Everyone can be an entrepreneur! You no longer need a fat savings account, rich benefactor or angel investor to start a business by doing what you love. Thanks to the internet, it's never been easier to make money by sharing your passion with the world. But all the options can seem confusing and overwhelming, particularly if you're not a technical whizz or have never had a business before. Should you sell on a website like Etsy or eBay, or have your own online shop? What laws and regulations do you need to know about? How do you make sure people can actually find your shop? This book walks aspiring creative business owners right through the process of deciding what to sell, developing a brand, choosing the right platform and getting an online shop live in six weeks or less - without a computer engineering degree or spending hundreds of pounds. It's a step-by-step guide that combines practical information, worksheets and checklists with the gentle encouragement and support so often needed by creative entrepreneurs. A directory of online marketplaces and online shop solutions will help you to decide the best options for you to sell online, while case studies and real life stories from successful online shop owners prove that you can be successful too! This book isn't going to tell you how to quit the day job overnight or earn millions in your first year. It's a practical, step-by-step guide to get you from IDEA to ACTION... in rapid time. By the time you finish this book, you will have an online shop up and running, and be ready to take orders from customers around the world.

Though Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail, its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, was never content with being just a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become `the everything store', offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices. To achieve that end, he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked. Until now...

Jeff Bezos stands out for his relentless pursuit of new markets, leading Amazon into risky new ventures like the Kindle and cloud computing, and transforming retail in the same way that Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing.

The fascinating journey from humble start-up to the web's biggest retailer demonstrates how Bezos's determination to make his dream a reality has also, for better or for worse, changed the way we live our lives today.

With future competitive landscape shifting from competition between companies themselves to trading partner networks, understanding and mastering process design and change is becoming more critical than ever. In order to succeed, companies are starting to weave their key business processes into hard-to-imitate strategic capabilities that distinguish them from their competitors. Supply Chain Networks and Business Process Orientation: Advanced Strategies and Best Practices will help you "connect the dots" by offering insights on how to achieve greater integration within your supply chain networks and realize the performance possible with today's interaction economics.

Based on exhaustive research of supply chains and newly successful networked corporations in the US and Europe, the authors demonstrate how your company can be successful in building an effective supply chain network. Prescriptive benchmarking models illustrate proven strategies, tactics, and methods for achieving a superior level of supply chain performance.

In the quest to remove supply channel costs, streamline channel communications, and link customers to the value-added resources found along the supply chain continuum, Supply Chain Management (SCM) has emerged as a tactical operations tool. The first book to completely define the architecture of the merger of SCM and the Internet, Introduction to e-Supply Chain Management: Engaging Technology to Build Market-Winning Business Partnerships shows you how to exploit this merger and gain an unbeatable competitive advantage.

The tightening of the economy and heavier restrictions and security measures placed on channel flows have rendered access to real-time, accurate supply chain information more critical than ever. Connectivity, messaging, and collaboration have become today's foremost buzzwords, as companies compete for survival in an environment where cycle times and permissable margins of error continue to shrink. Introduction to e-Supply Chain Management explores the concepts, techniques, and vocabulary of the convergence of SCM and the Internet so that companies can move beyond merely surviving and thrive in today's competitive marketplace.

Providing a new approach to the subject matter, Marketing the e-Business unpicks the challenges of e-Marketing for many types of business. It uses topical case studies and accompanying web material to provide an up-to-date study of effective marketing strategies. It analyses the benefits of e-Marketing as a tool for improving efficiency and effectiveness rather than business revolution. Considering the practicalities of marketing in an e-Business context, it is the first book of its kind to voice such a rigorous argument for the importance of e-Marketing, and a crucial text for anyone studying or practicing e-Business in the real bricks 'n' clicks world.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203166965

Providing a new approach to the subject matter, Marketing the e-Business unpicks the challenges of e-Marketing for many types of business. It uses topical case studies and accompanying web material to provide an up-to-date study of effective marketing strategies. It analyses the benefits of e-Marketing as a tool for improving efficiency and effectiveness rather than business revolution. Considering the practicalities of marketing in an e-Business context, it is the first book of its kind to voice such a rigorous argument for the importance of e-Marketing, and a crucial text for anyone studying or practicing e-Business in the real bricks 'n' clicks world.

The change from old to new technologies has fundamentally changed the relationship between the consumer and the firm. This book is at the frontier of behavioural research into how these new commercial realities are borne out in practice, examining the adoption of e-commerce by small firms and the transactional phenomenon that entails access to the Internet. In analyzing the process of e-commerce adoption and why e-commerce actors behave as they do, its coverage includes the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) by small firms; the use of ICT applications to support marketing and sales transactions; and the factors that influence consumers' online purchasing decisions.

