EBUS - Supply Chain Comparison

Essay by socalgirlCollege, UndergraduateA+, July 2007

download word file, 6 pages 3.0

IntroductionWhen a business decides to explore the option of e-business as a form of generating revenue or a way of lowering expenses it is essential for the company to understand all aspects of the supply chain that are involved in order to move the service or product. The supply chain is defined as “a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to customer.” (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., para. 1, 2007).

The company will need to determine what sort of business relationship in which business will be conducted. There are two types of relationships, while both relationships are based on the demand needs driven by the customer; the direct point-to-point business will determine the relationship. The first relationship is a business to consumer (B2C) which is “the exchange of services, information and/or products from a business to a consumer” (Jupitermedia Corporation, para.

1, 2007), simply retail over the web. This form of business enables a company to be more conveniently accessible to their current customer base as well as attract new customers.

The second relationship is business to business (B2B) in which transactions occur directly between businesses. This relationship simplifies all aspects of the ordering process for the buyers as well as the sellers from invoicing to tracking of the shipment. The supply chain will vary depending on the type of business relationship the company opts to engage in, which will be further explored.

DifferencesChannelsChannels refer to the distribution channels in which a product must flow through to reach the buyer. In a B2B relationship there are fewer channels for the product to flow through in comparison to a B2C. The B2C consists of several more channels since the business not only has to...