-critical business processes throughout a project life-cycle will undoubtedly be the best business solution for the new millennium

Going Wireless: Migrating From E-Business to M-Business

The challenge of globalization the ability to respond quickly according to changes in market demands and competitions, is the driving force for organizations to optimize their business strategies and operations regularly. Customer preferences and needs change constantly, resulting in pressingly intense competitions. Time sensitive real-time transaction is becoming the common denominator for successful businesses. Information also needs to be available to anyone from anywhere at anytime. As the global economy shifts toward the mobile economy, enterprises need to be progressively more flexible and globalize. Mobile businesses open up new opportunities for innovative enterprises and give them new means of communications with customers and employees. In a changing business landscape, mobile business addresses new customer channels and integration challenges. This paper provides a broad discussion on the changing landscape of business: from e-business to m-business. Several issues will be addressed, such as value chain, the data access of mobile computing, m-business application framework, and the future development of mobile computing (e.g. 4G wireless). All of these efforts attempt to provide an overview and schematics for the integration of modern ebusiness application strategies into future m-business practices. This paper will show that any innovated business strategy should be built upon target stakeholders. With mobile technologies, enterprise applications will go beyond the four walls of organizations to a workforce on the move

Beyond Customer Relationship Management: Selling Chain Management for E-Business Practices

Traditional 4Ps (product, price, place, and promotion) sales/marketing strategies are no longer a match for the dynamism of global markets in the e-business era. Today’s one-to-one relationship marketing practice requires significantly more information about customers’ behaviors, preferences, and patterns than other marketing strategies. Most sales opportunities in enterprises arise in a complex web of team-selling environments where sales team members need to share information, coordinate activities, and align sales processes in order to achieve a sales goal. Enterprises that used to implement CRM applications realize that their systems, which are not sufficiently flexible and interactive to streamline sale processes, have failed to engage customers in ways that create values, enhance individual purchasing experiences and retain loyalties. All these issues drew attentions from CRM to selling chain management. Selling chain management is a combination of customer relationship management, integrated marketing communications, and order fulfillment strategy situated in a multi-channel environment. The major purpose of selling chain management is to transform customer contact into profits. This paper shows that the integration of sales, marketing, and customer service applications with business intelligence system will help enterprises to manage oneto-one marketing and relationship management strategies. The selling chain management that reinvented itself from traditional sales/marketing strategies will undoubtedly be the best solution to today’s e-business Internet marketing

The Framework of Enterprise Information Processing Network for Knowledge Discovery and Sharing

The challenges of the global marketplace are increasingly forcing today\u27s process-centered organizations to utilize the knowledge, capabilities, and resources to be found within their information processing networks. The issue of whether or not companies should exploit their intangible knowledge assets is far more critical than their ability to invest and manage their existing physical assets. Under this paradigm shift, information-oriented productivity depends on the sharing of knowledge and skills among workers, so that enterprise strategies can be driven by the collective intelligence and competence of the group to face today’s business challenges and enable organizational learning. Management of organizational knowledge to create business values and competitive advantages is critical towards the organizational development. This paper focuses on the transformation of an enterprise information-processing network into a knowledge network for supply chain co-evolution. The ultimate goal is to develop a technological framework for a knowledge network that brings people, information, technologies, business processes, and organizational strategies together to better utilize knowledge in e-business. A knowledge network is introduced to enhance collaboration, encourage innovation, boost productivity, achieve adaptivity, and increase the information system efficiency. In tomorrow’s enterprises, knowledge will be the key to release creative energies that will inspire enormous innovations and great discoveries

The Building of a Knowledge Portal for Supply Chain Co-Evolving

Today, companies are demanding more than just access to data. They want processed and refined information that will help them to reach more effective tactical decisions. With the global deployment of computers, inter-connecting network, mobile devices, and information architecture, participants can work collaboratively by sharing networked resources, and exchanging knowledge in order to improve corporate performance. The collaboration/cooperation feature is especially important in today’s supply chain practices. Under this paradigm shift, information-oriented productivity depends on the sharing of knowledge and skills among workers. Therefore, supply chain strategies can be driven by the collective intelligence and competence to meet today’s business challenges that enable organizational learning. Management of organizational knowledge for creating business values and generating competitive advantages is critical for organizational development. In other words, it is related to the efficient integration of enterprise system, e-business application framework, and knowledge portal in order to achieve the goal of a learning organization and a supply chain. co-evolving This paper focuses on the design of an enterprise knowledge portal in a supply chain scheme for today’s business. The ultimate goal is to develop a technological framework for a knowledge network that brings people, information, technologies, business processes, and organizational strategies together to better utilize knowledge in e-business. The benefits of knowledge portal in today’s e-supply chain collaboration will not only expand the learning capabilities of workers. It will also help supply chain trading partners to develop a more concrete vision and strategy for enhancing their market values