ACTA UN IV ERSITA TIS LOD ZIEN SIS FOLIA OECONOMICA 157,2002
Roberto Zuffada Fiorella G iacom ett
Francesca Borga A ndrzej Rudka
BENE-BUS
BENCHMARKING OF E-BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
FOR WESTERN A N D EASTERN EUROPEAN SMES
While the European Union is launching its main challenge through the next enlargement the co-operation between the EU member states and the Associated countries is becoming more and more critical. A closer collaboration is thus expected at economic and political level in terms o f knowledge transfer, adoption o f models o f sustainable growth, increasing o f competitiveness and development o f novel opportunities fo r the players. Under this framework e-commerce solutions can support the strategy towards the change but their adoption, mainly by the SMEs, should be well established and as a result o f an informed decision. The BENE- BUS project is in line with this approach being mainly focused to provide the Eastern and Western European SMEs with innovative assessment models and benchmarking tools aimed at improving their way to approach e-business implementation.
Introduction
A lthough e-Com m erce and e-Business are clearly recognised as fundam ental drivers in the developm ent o f both traditional and m ore innovative European SM Es, many problem s and access barriers still exist which slow down their full deploym ent in the international business context. By its very nature,
Firms: EIDEIA Association, Via Soncino 1, 20123 Milan, Italy.Tel. +39.0362.245396, Fax +39.0362.336501, E-mail: roberto.zuffada@ eideia.org;
SINEUR A spa. Corso Matteotti 38, 20038 Seregno (M I), Italy; Tel.+39.0362.328318, Fax +39.0362.336501, E-mail: projects@ sineura.com;
PECAT Foundation, ul. Zawojska 23, 02-927 Warsaw, Poland; Tel. and Fax +48.22.8424021, E-mail: pecat@ atos.warman.com.pl
e-Business is trans-national and encourages cross-border ordering and delivery o f goods and services. It directly stim ulates com petition in the Single Market. The Single M arket, in turn, offers electronic com m erce the prospect o f a critical mass o f businesses and custom ers across national borders.
But the m ajority o f SM Es both in Eastern and W estern Europe are yet unprepared to take full advantage o f this opportunity, due to a range o f issues addressing technological, organisational and cultural aspects.
In order to provide a system atic and effective contribution to the solution of these problem s, and therefore to ensure that European enterprises, particularly SM Es, will not lag behind in the rapid take-off o f electronic com m erce, it is necessary, on one hand, to stimulate a range o f aw areness creation activities aim ed at increasing the use of electronic com m erce, and on the other hand, to provide tools, m ethodologies and benchm arking inform ation allow ing the com panies to approach the important phase of going to the Internet in a structured and safe way.
The main focus o f the BENE-BUS project is therefore to m ake SM Es aw are o f the benefits and com petitive advantages resulting from the im plem entation of electronic com m erce and to prom ote their adoption as the result o f an inform ed decision. BENE-BUS facilitates “adaptability, em ployability and entreprene urship” by enabling through the im plem entation o f e-business solutions, the creation of dynam ic partnerships as well as genuine positioning on untapped markets.
The B ENE-BUS project is a best practice focusing on the E-B usiness and New M ethods of W ork in the context of international co-operation involving Eastern European M em bers and New Independent States and this will foster the liaisons between the EU m em ber states and A ssociated countries, m ainly with regard to the econom ic players such as SM Es, Industrial A ssociations and technological transfer facilitators. In addition. BENE-BUS project facilitates “adaptability, em ployability and entrepreneurship” by enabling through the im plem entation o f e-business platform , the creation of dynam ic partnerships as well as genuine positioning on untapped m arkets.
The BENE-BUS project - funded under the 1ST Program m e o f the Fifth Fram ew ork Program m e o f the European Union - has started the 1st D ecem ber 2000 and will end in N ovem ber 2002, for the duration of 24 months.
M ethodology description
The m ethodological approach conceived in BENE-BUS is the result o f a strategy which considers as central the role of the European SM Es as new players in the e-m arketplace.
The idea which supports the developm ent o f the B ENE-BUS m ethodological fram ework arises from the need to position the SM Es in term s of e-business potential vis-a-vis their current situation and to plan and design the transition from the latter to the former: this will enable the SM E to m ake an inform ed decision as to w hether they should go to the electronic m arketplace or not. In addition the m ethodological fram ework will help SM Es w illing to go to the e-m arketplace to identify the better solution to im plem ent with respect to their profile in term o f clients, products, services, m arket segm entation, channels already adopted for sale and m arketing.
