E TASK 1: VALUE OF AN E-STRATEGY IN ORGANISATION

1.1: Explain the benefit of having E-strategy in Value store In today fast growing economy more and more companies are looking to have their business online, having an E-commerce is one of the most important business decisions a company could make in todays fast moving environment. According to investor words (n.d) Ecommerce is The buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers through an electronic medium, without using any paper documents. There are many different way a company can benefit from having an e-commerce site for their business, some of the way a company could benefit are listed. Cost advantage The online store is available 24/7/365 days of the week, customers can shop at any time that is convenient to them. The direct cost-of-sale for an order taken from a web site is lower than through traditional means, as there is no human interaction during the on-line electronic purchase order process. Also, electronic selling virtually eliminates processing errors, as well as being faster and more convenient for the visitor. One of the most tangible positives of ecommerce is the lowered cost. A part of these lowered costs could be passed on to customers in the form of discounted prices. Expanded Geographical Reach Value store can operate without geographical limitation; the business can now reach customers globally by allowing customers to carry out business without the barriers of distance on time. This will convert more customers into consumers, while expending the customer base of the company and building strong brand awareness and customer loyalty globally. This would not be possible with a physical shop at a particular location. Visibility Create customer awareness and increase the company visibility in the company targeted market, hence, creating more value for the company. Processing time

Reduce the delivery time between payments made and time the item take to reach the customers, increase responsiveness to the customers, i.e., strengthening the business relationship between the customers and the shareholders of the business, hence, increasing the company profitability. Variety Having an online shop is a big advantage; the company can put more items on display. This will promote sales and encourage compulsive buying by customers. The customers can get several brands and products without the hassle, the company dont have stock all the products it sells, the can use fulfilment centres and drop shipping companies. This will reduce the cost have stocking large inventory; hence, the overhead cost will reduce thereby increasing profit and efficiency. The benefits of having e-strategy, include reducing the strain on the company resources resulting in significant cost saving and increase in the level of productivity and efficiency.

1.2: Evaluate the contribution of an e-strategy to the achievement of Value stores objectives Like every business value store objectives and aim is to be the market leader by cornering their target market, thereby, offering the customers value for money. A clear Business objectives is necessary with a measurable tool to measure the long and short term business objectives of the company.For example, value store want to achieve sales of 10 million in the UK markets in 2012. Business Objectives Objectives give value store is to make 10 million this is aclearly a defined target. Plans can then be made to achieve these targets. It also enables the business to measure the progress towards to its stated aims. In-order for a business objective to be effective it must meet the following criterias: S Specific objectives are aimed at what the business does, e.g. value store might have an objective of selling 60,000 products during October, an objective specific to that business.

M - Measurable the business can put a value to the objective, e.g. 100,000 in sales in the next half year of trading. A - Agreed by all those concerned in trying to achieve the objective. R - Realistic the objective should be challenging, but it should also be able to be achieved by the resources available. T- Time specific they have a time limit of when the objective should be achieved, e.g. by the end of the month or year. The business objectives of value store are as follow As companies assess the choice of appropriate measures to evaluate e-commerce initiatives, numerous potential issues arise. Since the choices are different for each company, because the strategies, structures, and systems are different, substantial customization is necessary. Senior managers should consider six initial questions that can lead to the development of appropriate measures for e-commerce operations:

What measurement systems are currently in place and being utilized within the organization?

What are the important criteria to the company and its constituencies and stakeholders?

What does the company desire to accomplish with the e-commerce initiative? What is the anticipated timeframe associated with the e-commerce program? Who are the parties involved in implementing the e-commerce project, and who will be affected by the results?

What critical processes are associated with the successful execution of the ecommerce project?

It is important that a company should have the right system in place to monitor, analyze and evaluate the success of having e-commerce in a business. The evaluation is usually financial and none financial.

1.3: Discuss how to align an e-strategy with an overarching values stores strategy

Aligning e-strategy to the business is one of the key components for the success and the survival of the business. In today fast moving economy businesses have to implement the right strategies in order to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Strategic alignment model (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1999: 476)

Internal factors Internal factors are controlled by the organization, the internal factors include: Co-operate Plans/ Business unit plans Infrastructures refresh and renewal of programmes Preventative/ routine maintenance programmes

External factors Every business must identify, analyse and document the external factors that is likely to affect the success of the business. The external factors can cause serious financial issues for the organization, these external factors include: Legislation Industry/ professional regulation Economic trends Customer trends Supplier trend and availability of skills.

Understanding the business Understanding the business is one of the key elements of the alignment process; managers need to consider the following: Economy Sector Corporate

Business unit Department I/T has become the backbone of every successful organization, I/T is nothing more than

capturing, processing and distributing information. Managers have to map out the corporate model by doing so, mangers can determine exactly what the business does and how they do it. The factors that managers need to identify during the mapping and documentation process are: Organisation chart Flow of authority Formal and informal process Market, products, suppliers and shareholders.

Acknowledge the culture According to businesscasestudies (n.d) culture is who we are, what we do, and the way we do things, the business can only perform at its best if the nature of the business is matched with the nature of the system. If this is not done correctly the business is likely to underperform.

The alignment process is not exhausted for this question but in the interest of time and word limitation only culture and understanding the business was looked at, there are other factors that should be taken into consideration during the alignment process which we have not discussed, and these include the following: Know the IT estate, Discover the value chain Interpret the context Determine the change agenda The technology road map, Plan the work programme Populate the delivery frame work, achieve the business benefits