Title first published in 2003. Despite all the hype about e-learning, the real breakthrough in technology, at least as far as HR goes, is in the development of the corporate intranet for people management purposes. Bryan Hopkins and James Markham's book explains the potential for intranets in every aspect of HR: personnel administration, performance management, employee development, communication and knowledge management, as well as training and e-learning. It asks and answers the key questions you need to ask yourself and provides case studies illustrating how organizations have successfully exploited their intranet to help their people work more effectively and efficiently. HR managers are under pressure to cut costs, increase the effectiveness and range of the services they deliver. In many organizations there is also considerable pressure to maximise the returns on investment in technology. This book provides you with the means to achieve all of these goals.

e-Business: a jargon-free practical guide' presents a clear, second-generation account of how your business can harness the latest technology to flourish in the transformed commercial climate of the 21st century. With its emphasis firmly on the business and marketing implications of new technology, this book adopts a hands-on, practical approach, systematically demonstrating how and why businesses should adapt their operations to make the very most of the exciting opportunities available. In simple, jargon-free language, it addresses such vital questions as: What is e-business and how does it fit into the corporate landscape? How should marketers adopt e-marketing and why? What are the processes and stages of developing an e-business strategy? What are the key issues you will face and how will you overcome them? What about legislation? Who is doing e-marketing and e-business well and badly?'e-Business' is packed with case-studies from well-known international companies, examples, screen grabs, relevant models and checklists. Each chapter meanwhile contains handy hints and tips, examples, exercises and a summary to consolidate learning and highlight key points. Informative, pertinent and easy-to-use, the book is ideal for students on relevant courses or those undertaking in-house training, and is absolutely essential for any practitioner needing a hands-on guide to strategy and best practice in today's altered commercial environment.

The internet was envisaged as a decentralised global network, but in the past 25 years it has come to be controlled by a few, very powerful, centralised companies. Blockchain is a technological paradigm shift that allows secure, reliable, and direct information transfer between individuals, organisations, and things, so that we can manage, verify, and control the use of our own data. Blockchain also offers a new opportunity for humanity to fix some major problems. It can authenticate data, manage its analysis, and automate its use. With better data comes better decision-making. In this way, Blockchain can contribute to solving climate change, reduce voting fraud, fix our identity systems, improve fair trade, and give the poor an opportunity to improve their lives by monetising their (digital) capital. A world built upon peer-to-peer transactions and smart contracts can empower individuals and communities. This book offers a fresh perspective with which to consider this transformative technology. It describes how Blockchain can optimise the processes that run our society. It provides practical solutions to global problems and offers a roadmap to incorporate Blockchain in your business. It offers a blueprint for a better world. Filled with easy-to-understand examples, this book shows how Blockchain can take over where the internet has fallen short.

'e-Business: a jargon-free practical guide' presents a clear, second-generation account of how your business can harness the latest technology to flourish in the transformed commercial climate of the 21st century. With its emphasis firmly on the business and marketing implications of new technology, this book adopts a hands-on, practical approach, systematically demonstrating how and why businesses should adapt their operations to make the very most of the exciting opportunities available. In simple, jargon-free language, it addresses such vital questions as: * What is e-business and how does it fit into the corporate landscape? * How should marketers adopt e-marketing and why? * What are the processes and stages of developing an e-business strategy? * What are the key issues you will face and how will you overcome them? * What about legislation? * Who is doing e-marketing and e-business well and badly? 'e-Business' is packed with case-studies from well-known international companies, examples, screen grabs, relevant models and checklists. Each chapter meanwhile contains handy hints and tips, examples, exercises and a summary to consolidate learning and highlight key points. Informative, pertinent and easy-to-use, the book is ideal for students on relevant courses or those undertaking in-house training, and is absolutely essential for any practitioner needing a hands-on guide to strategy and best practice in today's altered commercial environment.

News of the Web's demise has been greatly exaggerated. The Internet continues to impact our lives and how we do business. It has the power to transform entire industries and create new ones, challenge industry leaders, and enable businesses in entirely new ways. The question is no longer will you participate in the Internet revolution, but when and how.