The m ethodological fram ework which has been developed is thus structured follow ing a tw ofold objective:
> to provide an assessm ent model allow ing SM Es to analyse their positioning in the reference m arketplace under the perspective o f the adoption o f an e- business solution;
> to provide an initial Im provement Plan enabling them to understand the best e-solution for their own business and the way to im plem ent this.
The first step looks like a feasibility study where a strategic analysis will be carried out in order to point out the positioning o f the SM Es in the m arket place with respect to:
> product/service > business scenario > m arket o f reference > com petitors
> new com ers
The second step will be a sort o f process analysis with the goal to check-up the main processes of the SM E in order to com prehend how the introduction and adoption of e-com m erce solutions will influence them and which changes/im plem entations the SM E will have to introduce as consequence.
E-com m erce as m eans and opportunity to modify the sale and m arketing approach, brings a new approach towards the clients, the m arket o f reference, the product/service sold. Also e-com m erce solutions have different im pact on the processes o f the SME: it appears thus critical to take in consideration this in the design of the m ethodology.
The assessm ent questionnaire is the main out-put o f the exposed approach. It will follow a scheme finalised at producing a model aim ed at designing: > SM E m arket positioning;
> e-com m erce impact;
> im pact o f the decision “to go digital” on com pany revenues and costs.
The logical path which is thus foreseen in this phase o f the project is structured as follows: developm ent of the questionnaire, analysis o f the users requirem ents, carrying out of an im provem ent plan, including a Business Plan, for assisting and addressing the SM Es in im plem enting the proper e-business solutions.
In this strategy a great im portance is also given to a well designed aw areness and dissem ination cam paign with the aim o f prom oting the adoption of suitable e-solutions: this will help European com panies and organisations to draw m axim um benefits from the results of successful EU -funded R& D projects in the field o f Inform ation Society and, more specifically o f Electronic Com m erce. Priority will be given to Best Practice cases which are deem ed to be closer to the practical needs of European SMEs.
In order to allow the fruition o f the BENE-BUS results by its target users (m ainly, European SM Es) a set of services are going to be designed; they will be accessible through the W EB and will be further provided by the trans-national consortium . These can be sum m arised as follows:
> essential direct support services to enable SM Es to im plem ent innovative business processes based on e-business solutions im plem entation;
> a service supplier database o f existing organisational/technical resources for supporting e-business processes of SM Es will be set up;
> an alliances network enabling SM Es to operationally im plem ent the e-platform solutions, will be created;
> a perm anent web forum will allow SM Es to ask for up to date inform ation on the funding opportunities concerning the im plem entation o f e-business solutions and it will enable SM Es in evaluating the existing e-business platform that best fits their requirem ent.
These assum ptions, which the BENE-BUS partners addressed when they approached the project have now inspired the design o f the conceptual basis upon which to build the overall strategy of the project and to facilitate the European SM Es to go digital.
Accordingly BENE-BUS is producing, on one hand, a m ethodology to form alise the needs of each individual SM E in term s of e-com m erce
im plem entation and to design the path for transition; on the other hand, it is perform ing a benchm arking exercise in order to qualify the different platform s offered on the market; thus, on the basis o f the SM E profile and o f the outcom e of the benchm arking exercise, it will be possible to m ake a rational choice o f the best solution m atching the specific needs o f a given SM E and to suggest the best way for im plem entation.
The m ethodology will in fact be m easured on the field, through the active involvem ent of a user group o f at least 5 SM Es identified by the project partners which will actively investigate through their preferential links established in the past years with Industrial A ssociations, Local business links, SM Es representatives. C ham bers of C om m erce and personal business contacts in order to go further for the proper selection of this first users group. A total o f 15 users will be thus involved in the project - namely 3 per any country in which the project is deployed (Italy, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Rep. o f G eorgia). It will be thus quite significant to take in consideration mostly the C entral and Eastern European site as the main problem s and more critical needs in im plem enting e-business solutions will be probably encountered there.
Significantly through the developm ent of the overall approach adopted by BENE-BUS including the m ethodological fram ework, the users requirem ent analysis and the benchm arking o f the e-business solutions, the consortium foreseen to concretely im plem ent 4 pilots cases by the end o f the project.
G o-no-G o decision
One o f the most critical aspect of the BENE-BUS approach is the so called “go-no-go” decision. An inform ed decision for any com pany w illing to im plem ent an e-business solution is critical for m aking this com plex choice. BENE-BUS believes that more com ponents have to be considered for evaluate the opportunity to go digital. Firstly the effort and the change to be m ade in terms o f internal processes, organisational structure, human resources and ICT. In addition the market of reference, the kind o f product/service, com petitors and com pany business strategy are critical for addressing a proper choice in this field. The regulatory and legal fram ework is finally the third aspect which definitively affects the im plem entation o f an e-business solution.
