The Different Dimensions Of E-Business Scenarios And Its Practical Business Applications

When classifying networked businesses, three different dimensions are used. Parties, Objects, and Time-scopes. The parties dimension classifies the different parties involved in the business transaction. The object dimension classifies the object, or “product” being sold in the transaction. And last, but definitely not least, is the time-scope dimension which classifies the length, in time or number of objects, of the transaction (Grefen, Mastering e-Business, 2010). When it come to the practical business applications of e-Business, they are endless (Cruz-Cunha & Varajao, 2011).

According to Internet World Stats, it is estimated that there are well over 4. 2 billion people connected to the internet world wide and this amount of people equates, in the business world, to over 4. 2 billion potential customers. The Parties Dimension: This dimension categorizes three different types of parties that can be involved in a e-Business transaction: Business (B), Consumer (C), and Government (G). It also categorizes the different types of transactions that can happen between these three parties in the following abbreviated manor, party-2-party. For instance, if a business would have a transaction with the government, it would be called B2G or if a consumer would have a transaction with another consumer, it would be C2C and so on. Some examples for these transactions would be Lochhead Martin selling the F-35 to the U. S. Navy, this would be a B2G. Or a consumer buying a product from Amazon would be a B2C. It all depends on who sells to who (Grefen, Beyond E-Business: Towards networked structures, 2016).

The Objects Dimension: This dimension categorizes five different types of objects that can be exchanged between the different parties: Physical goods, Digital goods, Services, Financial goods, and Hybrid objects (Grefen, Mastering e-Business, 2010).

• Physical Goods – Tangible goods (Fruit or a vehicle) that are exchanged during a transaction.
• Digital Goods – Intangible goods (digital media or software) that are exchanged during a transaction.
• Services – Activities (painting a house or transportation) that one party performs for another during a transaction.
• Financial Goods – very simply put as Money or the promise of Money during a transaction.
• Hybrid – Any combination of the objects above. It is important to mention that this dimension does not limit, in any way, the number or combination of objects exchanged in a transaction (Grefen, Beyond E-Business: Towards networked structures, 2016).

The Time-scope Dimension: This dimension categorizes four different Time-scopes in which the different parties in a scenario can be involved in: Static, Semi-Static, Dynamic, and Ultra-Dynamic (Grefen, Mastering e-Business, 2010). The static time-scope is a long-term or permanent collaboration between two parties. This brings to mind the relationship between a resident in a house and the electric company. This is a continuing collaboration between the two parties that tends, in most cases, to be permanent. Nobody wants to live in the dark (Grefen, Mastering e-Business, 2010). The Semi-dynamic time-scope is a collaboration between two or more parties that is limited by time or number of objects in a contract but not a single transaction. This contract then can be changed or terminated once the conditions of the contract have been met. An example of this would be (same one used in the parties’ dimension) Lockheed Martin and the U. S. Navy with the F-35. The Navy orders X amount of F-35s and once Lockheed Martin is finished building them, the contract will either be changed or terminated (Grefen, Mastering e-Business, 2010). The Dynamic time-scope is a collaboration between two parties for a single transaction or order.

An example of this would be a consumer ordering an object for amazon. Once that single transaction is done, so is the collaboration between the parties (Grefen, Beyond E-Business: Towards networked structures, 2016). The Ultra-dynamic time-scope is when a collaboration is changed during the execution of the transaction. Not 100% sure that this is the correct example but: a consumer order a product from amazon and before the consumer receives the order, he changes his mind, cancels and orders something else (Grefen, Beyond E-Business: Towards networked structures, 2016).