Rather than talking Internet hype, A Practical Guide to Planning for E-Business Success shows you how to do it - and do it right - from beginning to end. The only thing worse than no e-business presence is a bad e-business presence. Well-known authority Anita Cassidy explores using Internet technology to redefine and enable your business in entirely new ways. She provides a step-by-step process for developing and implementing a solid e-business strategy. She gives you examples, checklists, FAQs, and templates that help you begin and steer you in the right direction.

Research shows that despite the dot.com bust e-commerce is booming. Most companies have an Internet presence whether it merely provides marketing information about the company or is a full service Web site. After the initial rush to get an Internet presence, you must consider how you can shift to true e-business. A Practical Guide to Planning for E-Business Success shows you how to use this powerful technology to provide your organization with a competitive advantage.

Is your website project out of control?
Every website project needs a manager. Developing Effective Websites describes Internet technologies in plain language and helps you see beyond your expertise to the big picture. It does this by drawing on established software project and management principles.
Like any project, effective management of website development starts by understanding and balancing the constraints of time, resources, and tasks. You can deliver your project on time and on budget, by following a process that includes:
- Analyzing the requirements of users and your market
- Developing a workplan for the site and breaking it down to tasks
- Scheduling with Gantt and PERT charts and measuring slippage for more accurate revisions
- Estimating cost by the budget-first or design-first methods
- Using the team development process and covering all the necessary roles
- Aligning contractor and client interests to create a win-win relationship
- Following an iterative development process for designing, prototyping, and building out
- Applying software testing principles to website development
- Making hosting decisions and planning for maintenance
Practical techniques for managing a variety of projects from simple presentations to consumer web sites and applications (e-commerce, web-based training)
New chapters on web development tools & technologies and hosting options & solutions
Based on real-world experiences and current development techniques

Logistics and fulfillment management (LFM) - the management of the flow of goods, services and information throughout a value chain - is becoming an important part of e-business. This book shows the reader what is involved in running an e-business: operating a warehouse; pulling inventory from shelves and packing it for shipment and retaining a shipping service; and forecasting, planning, tracking orders until they arrive at their destination. The author also highlights the need for after-sales care: returned products; warranties; and technical support. To support all of these things an e-business should implement an automated LFMS to fulfil their needs.

E-business occurs when a company has established critical business procedures and activities to support e-commerce transactions. Using this definition, e-commerce is part of e-business--a company needs e-commerce to implement e-business. Utilizing e-commerce, however, does not mean that a company has transformed into an e-business. E-business is implemented only when a company changes its internal procedures to take advantage of the e-commerce technologies.Interest in the evolution ("e-volution") of e-commerce into e-business is a growth field. With the early November announcement that GM and Ford were forming online marketplaces for their suppliers, they placed themselves at the center of new e-business ecosystems that will transform their entire way of doing business. Many firms are increasingly discovering opportunities to move away from simply selling products on the Internet to being able to reinvent their conventional supply chains (as in the auto makers' case) and to being able to offer custom-built products (as Dell Computers does now).

Business Process Orientation: Gaining the E-Business Competitive Advantage provides the "why" and the "how" for building the "horizontal" organization - an essential component of the "e" in e-commerce and business. This book shows you how to weave your business processes into hard-to-imitate strategic capabilities that distinguish you from your competition.

The book explores the impact that well-defined and carefully integrated processes have on organizational performance. Using the results of extensive research conducted among consumer, business-to-business, and services-based companies, the authors demonstrate that adopting a business process orientation (BPO) has a positive impact on the organizational culture and business performance. The resulting process oriented e-corporation is now positioned as a necessity not only to thrive but also to survive.

The old ways of conducting business are out: pushing costs and compromising quality in order to achieve the lowest possible price. The emerging paradigm focuses on the core processes. The hallmarks of a great business still include high customer relevance, internally consistent decisions about scope and value chain activities performed, value capture mechanisms, a source of differentiation and strategic control, a sound operational system, and carefully designed processes. Business Process Orientation: Gaining the E-Business Competitive Advantage shows you how to balance your functional and horizontal orientation to create and maintain a healthy organization.

'The Complete E-Commerce Book offers a wealth of information on how to design, build and maintain a successful web-based business.... Many of the chapters are filled with advice and information on how to incorporate current e-business principles o

Logistics and fulfillment management is unglamorous, complex and expensive, but it is one of the primary factors determining whether an e-business will be profitable. Many enterprises (large and small) rush into the e-business model without adequate consi

'Delivering Business Value from IT' is focused on the evaluation issue in IT and how IT evaluation can proceed across the life-cycle of any IT investment and be linked positively to improving business performance. Chapters 1,2 and 3 detail an approach to IT evaluation whilst chapters 4 and 5 build on these by showing two distinctive approaches to linking IT to business performance. The remaining three chapters deal with a range of evaluation issues emerging as important - specifically Internet evaluation, Y2K and beyond, EMU, quality outsourcing, infrastructure, role of benchmarking, and cost of ownership issues that practitioners regularly encounter.