E -com m erce is not good for all. An e-com m erce strategy can be a right choice, but not the right choice. It depends - as said - on different factors. The final decision to go digital should be thus taken with respect to these factors and on the basis of a detailed costs-benefits analysis. The B ENE-BUS approach is follow ing this idea but it has also considered that it is often hard and expensive, mainly for sm allest com panies, to go through a deeper and detailed analysis.
BENE-BUS is therefore suggesting to make a first step and to stop at an initial but concrete level taking into consideration the bent o f the com pany tow ards the e-com m erce and to avoid a deeper and hard analysis which could be useless if the com pany would not have any interest in im plem enting this sort of e-solutions. This first step will be then follow ed by others if the interest and the proneness o f the com pany is in favour to the e-com m erce.
The proposed BENE-BUS model allows to make this first step, identifying, together with the most evident and critical users requirem ents also the most advisable e-com m erce solutions for each kind o f product/services, by providing som e elem ents to take an informed decision to go digital.
M ore specifically some o f the elem ents which play a role in taking an inform ed decision and that have been considered into the users requirem ents analysis can be sum m arised as follows:
> difficulty to im plement a proper e-business solution in term s o f tim e, costs, level o f IC T adopted by the com pany and cxistencc o f e-solutions already im plem ented in the specific sector;
> im portance for the com pany o f the product/service in term s of purchase/sale and im pact on turnover and costs;
> expected im provem ents by introducing e-com m erce solutions for the strategic products/services, taking into account their own main characteristics (for some typology o f products/services e-com m erce solutions are not suitable or have a m inim um -low im pact in com parison with traditional business model) and the specific relationship o f the com pany with its suppliers/custom ers;
> com p an y’s suppliers/clients bent/fam iliarity to adopt e-com m erce solution (it depends both on the intrinsic characteristics o f the suppliers/clients, on the sector, and on the strength o f the com pany to “ im pose” e-solutions to its suppliers/custom ers).
All these factors should be considered as a whole, since, for instance, the im portance o f the product/service or of the expected im provem ent can justify high investm ents which would not justified for less im portant, non-strategic products/services.
B E N E -B U S e-business reference schem e
W h at's happen if an SM E should decide to explore the opportunity to go digital? Why should an SM E adopt an e-business solutions? Is it e-business good for all?
It is e-com m erce good for mv com pany?
It is im portant to underline that generally there are tw o reasons which could drive a com pany to introduce an e-business solution. T he first reason is that the com pany is not satisfied by its current relationship with suppliers/clients and wants therefore to improve these relations. In other cases e-business m odels are introduced not for changing existing relationship but ju st to support them , i.e. creating a more efficient and fast inform ation exchange where a partnership relation already exists or increasing the num ber of clients/suppliers reached where a m arket relation is used. It is necessary to note that also this second case, to be successful, requires an organisational change process, and not only the introduction o f a new technology keeping on past work m ethodologies. It is just im portant to remind that the BENE-BUS m ethodological approach in general and the e-business reference scheme in particular only considers the B2B applications i.e. those solutions that are aim ed at supporting the relationships supplier/clients. In fact the B2C models would require a different approach enabling to take into consideration the point of view and the requirem ents of the final user instead of clients such as other com panies.
Besides this, the main problem approaching e-business m odels is to choose the right solutions for each com pany. As already m entioned, the choice of the e-strategy should be based on the kind of relationship existing or planned betw een the com pany and its suppliers/clients. In general, existing e-business B2B solutions can be divided in three groups, depending on the effects that they produce.
Solutions aimed at reducing purchase prices by strengthening the m arket m echanism . In particular, Internet-based solutions are useful to reduce inform ative asym m etries and make available a com plete inform ation. That means that clients can reach a larger num ber o f potential suppliers, can com pare their products and their prices, and can choose the better solution for their needs. All this in an easy, time saving and inexpensive way. M oreover, using e- business solutions, buyers can concentrate in a single order the dem and from various branches, gaining better purchasing conditions, and suppliers can reduce surplus stock and better utilise production capacity, reducing their costs. Exam ples of these technologies are all the kinds o f e-A uctions, that offer an electronic version of the traditional bidding m echanism , and the buyer aggregation sites, where groups of buyers agree in order to low er the price of the product/service they will achieve.
