E-project For Mba Student

OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD.

CHAPTERISATION

Chapter I -

INTRODUCTION

Chapter II -

E-BUSINESS THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Chapter III -

E-BUSINESS IN THE INDUSTRY

Chapter IV-

E-BUSINESS IN THE ORGANIZATION

Chapter V-

FINDING, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Chapter VI -

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. INTRODUCTION The internet revolution paved the way of doing core business process of buying and selling goods and services. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Nowadays people associate the word e-commerce with the ability of purchasing various goods through the internet using secure protocol and electronic payment service. Even Private sector has started to exploit the opportunities of e-commerce for providing quality products and services to their customers. The impact of web and webbased technology in service industry is far reaching. E-ticketing refers to electronic ticketing, in which the tickets can be reserved online whether it is railway tickets, air tickets, or the tickets of some special events. E-ticketing OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT. deals with the online booking of airline tickets. Railway facilitates this through OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD website. OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD is a Private Ltd.company, for the development and promotion of tourism. OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD facilitates e-ticketing for the promotion of the new facilities in airline. It provides more ease and convenience to the travelers for booking airline tickets than in conventional method of airline ticket booking. It can be done either by using the internet facilities or through some mobile phone operators. 1.2. SCOPE OF THE STUDY Indian airline’s e-ticketing, or online air ticket sales, is the new option for people to buy airline tickets. The e-ticketing system makes it more easier for people to book tickets online through the OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD website. Tickets can be bought in this INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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way with credit or debit cards. This e-project study on OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD helps to understand the various aspects of e-ticket booking and new facilities offered by OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD in online ticket booking. 1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. To study present scenario of e-business 2. To understand the impacts and applications of e-business in public sector. 3. To study the application of e-business in service industry. 4. To analyze e-ticket booking facilities offered by OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD and other ticket booking facilities offered by OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD 5. To identify the pros and cons of e-business strategies in e-ticketing. 6. To make necessary suggestions and recommendations. 1.4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY For the purpose of e-project study at OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD website data were collected from both the primary and secondary sources. PRIMARY DATA Primary data needed for the study is collected through interview with executives of OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD and discussion with the staff and by observing the method of e-ticketing booking and through the practical application of e-ticketing. SECONDARY DATA Secondary data is collected from internal records of the firm, various textbooks, journals and the websites of the organization.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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•

The respondents have the organizational bias. Majority of their responses were in favour of the organization. This lack of knowledge has resulted in some errors.

•

The busy schedule of executives and staffs restricted collection of detailed information.

•

The limited time schedule allowed for the study was very limited.

E-BUSINESS THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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E-Business (electronic business) is, in its simplest form, the conduct of business on the Internet. It is a more generic term than eCommerce because it refers to not only buying and selling

have already discovered how to use the Internet

successfully. Electronic-business Doing business online. The term is often used synonymously with e-commerce, but e-business is more of an umbrella term for having a presence on the Web. An e-business site may be very comprehensive and offer more than just selling its products and services. For example, it may feature a general search facility or the ability to track shipments or have threaded discussions. In such cases, e-commerce is only the order processing component of the site. E-Business or Electronic Business is the administration of conducting business via the Internet. This would include the buying and selling of goods and services, along with providing technical or customer support through the Internet. E-Business is a term often used in conjunction with e-commerce, but includes services in addition to the sale of goods. E-business or Electronic business is the extensive use of computers, communication technology, networking technology and computerized data to perform business processes. In other words, E-business is any system of suppliers, distributors, or customers that use the Internet as the basis for their operations. It can range from using email to communicate with customers and/or conduct business to a web page promoting a company, from a full e-commerce retail site to the integration of procedures and processes using Internet based technology. The transactional component of E-business is e-commerce. E-commerce can be defined as the buying and selling of information, products and services via the Internet. There are generally two types of e-commerce 1) B2C (Business to Consumer) in which businesses sell to consumers or 2) B2B (Business to Business) in which businesses sell their products or services to other businesses.

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E-business has the potential to help you improve your business processes through accelerating and enhancing customer service; increasing sales by providing alternative sales and marketing channels; promoting product, service, and company information; and, by reflecting a modern image. Electronic Business commonly referred to as "E-Business" or "E-Business", may be defined as the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and hence can be seen as one of the essential activities of any business. Hence, electronic commerce or eCommerce focuses on the use of ICT to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses

E-commerce (Electronic-COMMERCE) Doing business online, typically via the Web. It is also called "e-business," "e-tailing" and "I-commerce." Although in most cases ecommerce and e-business are synonymous, e-commerce implies that goods and services can be purchased online, whereas e-business might be used as more of an umbrella term for a total

presence

on

the

Web,

which

would

naturally

include

the

e-

commerce(shopping)component. E-commerce may also refer to electronic data interchange (EDI), in which one company's computer queries and transmits purchase orders to another company's computer. In 1886, a telegraph operator was able to obtain a shipment of watches that was refused by the local jeweler. Using the telegraph, he sold all the watches to fellow operators and railroad employees. Within a few months, he made enough money to quit his job and start his own store. The young man's name was Richard Sears.

