QUESTION #1 MIDTERM

Research 1 company that makes use of E-commerce. Describe the nature of this company in 1-2 paragraphs.Identify then, how does this company use e-commerce to achieve strategic advantage. Describe the benefits derived from this strategy.

COMPANY USE OF E-commerce
ORLANDO WEB DEVELOPMENT COMPANY.

NATURE OF THE COMPANY

As technologies emerge, successful businesses are quick to identify developing opportunities and expand their commercial capabilities. Conducting commerce electronically is no different. For many businesses, new technologies that digitally exchange text and monetary information are effective tools to serve traditional business goals of streamlining services, developing new markets, and creating innovative business opportunities. In addition, they offer the potential to develop types of services that are so innovative and distinct from tradition that they define a new type of commerce. Appropriately named, electronic commerce (E-Commerce) is the synthesis of traditional business practices with computer, information and communication technologies

It first emerged in the 1960's on private networks, as typically large organizations developed electronic data interchange (EDI) installations and banks implemented electronic funds transfer (EFT). Today, however, E-Commerce is no longer the exclusive domain of large organizations or private networks. The open network Internet and particularly the World Wide Web not only present new commercial potential for large organizations, but also provide a viable entry point for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into E-Commerce opportunities.
Even though E-Commerce has existed for over thirty years, it has just recently sustained significant growth. In the past 5 years the Internet has transformed from an auxiliary communication medium for academics and large organizations into an entrenched communication medium that spans across nearly all parts of mainstream society. E-Commerce growth is tied directly to these socio-technological changes. The more entrenched the medium becomes, the more users are drawn to it. An increase in users increases markets. As markets expand, more businesses are attracted, which in turn drives the development of better, more stable and secure technology to facilitate E-Commerce. A stable, secure environment for exchanging mission-critical and monetary information only draws more businesses and consumers to the Internet and ensures the growth pattern continues. All these related factors contribute to a burgeoning E-Commerce marketplace that should continue to grow well into the new millennium.

AdVantage of e-commerce

In the short-term, entry into E-Commerce may offer a competitive advantage over slower to act competitors. The market for E-Commerce is growing, as more consumers and businesses gain Internet access and transaction processing technologies improve security. Companies that establish an operation today, still in the early stages of Internet based E-Commerce, will have a fuller understanding of the issues and be better prepared to capitalize on emerging technologies when E-Commerce markets open up in the next few years.

The benefits of E-Commerce to a small business may include capabilities to:

Extend the range of sales territory
Streamline communication to suppliers and clients
Expand reach to new clients
Improve service to existing clients
Reduce paperwork and time spent on correspondence
Track customer satisfaction
Expedite billing
Improve collaboration on work projects
Expand markets beyond geographical, national boundaries
Leverage legacy data
Improve inventory control, order processing
Establish position in emerging E-Commerce marketplace
Lower costs of overhead
Realize economies of scale by increasing sales volume to new markets
Monitor competition and industry trends
Improve or expand product lines - locate new suppliers, products that could be included in catalogue.
Management of expectations
How does it integrate with traditional services?
As E-Commerce matures and more traditional businesses enter the electronic marketplace, it will become difficult to distinguish the E-Commerce merchant from traditional merchant. Although some firms operate exclusively as E-Commerce merchants, it appears that the greatest opportunities are for established firms that venture into E-Commerce as a means to refine existing business processes and gain new customers.
E-Commerce may complement or replace traditional commercial activities, depending upon the industry and the functions. Because it is both a threat and an opportunity for various industries, it is worthwhile to:
Study how E-Commerce can integrate into operations. Determine needs and capabilities. E-Commerce operations may shadow traditional operations to provide redundant services such as product information distribution.
Develop an E-Commerce strategy into the business and marketing plans. Understanding how an E-Commerce system will strategically fit with the firm's existing operations will help to allocate the management and financial resources necessary for it to be a success. In the long-run, there have to be resources to set-up and sustain a system, making it work best for the type of operation that will be managed.
Monitor competitors, suppliers, and customers' movements into E-Commerce. Special attention to their capabilities will help determine areas of E-Commerce that need development.
Establish a consistent operations review process. E-Commerce technology and operations are constantly evolving. Changes in technology frequently introduce opportunities to refine or create new services.