S olutions aim ed at increasing the efficiency o f the supply process, through the introduction o f standard procedures. In this way it is possible to reduce the time needed for the transactions, to autom ate m ore repetitive
activities, and to reduce the num ber o f errors that may occur in the m anaging of the order. At the same time, e-Business solutions allow real tim e inform ation exchange between buyers and suppliers and reduce transaction costs introducing a direct client-supplier relation (no interm ediaries) and reducing logistic and distribution costs. M ost diffuse exam ple o f these solutions are e-Procurem ent system s im plem ented by buyers to reduce their transaction costs optim ising internal processes o f procurem ent and increasing the num ber o f possible suppliers in order to improve purchase conditions. In a sim ilar way, vertical- hubs increase the efficiency of the supply process offering a com m on Internet- based environm ent where buyers and suppliers can meet. In som e cases e-hubs are focused on a single industry or a specific business process, in any case they are enhanced by tools that facilitate and support the transactions, reducing total purchasing/ selling costs.
Solutions aimed at strengthening the su p p ly chain integration. Since these technologies allow to share inform ation, data, and know ledge in a safe, easy, and tim e-saving way, they can be used to increase co-operation between com panies. In particular the collaborative tools are solutions that provide a shared environm ent and a set of tools for co-operation. They are usually focused on specific functions, such as co-ordinated planning, collaborative design, docum ent sharing, or joint engineering. Basically these tools allow to reduce duplicate activities in the supply chain and better allocate available resources, and are aim ed at creating a strength and lasting relationship betw een suppliers and clients.
It is im portant to underline that this classification is neither univocal nor exclusive. In fact, available e-business solutions are even more com plex and flexible, and they usually contain various tools addressing different issues and aims. N evertheless, this analysis allow s to define a reference schem e that identifies, for each kind of supplier-client relationship, the better e-business solution to be used.
Ш 011Т BU YER AGG REG A TO R C O LL A B O R A T IV E HUBS C O L L A B O R A T IO N TO O L S EX T R A N E T VALUE C H A IN INTHGR. V ER TICA L HUBS EDI E-PR O CU R K M EN T CATA LO G U E H U B S R EV ER SE A U CTIO N
l o w STRA TEG IC IM PO RTA N CE O F T H E PU R C H A S E D PR O D U C T h i g i i t
Fig. A The e-Business reference scheme: purchase market complexity
BUYER A G G REG A TO R C O LLA B O R A T IV E HUBS C O LLA B O R A T IO N TO O LS EX T R A N E T VALUE C H A IN INTEGR. V ER TICA L HUBS E-CATALOGUE & E-SH O PS EDI CATA LO G U E HU BS E-A UC TIO N ä -- --- --- . I o w STRATEGIC IM PORTANCE O F TH E S O L I) PR O D U CT н ган т Fig. В The e-Business reference scheme: sell market complexity
As reported in the fig. A and B, some e-business m odels are specifically designed for the supply market or for the sell market. W ith respect to the e-catalogues and e-shops, for instance, they are specifically conceived for selling products; this means that they can ju st be adopted as way for selling and can be used for managing the relationships of any com pany with its own clients. On the contrary they can not be used for m anaging the relationships with the suppliers.
In the sam e way the introduction and adoption o f e-procurem ent or Buyer aggregator can be ju st im plem ented in the supply m arket in order to im prove the relationships o f the com pany with its suppliers and reduce the costs for transactions.
Such as other e-solutions can be adopted both tow ards clients and suppliers. M ore specifically Vertical-huhs are applications aim ed at m atching supply and dem and with potential advantages both for buying and selling. A uctions can be considered at the same time on the side o f the supply and o f the dem and. U nder this perspective potential buyers starts the bidding by requiring a product at a m axim um price; potential sellers com pete in a Dutch auction in order to gain client.
R egarding Extranet, C ollaborative tools and ED ! it is possible to assum e that they are solutions aim ed at enhancing the supplier/client relationship, favouring the exchange of inform ation and autom ating som e operations. This solutions can be im plem ented for im proving the supplier/client relationship but their im plem entation require relevant effort and definitive interest of the involved com panies, a strong com m itm ent from the central com pany o f the supply net.
B earing in mind the specifications above reported, the presented schem es allow to identify which solution better supports each type o f relationship and, together with the results o f the gap analysis, can be used to define the im provem ent plan for the considered company.
Finally this plan should define the outsourcing strategy for the developm ent o f the chosen e-B usiness solution. The main actors involved in the technological support for im plem enting e-Business are:
> Equipm ent providers: who provides the hardware (C om puters, Servers, N etw orks, Routers, ...)
