The ability to conduct a business transaction on the internet has had a great impact on the supply chain. Today a business organization can conduct a business transaction; make an order and follow up the order, on the internet without the necessity to move from one point to the other. The impact of e-business on the supply chain management can be traced to major two areas; the cost and operation management and sale or service performance (Chopra & Meindl, 2013). This paper, using Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb Company as a case study, will analyze the impact of e-business on supply chain management. Specifically, the paper will assess how the company’s B2B solutions differ from B2C solutions. Also, it will assess how customer demand has impacted the SCM solutions used by the organization and explain how the organization's interaction with suppliers may have changed as a result of consumer needs.
How Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb Company Business-to-Business (B2B) Solutions differ from Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Solutions
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The B2B activity Sidney harbor bridge climb business has is with NRL e-commerce where through collaboration the two companies offer a unique canapé climb opportunity. The company also do businesses with other suppliers who supply them with special clothing for the bridge climbing. The business to customer (B2C) considerations that the company is involved in is the selling of the refreshment vouchers. The refreshment vouchers which are normally in different categories are usually offered in the company’s restaurants which are situated right next to the bridge (Turban, King & Wang, 2013).
Through the use of internet services, Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb Company uses third party logistic companies to collect climbing gears and other safety clothing from their suppliers. Use of web services also enhances communication between the company and its suppliers hence can effectively manage its inventory. Also, from the e-procurement the company makes, the company can make quick follow-ups on their orders (Turban, King & Wang, 2013). By working closely with their suppliers, Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb Company can enhance B2B integration where the two companies work together to come up with well-designed products suitable for climbers. The B2B solutions of the company are geared towards interrelation of the two businesses, coming up with supplies which are safe and favorable for climbers.
Sidney harbor bridge climb is involved with the act of leading people on the climb over the Sydney harbor bridge that is located at the Bradfield Highway in Australia. The company also sells refreshments to tourists who have come for the climb. Through the use of the internet, the company aims at improving its relationship with its customers. The company also interacts with its customers early in advance to know their expectations and find a good way of customizing their service delivery. This interaction with consumers early in advance enable the company to budget its resources properly hence can drive efficiency across the entire value chain. In as much as B2C solutions for the company seem to be geared towards enhancing customers’ experiences and service delivery, its main goal is however geared towards efficiency in the use of its resources.
How Customer Demands have impacted SCM Solutions used by the Organization
From the company’s website tourists interested in climbing the bridge can access information about their climb. Through the use of cookies, the company can separate first-time visitors to full-time visitors. This segregation of visitors enables the company to plan how they are going to handle their various visitors enabling them to save on time. Also, the company website provides a platform where visitors can comment about their experiences. This is vital information for supply chain management. The company, from tourists’ experiences, can customize their services to enhance the visitors’ experiences. Also, the SCM, from the company’s interaction with its customers can reinforce their relationship enabling the company properly to develop working service delivery system (Harsono, 2014). Information on customer demand collected from the website also helps the company to plan properly its resources to match the demand. The supply chain can supply the right amount of employees to take the visitors and budget for the refreshments to supply. The customer demand information collected provides crucial information needed during budgeting of raw materials and other necessary resources. Customer demand information also helps the company offer competitive services at competitive prices. The company offers four different kinds of climbs because the internet platform offers quick results, they can carry out price forecast online. This price sensitivity analysis will help the company set price competitive prices for their products.
How the Organization’s Interaction with Suppliers may have changed as a Result of Consumer Needs
Since the organization, out of their e-business practice may be forced to introduce a new product or service much faster, the suppliers are also normally pressured to deliver the supplies. As such, consumer needs usually lead to the need of cultivation of close relationships between Sidney Harbor Bridge Climb Company and its suppliers. This cooperation is important so that activities such as pricing, promotion and forecasting can be done quickly and relayed to the consumers. Due to the high number of visitors received (3million annually), these customers usually have different specifications on what they expect or how they expect their experience to be. As a result of this, the climbing company has been forced to work closely than before with its suppliers to ensure that the needs of consumers are met. This has forced the company to involve their supplies in their planning meetings for their customers especially during peak periods. Activities such marketing campaigns and promotions are carried out together with suppliers. Such exercises increase market supply of suppliers who uses the company’s website to market some of their products.
E-business has enhanced the operations of Sidney Harbor Bridge Climb Company. The use of internet services has helped the company to be efficient in the use of resources to plan for its customers and also in improving B2B and B2C communications. The company can virtually interact with customers, receive payments and plan ahead for its customer's thanks to the e-business platform. As such, we can conclude that the e-business has a vital role in the supply chain management. Use of internet has improved the nature of supplier-consumer relationship especially along the planning and controlling procedures within the supply chain. This relationship within the supply chain partners leads to one goal which is consumer satisfaction. The net effect of consumer satisfaction is consumer loyalty and improved profit margins.
References
Chopra, S., and Meindl, P. (2013) . Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation 5th Ed . New York: Pearson.
Harsono, A. (2014). The Role of E-Business in Supply Chain Management. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/8597145/the_role_of_e-business_in_supply_chain_management
Turban, E., King, D., & Wang, J. (2013). Introduction to E-commerce (p. 537-566). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
