Abstract
India is in an envious leading position as far as Information Technology (IT) development and related service is concerned. This has also lead to a boom in India for ecommerce and ebusiness, where the companies do all or most of its transactions through the Internet. However, understanding of Critical Success Factors (CSFs), for ebusiness which is vital, still seems to be inapt. CSFs, refers to greatest possible and important circumstance, fact, or influence that contributes for the correct or desired result of an attempt and it is one of the parts that make up a whole or the one that actively contributes to the production of a result or success or failure of something that is aimed to be achieved or attained. Through grounded theory approach, in depth literature review and deep observation, the core of this chapter is to identify the critical success factors for eBusiness in India and critically evaluate the identified critical factors.
TopGeneral Perspective Of Ecommerce And E-Business
According to Turban et al. (2005, p. 4), eCommerce is the realization of all business activities realized via computer networks. E-Business, in contrast, does not only include the buying and selling process but everything else such as customer service, corporation with suppliers, and every internal process of the organization handled via an established digital network. Dell Computer was the first company to use the direct-marketing business model to sell such an expensive good like a personal computer (PC) directly to its customers without the intermediation of a reseller (Turban et al., 2005, pp. 2–3). The term “e-Business” has a very broad application. It can describe companies operating in the information and communications technology (ICT) producing sectors as well as new emerging sectors and industries such as in the area of digital content. However, at a more fundamental level, the term e-Business also describes the application of information and communication technologies to business processes in all sectors of the economy to reduce costs, to improve customer value, and to find new markets for products and services. It is in this sense that the term is interpreted and used in this chapter.
The chapter is intended to form the basis of a new e-Business strategy aimed at encouraging and assisting businesses, across all sectors of the economy, to use ICTs in a way that will maximize their competitive advantage. Effective use of ICTs by enterprises is a key element in building competitiveness and for this understanding the critical success factors in e-Business is crucial. Today e-Business has emerged as a mainstream way to facilitate business transactions around the world. Even with the world’s economy in a downturn and digesting the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, e-Business has continued to grow.