Basic Software providers: who provides the basic softw are to run hardware and to im plement e-solutions packages
> C om puting service provision: providers o f services for hardw are m anagem ent and assistance
> Financial services providers: who supports paym ent transactions > Logistic service providers: delivery and w arehouse m anagem ent
V Internet service providers: provide a wide range o f services for Internet, like web site creation, e-catalogue developm ent, m arketing, advertising, etc.
Each com pany should choose which services to develop internally, and w hich one to out-source. This choice depends on size, com petencies and resources o f the com pany: usually, com panies with high brand aw areness develop original, in house solutions (that require high investm ents for internal integration and m anagem ent), while small enterprises exploit sim ple outsourcing solutions. These kind of services can be provided by different actors or by single actors (called m erchant providers) that concentrate all the needed capabilities in one global and com plete package o f services; they m anage back office and front end aspects o f the e-business solutions.
The m ore innovative model o f technological outsourcing for e-business is the ASP, Application Service Provider. ASP is a com pany ow ning server and softw are running on it; the users/clients pay the access to application, and m anage it through browsers or sim ple equipm ent put in their local PCs. T he ASP is a further interm ediary betw een users and softw are provider. T he A SP model reduces costs for im plem entation and so facilitates SM Es to access the e-business environm ent.
In conclusion, it is thus recom m ended that the com pany chooses its e-business strategy according to the overall strategy and, in particular, according to the kind o f relationship it wants to establish with its suppliers and clients. A fterw ards it is possible to define an im provem ent plan, that should consider both technical and organisational aspects, and human resource involvem ent. This plan should also define the outsourcing policy o f the com pany, considering tiie available and the required skills and com petencies, and com paring costs and effects o f the different solutions.
E xpected strategic results
The BENE-BUS project developm ents will be critical under different ways. As first the support and enhancem ent of the com petitiveness o f European SM Es (both in European Union countries and in Central and Eastern European C ountries) by facilitating their access and fruition o f the electronic com m erce m arketplace.
M oreover an increase of the co-operation level am ong W estern and Eastern European countries entities including Trade A ssociations, Public A dm i nistrations, Educational and Training centres, legal assistants, financial and investm ent institutions, is excepted in order to increase the level o f im plem entation of a Single European M arket.
BENE-BUS will continuously prom ote perm anent aw areness raising and dissem ination actions aimed at supporting and fostering the com petitiveness of European Small and M edium enterprises through the use, custom isation and integration of e-platform solutions enabling a new way o f m anaging their business processes and in the assistance to SM Es in im plem enting best practice solutions (in the field o f e-applications) deriving from the results o f previous Inform ation Society R&D projects.
Finally it will sustain the Eastern and W estern European SM Es in partaking in EU funding Programm es, thus increasing the level o f international relations via jo in t European R&D Inform ation Society projects.
Business benefits
W ithin this context, the BENE-BUS project will have tw ofold im m ediate impacts: on one side the vigorous growth o f electronic based processes im plem entation within Eastern European SM Es will be encouraged; the expertise and skills grouped in the trans-European project partnership including SM Es associations, e-solutions providers, consultancy com panies and research centres, is deploying a set o f services and tools able to sustain and prom ote the proper adoption of e-business applications m ainly targeted to the SM Es. The evident business benefits can be thus considered under a different perspective: for the potential users the analysis o f their requirem ents and the aw are positioning on the m arketplace will enable them to adopt an inform ed decision w hether to go digital and to fully adopt a series o f steps at organisational, m anagerial and technical level including HR, training, IT, BPR with the goal to im plem ent the best solution. The services providers will enhance their com petencies and will develop new ones in view of the establishm ent o f critical support services system tailored for Eastern W estern European enterprises, SM Es representatives, Trade and Industrial A ssociations, Business Links and any other interested entity w illing to exploit the opportunities arisen with the e-com m erce.
Conclusion
The enhancem ent of the Eastern and W estern European SM Es com petitiveness in the e-com m erce m arketplace can be considered the main contribution of the BENE-BUS project both to the challenge for the SM Es to go digital and for the Associated countries interested in the forthcom ing enlargem ent to adopt novel m odels o f developm ents and to provide the players acting on the m arketplace with solutions, m ethodologies and support tools enabling them to improve their perform ances and to stay on the m arket more com petitively.
Thus it is expected that the successful com pletion o f B EN E-B U S will provide a significant boost to the take-up o f e-business solutions in European SM Es with a particular em phasis on East-W est business links.
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11. Project ADAPT-CASCADE - Migliorare le reti di fornitura: sviluppo delte competenze
