E-business: Marketing and Virtual Value Chain Essay

Words: 3268
Pages: 14

1) Explain whether competence-based thinking is more suitable for e-business strategy formulation than the activity-based approach outlined in the value chain concept.

Competence-based thinking focuses heavily on the resources and capabilities of a firm. It is thought to take a resource-based approach towards creating competitive advantage (Core competence, 2010). It considers how the different recourses and capabilities of a firm are used in conjunction with one another. Rather than looking at the individual activities of a firm, this approach evaluates the processes of a firm and how they can be used to create strategies that provide superior value to customers.
The activity-based approach, on the other hand, measures the value and
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For example, the sales and marketing sector can better utilize the virtual value chain than the construction and engineering sectors. While information gather about customers in the construction and engineering sectors are valuable; there are not many applications to provide benefits to individual customers via the virtual marketspace. As well, the virtual value chain is more appropriate for industries and business sectors with repeat customers. Business sectors that tend to have one-time customers, based on the nature of the business, cannot receive much benefit from the virtual value chain. The virtual value chain is a powerful tool; however, it can be put to greater use in some industries over others.

3) Explain critically assess the ICDT framework and pinpoint its shortcomings.
The ICDT framework was conceptualized by Albert Angehm. This model provides companies with a tool to assess the virtual market space and the range of activities they can utilize to interact with their customers (Jelassi & Enders, 2008, p. 87). Such interactions help an e-business to enhance their customers’ overall experience, which in turn, can increase their market share. A breakdown of the ICDT framework follows.
The ICDT framework provides companies with a systematic approach to developing effective e-business strategies. The model was developed for traditional