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B2B Business Models
Business Information Systems > B2B Business Models
Abstract
Information technology is not only revolutionizing the way that
enterprises do business with consumers, but also the way that
they do business with each other. In addition, many experts pre-
dict that business-to-business transactions will exceed those of
business-to-consumer e-commerce. However, just as there are
different business models for non-electronic businesses, there are
also more than one model for business-to-business e-commerce.
Two revolutionary new business models that have come out of
this movement are the business-to-business e-commerce models
of Dell and Cisco. However, these models are not appropriate for
every organization. In addition to these new paradigms for indi-
vidual firms, other changes in business-to-business e-commerce
are occurring that are revolutionizing the traditional paradigms.
Overview
Traditionally, when one thinks of business paradigms, one of
the first things that springs to mind is the concept of companies
selling to consumers. The department chain store or the big box
store down the street are prime examples of this business model.
Historically, this meant that the business had a brick-and-mortar
location where it employed its own personnel. Even with the
advent of the Information Age, this model changed only slightly,
with information technology being used to support the way that
business was done by making standard operations more efficient.
For example, manual cash registers have been replaced in most
modern businesses by high tech models that keep track of vari-
ous aspects of transactions including tender type (i.e., whether
the transaction was cash, check, charge, etc.) and amount paid
as well as inventory control information or other administrative
data. Such automated information collection makes closing the
store at night and balan