Tuesday, December 2, 2008

E-Business Facilitates International Business
E-business is “a marketplace where businesses are using Internet technologies to transform their internal business processes (via intranets); their business relationships (via extranets); and the buying and selling of goods, services and information (via Internet)” (Nick). International business would be rather difficult without e-business facilities. Because of the complexity of procedures of doing international businesses, a few small businesses are willing to take the risks to go to international. E-business backed up with telecommunications make doing international business like doing local one. Therefore, running an international business is pretty easy. From setting up to operation, there is no big difference between the international and the local.
Selecting a good business name is one of the first steps required in finding the path to success. As your selected business name is the first impression a potential customer gets regarding your venture, you should ensure that it is able to attract customers from the internet. Furthermore a business name plays an important role in your ventures’ marketing strategies. Your selected business name influences on how an outsider, more importantly a potential customer would identify or perceive your business. Therefore when selecting a good business name you should ensure it reflects the image you want your customers to posses of your venture. As selecting a good business name is one of the most important decisions you would make regarding your business and the name would last for the whole duration of your venture, it is essential that you dedicate a good portion of your time and consideration for this task. In addition to the above facts you should also take into consideration the various legal issues that could arise due to the selected name. If the selected name is already registered or trademarked by another business it would create a very messy and expensive situation for you to sort out. Hence one of the first important steps when selecting a business name is to find out the availability of it. You can utilize business directories, phone directories, yellow pages and also the internet to check the availability of the name.
Even though selecting a unique name is a great idea, it makes more sense to name your business depending on the nature of service it provides. Ensure that the customers can easily visualize the service you offer through the selected name. Also the selected name should bring out positive connotations (emotional implications) you require people to associate with your business. By selecting a name which is short, easy to spell and simple to pronounce, you would be assisting your customers to easily remember your business.
Since many businesses now rely on the internet to boost up their sales, it is important that you select a business name for your venture which is also available as a domain name. You can easily conduct a name search and check the availability of the name through online businesses which allow you to purchase these domain names.
For any type of business to flourish and expand, business networking is an essential element that needs to be taken into serious consideration. Effective networking paves the path to building up and forming relationships with like businesses. Also it exposes your business to a much wider audience and in turn enables you to gain new clients and valued referrals. As a business owner you should utilize your networking skills to identify the concerns, requirements and problems of your specific market segment.
In order to build up valuable networks it is vital that you reach out to as many people as possible. You can always start with your family and friends. Once you have gained more confidence you can focus your attention on business contacts and associates. One of the best places to meet other business contacts are through business groups which meet up as a network or community in order to benefit from vested interests. Joining them and actively participating in these associations or organizations is a sure way to start building successful networks. Being a good listener would enable you to collect more information about others and their concerns or problems. This in turn would facilitate you to assess how important your business would be to them. Staying in touch with your new found contacts is also important. You can utilize emails, notes, cards and phone calls in order to maintain contact with them.
Make yourself available for contact through as many communication modes as possible since different people prefer to communicate in different ways. For instance while some would prefer one-to-one meetings, others would favor communications through emails or even phone calls. The best ways of passing out your contact information would be through business cards, email signatures, websites and sales and marketing materials. Your name, title, business name, mailing address, phone numbers, fax numbers, mobile number, e-mail address as well as your web address should be clearly stated in these. You can also specify in a few words what your business is all about. For example you can state the kind of product or service which you offer.
Effective networking is the best way to maintain contact with your clients as well as your fellow businessmen in order to obtain benefits for your professional life. It is the main component which enables your business to develop and grow successfully. Therefore always be ready to mingle with anyone at whatever event or function you may attend (Susan).
Depending on your skill level, the amount of time you're willing to spend, and the amount of money you have available, building an online business website can be quick and easy process. On the other hand building a website can be very time consuming and expensive. There are pros and cons to consider whether you decide to build the site yourself or you decide to outsource the work to have it done for you. This article will look at 4 options that are available to you.
Do it yourself. If you have prior knowledge of HTML then building your website is definitely the least expensive option for building your online business website. Once you have a few pages created, the rest of the work becomes fairly easy and will not take much time to complete since the layout for each page can be copied from your initial work. The cost stays low depending on the type of HTML editor you purchase to create the web pages. The most advanced HTML editors such as Macromedia Dreamweaver offer all the editing tools one needs to complete a website with all the bells and whistles, but the cost can be prohibitive. If you don't have a prior knowledge of HTML then doing t yourself can be time consuming, learning even basic HTML will allow you to build a presentable website that you will be proud of.
Buy a readymade template. Template website designs have been around for a very long time now. When website templates were first being offered, they were not the most attractive designs. But, as time passed and websites designs became more creative, there was competition between template makers to offer the public templates that were clean and state of the art. Now you can search for website templates to fit any business model or design aesthetic you choose. These templates are generally inexpensive and are ready for you to simply add your content. Designers may often tweak their designs to fit your specifications if you feel the need to modify the original design.
Get a website package deal. A website package erases the need for you to learn HTML by having the company that offers this service build you a website that incorporates all of the aspects that an online business website needs including products and services to promote. Depending on your niche, a website package that includes the products and services you want to promote may be hard to find. On the other hand there are companies that offer a generic websites and a process for adding your own products and services to their design model. This process is usually "drag and drop" and easily customizable. I won't mention any in this article, but a quick Google search will yield many results. Just be sure to get seek opinions on reputable online webmaster forums before you make a purchase.
Hire a designer. Hiring a designer can be the most expensive and time consuming solution of them all. Not only will you have to give your design specifications, but you will also have to work with the designer to get the site created exactly the way you envisioned it. Designers can range in price, but by using freelancer 's to whom you can outsource this work by simply posting a description of the project you would like created and have web site designers bid or compete for your business. You can also take a sample view of their work to ensure the best quality. If you know a web designer and are comfortable with their work then that might be your best solution. No matter which option you decide to use to build your online business website, you will still be wise to learn basic HTML. Because once the site is created it's up to you to maintain it and keep it functional. You will save a lot of time and money if you don't have to pay every time you need to make changes to your website. This also gives you ultimate control over your online business.
In sum, setting an international business is not that tough you imagine with wikinomics. Your international business opens its doors to the world, co-innovates with everyone, shares resources that were previously closely guarded, harnesses the power of mass collaboration, and behaves not as a multinational but as something new: a truly global firm (Don 20). Using various e-business tools to facilitate your international business.