Blog post #6 QUESTION

Dunkin's Donuts-living in the Seattle area it's probably considered bizarre for me to make note of this: there are no Dunkin' Donuts out here. Not a single one in the whole state of Washington.You may laugh and say "Who cares?". Seattle is up to its eyeballs in coffeehouses. Fine but I still miss Dunkin' Donuts. No, it's not for the doughnuts. It's the coffee. Dunkin' Donuts is good for a quick, unfussy cup of decent coffee. And then there's the difference in price and speed. Starbucks is expensive and slow. You're expected to linger while you sip your Quad Soy Vente Latte. Dunkin' Donuts may sell some weird coffee drinks too but most people order basic coffee.Is the lack of Dunkin Donuts a result of the Starbucks Divide? (ie. liberals go to Starbucks while conservatives get their coffee at Dunkin' Donuts). Nope, Washington State may have been blue for the 2004 election but so was Massachusetts. And Dunkin' Donuts was originally founded in Massachusetts.Perhaps the explanation is that the Dunkin' Donuts chain just doesn't stretch this far West. But then again, according to their web site, they have stores in 29 countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea

Dunkin' Donuts plans to open its first shop in Shanghai this Spring. It plans to put up over 100 stores in mainland China over the next 10 years.
The Massachusetts-based seller of coffee and baked goods started to invade the Chinese market back in January 2007 by putting up its first shop in Taiwan. It currently operates 10 shops in Taipei supervised by franchise partner Mercuries & Associates. Aside from its mainland expansion, the company also plans to put up 10 additional shops in Taiwan.
Dunkin' Donuts granted Taiwan-based Mercuries & Associates franchise rights in Shanghai, as well as in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhijiang. The mainland shops will offer Dunkin's signature products including its coffee, espresso, donuts, and other baked goods. The shops will also serve items—which would suit local taste—such as green tea, honeydew melon donuts, and mochi rings made of indigenous rice flour.
A subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands Inc., Dunkin' Donuts is expanding globally and currently has 7,900 shops in 31 countries.

History
In 1946, William Rosenberg founded Industrial Luncheon Services as a company to deliver meals and "coffee break snacks" to customers in the outer reaches of Providence, Rhode Island. His business saw success and Rosenberg soon followed by opening up his first coffee and donut shop called "The Open Kettle". In 1950 he opened the first store known as "Dunkin' Donuts", which is still standing today at 543 Southern Artery in Quincy, Massachusetts[1]. By 1954, Rosenberg had opened a total of five Dunkin ' Donuts shops, with Natick, Somerville, Saugus, and Shrewsbury added to the list. The first franchised Dunkin' Donuts shop in America opened in the Webster Square area of Worcester, Massachusetts in 1955.[2] To save on rent, Howdy Beefburger (a chain of fast food restaurants similar to McDonald's restaurants) frequently shared parking lots with Dunkin' Donuts shops. Howdy Beefburger could not compete, and had disappeared by 1980.
For a while, Dunkin' Donuts and its other quick-service brands - Togo's and Baskin-Robbins - were owned and operated by Allied Domecq. Allied Domecq has since been bought out by Pernod Ricard for its Spirits and Wine division, breaking off the quick service brand to create Dunkin' Brands, the current owner of Dunkin' Donuts. Currently, there are 5,541 Dunkin' Donuts franchises in the United States, 79 in Canada, and 1,846 throughout the rest of the world.

Dunkin' Donuts has come under fire from some of its franchisees for allegedly strong-arming them out of a business at large financial losses. Dunkin' Donuts has sued franchise owners 154 times since 2006. Over the same stretch of time, McDonald's was involved in five lawsuits. Subway, a company that has four times the number of locations as Dunkin' Donuts, sued its franchises 12 times. Franchisees allege that the company's larger business strategy requires multi-unit franchisees who have ample capital and can open numerous stores rapidly to compete with Starbucks. [

Blog post #5 QUESTION

As a future manager, my computer ethics to use, in my program is "how computers affect society concern it because that is a common issues about in the computer ethics".Aside from that,you can get the ideas and impact on the society therefore,computer ethics to raise a higher rank discussion of how much influence from the computers should have in areas such as human communication.