Translating the Adoption of B2B e-Business into Measurable Value for Organizations

In today’s competitive business environment, companies are seeking ways to perform transactions efficiently and effectively. The Internet has created a flexible platform for the buying and selling of products and services. As businesses recognize the need for employing efficient methods for the vertical exchange of goods and services, they are considering the adoption of functional business-to-business (B2B) applications and technologies that allow transactions in "real time." The purpose of B2B is to improve profitability through establishing relationships with other organizations that will allow supply-chain planning, collaboration, product pricing, logistics and distribution management, and procurement efficiencies (Ranganthan, 2003). Proven continuing growth in B2B provides that incorporating such technologies into business operations is a significant issue for consideration. However, how easily do businesses ascertain the value added to their organizations by the adoption of B2B e-commerce? It depends greatly upon the organization and the self-analysis performed before project commencement. Our study emphasizes how critical each identified factor is to the translation of employment of B2B e-commerce to value for the organization. In this paper, we address the ease with which organizations can translate the benefits of B2B e-business initiatives into direct measurable value. Significant results and correlations were found, as discussed in the statistical analysis portion of this paper.