Works Cited

Kenyeres, Nick. “COMP 1113 Week 1: What is e-Business?” Course notes. 9 September 2008. Course home page. George Brown College. 1 December 2008.
Hutson, Susan. Build Your Own Business. 27 November 2008. 1 December 2008. <http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/35/3457/The-Importance-of-a-good-Business-Name.php>
Tapscott, Don, and Anthony D. Williams. Wikinomics. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Wiki Workplace Changes Information Industry
Ideas behind the wiki workplace are not really new. Organizational bureaucracy impedes innovation, agility, and success. Long rows of desks, regimented in army fashion under a managerial ethos that borrowed heavily from the military’s command-and control structure. Electronic workstations could augment the thinking and communications abilities of knowledge workers. The theme of teamwork was big in the eighties, and empowerment and networking were big in the nineties. Corporations have become networked in the sense that they build business webs with partners on a platform of information technology. For fifty years various people have speculated about how the advent of computers was going to change the workplace—the distribution of information would delayer and decentralize organizations and management. The new business environment, the Net Generation, and the rise of the new Web are finally beginning to change the old workplace. Most large organizations today are geographically dispersed. Networking technologies allow companies to run cohesive yet decentralized operations by linking employees in virtual teams and communities of practice. Competitive pressures, meanwhile, are making organizations leaner and more agile, more focused on the customer, and more attuned to dynamic competitive strategies. But it also means that they will be less likely to provide lifelong careers and job security, and more in need of continuous reorganization to maintain or gain competitive advantage. At the same time, the nature of work itself is changing. Work has become more cognitively complex, more team-based and collaborative, more dependent on social skills, more time pressured, more reliant on technological competence, more mobile, and less dependent on geography. Many employees are already given far more autonomy to decide how and where they want to work. A growing number of firms are decentralizing their decision-making function, communicating in a peer-to-peer fashion, and embracing new technologies that empower employees to communicate easily and openly with people inside and outside the firm. The continuous flow of new technologies into the workplace has been a key source of change in the way that we work. E-mail enabled employees to share information far more efficiently than they could with typewritten memos. Client-server computer architectures gave them access to company data that used to be guarded jealously by senior managers. Cell phones and BlackBerrys gave staffs the ability to work on the move and spend more time out of the office. Finally, today, a younger generation of workers is embracing new Web-based tools in a way that often confounds older generations but promises real advantages for companies that adapt their style of working. Tools such as blogs, wikis, chat rooms, peer-to-peer networks, and personal broadcasting are putting unprecedented power in the hands of individual workers to communicate and collaborate more productively. This in turn is driving a new revolution in workplace collaboration of a qualitatively different nature[1].