Hyperthinking is predicated on the assumption that the single most important skill required to help you and your organization thrive in the age of perpetual change, digital communications and networks is the mind-set of individuals. This includes your values, your ability to learn and ability to adapt to change. After 14 years of experience with leading global companies, author Philip Weiss has developed an approach that pulls together the ingredients needed for the modern executive to both adapt and thrive in this new age. The Hyperthinking model has been developed and tested on teams, clients and the author's networks with great success. The book explains how Hyperthinking can apply to different facets of our lives, starting from our personal experience and our role in society and shows how to adapt better to the new business world. Hyperthinking is a set of values and tools that, used in combination, enable individuals to embrace change develop their creativity and effectively engage in the digital age. It has been tested by a variety of business executives and helped them to understand change, as well as overcome fear or resistance to technology. Philip Weiss offers the perfect antidote to information overload; a wonderful blueprint for personal and organizational innovation; and a set of perspectives to help us all make sense of a fast-changing business environment. Read it and start Hyperthinking!

"The International Handbook of Electronic Commerce" covers that hot topic - e-commerce! It is designed to assist managers in implementing electronic commerce in their organizations, improving its efficiency and viability, and safeguarding and maintaining e-commerce systems. The book is designed as a practical "how to" guide, offering extensive examples to illustrate practical applications. The tools and techniques in this handbook can be adapted outright or modified to suit individual needs. Checklists, email and website addresses, exhibits, illustrations, and step-by-step instructions enhance the handbook's practical use.
Among the topics discussed are: what electronic commerce is all about; the Internet and access provider industry; Intranets and Extranets; marketing and advertising; electronic data interchange; electronic banking and payment systems; network security; legal, taxation, and accounting issues of e-commerce.
The combination of growth in the commercial utilization of the Internet, the rapid changes in technology, and the complexity of management have expanded the scope of duties of business managers. To remain competitive, businesses and their managers must maintain a presence on the Internet. "The International Handbook of Electronic Commerce" provides readers with a compendium of the latest in current technologies and applications.

The Internet has ushered in a new era in the economies of networking. With the increasing need for optimization based on these network economies, the IT-based e-business has become a platform for study as well as daily practice. In a similar vein, global warming has raised many issues which come into conflict with traditional research and policies. The Internet revolution has also shifted our society from a government- and company-led economy to a 'netizen'- and consumer-led business world. This book enlightens us on why a harmonized participation of traditional network members or interested groups is necessary and how we can create values from diverse fields of interests and objectives, including the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and eco-friendly productivity. Digital Business and Sustainable Development integrates the platforms from these two fields of study based on the comparative analysis of Asian and other developing countries.

We are living in the post-information age, the era of so-called 'Big Data'. It is a practical possibility for corporations to report, chart and analyse every action, transaction and click that happens inside and outside their business. In Decision Sourcing Roberts and Pakkiri examine what this means to organisational decision making. They explode the myth that good decisions need only be informed ones through an examination into how business really make choices. They lay bare the poverty of decision making processes in today's corporate world and offer fresh and fascinating insight into how social tools are providing new sources of information, how they are challenging hierarchy and how they are providing opportunities for growth and agility through aligned and inclusive decision making. This book is for those organisations that want to get beyond the corporate Facebook account and are ready for the next bold step. It is for those businesses that want to engage their workforce and their customers in collaborative relationships that are at the heart of the successful social enterprise.

The rapid pace and increasing convergence of internet, phone and other communications technologies has created extraordinary opportunities for business but the complexity of these new service mixes creates parallel opportunities for fraud and revenue leakage. Companies seeking to use communications technology as a delivery or payment platform for digital services are particularly at risk. They need to understand both their strategic and operational risks as well as those affecting their stakeholders - partners and customers. Effective risk management is as much about awareness, culture, training and organization as it is about technology. Mark Johnson's practical guide, Demystifying Communications Risk, highlights cases from a wide range of geographies and cultures and is designed to raise awareness of the multi-faceted and often complex forms that operational revenue risks take in the communications sector. It provides managers with an understanding of the nature and implications of the risks they face and the human, organizational and technological approaches that can help avoid or mitigate them.