This paper evaluates and compares the e-business models of Dell Computer and Gateway/Acer, two high-tech manufacturers that integrate real-time quoting, pricing, and product configuration systems with production, ERP, and fulfillment platforms. The analysis examines how Dell's build-to-order model and multichannel selling strategy are supported by pervasive use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and CRM investments, enabling consistent customer experiences across all channels. Gateway/Acer's ERP-centric approach is contrasted with Dell's channel-first strategy, highlighting differences in channel conflict management, metrics depth, and enterprise account penetration. Market influences driving both companies' continued evolution are also discussed.
The paper demonstrates comparative analysis as an academic technique, systematically evaluating two firms across the same dimensions (ERP integration, channel strategy, metrics use, manufacturing workflows) to identify relative strengths and weaknesses. This approach allows the author to draw conclusions about strategic differentiation without simply listing facts about each company independently.
The paper opens with a framing introduction that establishes the analytical lens, followed by a detailed section on Dell's model covering its global reach, KPI culture, and technology topology. A parallel section on Gateway/Acer then applies the same framework to enable direct comparison. A brief synthesis section addresses shared market influences, and the paper closes with a references list. The structure follows a classic compare-and-contrast academic pattern, moving from individual analysis to shared context.
The e-business models of high-tech manufacturers that combine quoting, pricing, and product configuration systems with production, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and fulfillment systems exemplify how advanced multichannel selling has progressed over the Internet. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate Dell and Gateway's e-business models, as each has real-time integration of customer-facing quoting, pricing, and product configuration systems with production, ERP, and fulfillment systems. Both companies are redefining the value chain of high-tech manufacturing by using the speed and accuracy of the Internet as the basis of their multichannel selling strategies.
Selling over the Web, through telemarketing, catalogs, stores, mass merchandisers including Walmart, and — for enterprise accounts — through a direct sales force, Dell's e-business strategy unifies all these channels into a consistent user experience. Dell continues to evolve its e-business strategy to support identical responses to customers' information requests regardless of the channel from which the request originates. Investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems at Dell have made this level of consistent response possible (Walters & Rainbird, 2007).
Over the last 26 years, Dell has evolved from primarily a build-to-order PC manufacturer into one of the global leaders in the customization, manufacturing, and service of laptops, desktops, mid-range and high-end multiprocessor servers, Storage Area Networks (SANs), rack-mounted systems, and tablet PCs. Dell's prominence in global markets is directly associated with the continued refinement of its direct sales model over the Internet, growing expertise in multichannel selling, and expertise in build-to-order production techniques and strategies. Dell is a highly metric-driven culture that relies on measures of performance — including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) — to attain its e-business, selling, operations, and manufacturing objectives. The success of the e-business model can be directly attributed to how pervasive the use of quantitative performance measures is within the company.
At the center of the Dell e-business model is the quote-to-order process, which translates incoming product orders into customized product configurations for the system type a customer has purchased. What is unique about the Dell e-business model is its ability to take each inbound order — regardless of which selling channel it originated from — and route it automatically to the best possible production center for fulfillment. Dell is unique in this regard, as it is the only high-tech manufacturer that interprets incoming orders electronically and seeks to route them to the best possible production center globally, given the Bill of Materials (BOM) requirements and supply chain dependencies inherent in each order's structure (Lumpkin & Dess, 2004).
Dell has invested heavily in measuring the process performance of each aspect of its quote-to-order and product configuration strategy, generating knowledge that continues to provide the company with a significant competitive advantage (Columbus, 2004). This heavy reliance on measuring the performance of its quoting, pricing, and configuration strategies has also led to greater returns on investments in e-business technologies and process improvements. Dell has been able to translate the process efficiencies of its e-business strategy into long-term financial contributions, making a positive contribution to the company's financial stability (Bois, 2004). The company has demonstrated an ability to correlate performance increases — across company-specific, sales, quote-and-order, customer service, and warranty-and-returns metrics — with contributions to overall financial performance (Ash & Burn, 2003; Bois, 2004; Columbus, 2004; Decker & Scholz, 2009).
Dell's e-business model is predicated on the contributions it makes to the company's overall financial performance. The ability to track profitability and performance of each selling channel is possible because every sales cycle — from the smallest to the very largest — is recorded digitally online. Dell has become a leader in quantifying sales cycles by product line, channel, accessory, product division, market segment, and geographic region (Columbus, 2004). All of this market data serves as the fuel and catalyst on which the Dell e-business model operates and provides financial growth over time.
To attain this level of synchronization between e-business operating strategy performance and financial results, Dell has had to invest heavily in system and process integration. In addition, its use of corporate intranet sites is pervasive, giving customers in the company's dominant market segments a series of applications for rapid, automated support. The Dell Premier Pages Program is how Dell establishes mindshare and loyalty in corporate accounts, universities, and governments — three of the most profitable markets the company serves today. Dell also uses Premier Pages to expedite orders that would otherwise take many hours to enter through consumer-oriented websites. Purchasing agents within corporate accounts, universities, and governments can quickly order hundreds of customized computer systems without having to configure each one individually, as consumer websites require. This capability has accelerated the adoption of Dell as the standard computer systems provider throughout many of these markets.
Dell continues to successfully integrate its global e-business strategy — which has grown to be multichannel in scope — with lean manufacturing strategies including quote-to-order, build-to-order, and engineer-to-order. Dell also uses its e-business platforms to attain higher levels of loyalty within its three most dominant and profitable customer segments. A graphical analysis of Dell's e-business topology illustrates how the company has organized its computing platforms and integration links across each area of its value chain (Porter, 1986).
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