Wiki Workplace changes Information Industry which I was working in. The information and communication technologies that are transforming media, culture, and the economy are also reshaping how companies and employees function. New social computing tools such as wikis and blogs put unprecedented communication power in the hands of employees. Some companies worry about the risks of uncontrolled communications leaking out. But a growing number believe the new collaboration tools are good for innovation and growth—they help employees connect with more people, in more regions of the world, with less hassle and more enjoyment, than earlier generations of workplace technology. Geek Squad is a case in point. Many thousands of Geeks are using a growing suite of collaboration technologies to brainstorm new products and services, manage projects, swap service tips, and socialize with their peers. Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson says empowering employees to collaborate in unorthodox ways is all about "unleashing the power of human capital." As the retailer continues to crush its competition, it would seem that Anderson is onto something. Already North America's largest consumer electronics seller, the profitable company plans to open more than 100 new stores this year, while ailing competitors such as Circuit City are shuttering locations. Much of this is due to a younger generation of workers who embrace Web-based tools in a way that often confounds older workers. Nourished on instant messaging, blogs, wikis, chat groups, playlists, peer-to-peer file sharing, and online multiplayer video games, the Net Generation will increasingly bring a heightened comfort with technology, inclination toward social connectivity, more emphasis on creativity and fun, and greater diversity to the companies they work for and to the companies they found themselves.

Working at Wiki Workplace, you can sue wiki. Thanks to the Web, and networks in general, the cost of publishing and sharing information has diminished substantially — which makes wikis the killer app for corporations. Prior to wikis, an expensive enterprise application would have been required for sophisticated information management. But because most wikis are based on open-source code, they're free for companies who opt for an open-source distribution, or relatively cheap for companies willing to pay for their implementation and support. Wikis are designed to facilitate the exchange of information within and between teams. Content in a wiki can be updated without any real lag, without any real administrative effort, and without the need for distribution — users/contributors (with wikis, they're one and the same) simply visit and update a common Web site. Wikis can centralize all types of corporate data, such as spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, PDFs — anything that can be displayed in a browser. They can also embed standard communications media such as e-mail and IM. A wiki's functionality is limited only by the programming skills of the person who implements it. It's important to note that placing a document in a wiki does not necessarily make it editable by everyone with access to the wiki. For example, the marketing department can make a PowerPoint slide available to the sales team or the company at large without letting them change or overwrite it. What's more, wikis have built-in version control even for those who have edit privileges. No changes can be made without creating a record of who made those changes, and reversion to an earlier version is a matter of a few clicks. Wikis are cheap, extensible, and easy to implement, and they don't require a massive software rollout. They also interface well with existing network infrastructures. Furthermore, wikis are Web-based and thus present little or no learning curve in the adoption cycle, and they allow the user to determine the relevancy of content rather than being dependent upon a central distribution center or a linear distribution chain.[2]

International Management will become less difficult when working at Wiki Workplace within the global village, especially in consulting. I graduated from the University of Sciences and Technology of China with a bachelor degree in information technology in 1984, and from the Harbin Institute of Technology with a master degree in electrical engineering in 1984, I wanted to start a business consultancy. I had the name for a long time-Yuan Health Information Consulting. But the various difficulties impede me from setting up. Working as a researcher in the institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, an associate professor at universities and a senior engineer in China Telecom, I am planning to start up my own company, working at a Wiki Workplace. Wikis, blogs, and other tools will arrive in the workplace whether companies are ready or not. Increasingly these employees will be capable of interacting as a global, real-time workforce. Indeed, if Linux, Wikipedia, and other collaborative projects are any indication, it will often be easier and less expensive for workers to self-organize productively than to squeeze them into more traditional business units.
[1] http://www.socialtext.com/files/Wikinomics_Chapter9.pdf
[2] http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167600331&pgno=2

Friday, November 21, 2008

千里之外

It is so popular that everywhere could be heard when I visited China-my hometown.

In the libaray


蜜蜂采蜜
吸取-你不具有的。
换来-那最甜美的。

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Setting Own E-Business

Did you have a dream of being a boss? Are you thinking to start up you own company? Will you be waiting for the necessities to make it succeed? E-Business is a solution for your ideas to come ture.