¶ … exchange of goods and services between two or more people, otherwise known as commerce, is as old a practice as mankind. In recent times commerce has added a twist, pairing it with electronic resources. With the invention of the computer and the creation of the Internet business done online became known as Electronic Commerce (e-commerce). E-commerce combines technology, information systems, and the long reaching arm of the Internet to bring together businesses and customers in a paperless exchange of business information. It has proven to be an alternative means of conducting business that formerly was done in person, by phone, or in a brick-and-mortar store. Business-to Business electronic commerce facilitates inter-organizational interaction and transaction. Here two or more business entities interact with each other directly or through an intermediary (Kumar & Kumar, 2009). In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, taking an academic computer network and transforming it into a communications system available to anyone with a computer. By the turn of the new century the Internet had grown to such an extent that businesses were able to offer their services and products online.

When speaking about globalization most refer to the recent past of the 1990s as the beginning but in truth one must go back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Human innovation brought forth the invention of the telephone and airplane, opening people to possibilities before unknown. Prior to this having contact with others at great distances took long periods of time. As time passed technological advances made it faster and easier to conduct business transactions.

Globalization and therefore e-commerce, brings market forces from all corners of the world, from industrial complexes and financial centers of large urban areas to small villages in remote locations, together to exchange goods and services. Economies across the world have integrated labor and technology, along with political, cultural, and environmental plans, bringing substantial benefits to all involved. As the economy moves from local to national markets, transactions span longer social and geographical distances -- this requires the production of institutional, formal trust (Koh, Fichman, & Kraut, 2009).

In terms of e-commerce centralization refers to a method of having one main location or area in which all data can be electronically accessed or distributed. That data will hold all information regarding services or products for sale, clients, customers, and preferences. All information is stored on one server and can be distributed to various interested parties. Due to this compilation of data more detailed information can be garnered; specific information on what services or products are most popular, the reason for that popularity, customer demographics, sales totals broken into specific time frames, etc. are all segments of information available in a centralized e-commerce location.

The Internet, a communications medium unlike any other and previously unavailable to businesses in past decades, has reshaped the way companies conduct business while simultaneously providing an alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar stores and given small businesses an opportunity to level the playing field in their competition with large companies.

References

Koh, T., Fichman, M., & Kraut, R.E. (2009). Trust across borders: buyer-supplier trust in global B2B e-commerce. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 1-6. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Kumar, M., & Kumar, M. (2009). An Analysis of E-commerce models and strategies. Advances in Management, 2(12), 7-10. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Mini Project 2

Need Analysis is the process of identifying and evaluating the needs of an organization. The identification of needs then details problems of a target subject and possible solutions to these problems. Need analysis focuses on what should be done and the requirements related to the goals that have been established rather than on what had been done previously as is the focus of most program evaluations.

Whether the analysis is formal and extensive or informal with a narrow focus it will include all activities used and the information collected that will be used to work toward goals previously set. The goals will be the foundation for the needs analysis and will provide the framework for future work to be done. Usually target goals will address organization needs as a whole, departmental needs, knowledge, and employee attitudes and skills.

Once the need analysis has been completed, the needs that were identified are translated into measurable objectives that can guide the training process. Training objectives should focus on the behavior component which describes in clear terms what a learner has to do to demonstrate...

Behavioral training objectives state what the person will be able to do, under what conditions and how well he or she will be able to do it (Sunita, & Ajeya, 2010).
One of the first things a business must consider before entering the e-commerce market is to determine if the business itself is tailored to or can be adapted to doing business over the Internet. In this area not all businesses are created equally. Some types of businesses sell services that may be better handled in person, such as personal insurance or automobiles. It is fine to have a website that advertises the company with all pertinent information listed but no matter how well a photograph depicts an automobile it is no substitute for the buyer taking a test drive.

When an organization is making the decision to do a needs analysis there are two types to consider. The first type can be called a competency analysis because it identifies new skills and abilities that could be acquired based on opportunities available at the time. The second type of needs analysis is called a problem analysis because it identifies a specific problem facing the organization and offers solutions crafted to solve that problem.

Although it can be argued that conducting a needs analysis is redundant because there is already information available specifying what an organization's needs are, conducting an analysis contributes to the overall strategy of an organization in regards to educating and training all members of the company. All employees must be invested in making improvements that are deemed necessary for the growth and success of the organization as well as their personal career growth. The seeds for ultimate acceptance and use of the solution are planned at the beginning of the phase. The goal is to identify key people, think about how the solution to the problem will affect each of them and start to pursue their buy-in. The purpose of a strategy or a plan of action is to establish needs, regardless of the level or type of needs assessment to be undertaken (Sunita, & Ajeya, 2010).