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Electronic commerce is a flourishing concept that pertains to the process of buying, selling and exchanging of commodities¡Xproducts, services and even information¡Xthrough computer and telecommunication networks covering the internet (Bushy, 2005). Electronic commerce may also be defined through various perspectives. From the view of communications, electronic commerce refers to the delivery or transfer of information on orders, purchases, payments, products, and services over the telephone, computer systems, or other electronic means. As a business concept, electronic commerce refers to the utilization of technology with the objective of automating business workflow and business transactions. From the point of view of service, electronic commerce refers to a valuable tool that meets the objective of business firms covering management and employees as...... In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency using the Empty Vessel strategy. Often, e-commerce involves the application of knowledge management systems. E-business involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these. The internet is one of the most important channels for increasing the satisfaction of existing customers and acquiring new ones. With this philosophy in mind, we at SRC.SI have designed a "financial portal" through which a bank can provide a complete service to existing and potential customers.

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Through the portal a bank can easily and in an attractive way: •

present its services

•

enable calculations to be made for informative purposes and services to be compared

•

inform its customers of new developments

•

provide a point of contact between portal users and the bank The graphical appearance of the websites within the financial portal follows

the bank's corporate image, while the bank is able to adapt new content quickly and independently with the help of the content management system.

E-BUSINESS MODELS When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suit their goals. A business model is defined as the organization of product, service and information flows, and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers. In the past two years, e-business seems to have permeated every aspect of daily life. In just a short time, both individuals and organizations have embraced Internet technologies to enhance productivity, maximize convenience, and improve communications globally. From banking to shopping to entertaining, the Internet has become integral to daily activities. For example, just 23 years ago, most individuals went into a financial institution and spoke with a human being to conduct regular banking transactions. Ten years later, individuals began to embrace the ATM machine, which made banking activities more convenient. Today, millions of individuals rely on online banking services to complete a large percentage

of

their

transactions.

The rapid growth and acceptance of Internet technologies has led some to wonder why the e-business phenomenon did not occur decades ago. The short answer is: it was not possible. In the past, the necessary infrastructure did not exist to support e-business. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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Most businesses ran large mainframe computers with proprietary data formats. Even if it had been achievable to transfer data from these large machines into homes, the home computer was not yet a commodity, so there were few terminals outside of business to receive information. As PCs became more popular, especially in the home, the ability to conduct ebusiness was still restricted because of the infrastructure required to support it, including backend customer and supplier interaction along with credit card processing systems. To set up an e-business even eight years ago would have required an individual organization to assume the burden of developing the entire technology infrastructure, as well as its own business and marketing strategies. Today, the challenge of e-business is integration. There are industry-leading companies that have solved the difficult task of developing individual Internet-based products and services that handle many of supplier interactions. However, the ability to integrate these technologies and services based on sound business and marketing strategies, operating on a real-time As e-business continues to be fueled by both organizations and consumers who have access to the Internet from their homes and offices, the excitement grows and the potential for success increases. But explosive growth of the Internet has also led to a growing number of integration challenges fore-businessesof

allsizes

and

types.

In faze one of building an e-business, companies scrambled to get an e-commerce Web site up quickly. The operative word was “quickly,” because usually there was little or no regard given to how scalable or reliable the site needed to be—or even how captivating the content. It was just a matter of beating the competition. These first-to-market consumer sites were rarely integrated with the manufacturing side of the business, which was establishing its own Internet-based relationships with suppliers. This lack of integration has proved to be a significant challenge for many organizations as the customer base has grown, real-time order status

has

been

requested,

and

products

have

beenreturned.

In phase two of building an e-business, having an e-commerce site is now a commodity, not a way to differentiate a business. Customer and supplier expectations are rising, forcing organizations to start thinking about backend integration and real-time transaction INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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processing. Businesses must actually maintain complete customer and supplier relationships using Internet-based technologies and tie those systems to the interpersonal aspects of the business transaction when required. Organizations that realize the promise of e-business are the ones that have begun to address the complete business cycle and are leveraging Internet

technologies.

It is no secret that today’s e-business has the potential to transform the business landscape. Whereas in the past, a company’s business model was the primary determination of its value, today, a company is valued on its strategy, business model, and ability to market. With technology driving new competition, a Fortune 500 stalwart that once seemed unstoppable is now challenged by a start-up that uses Internet technologies and integrates their systems and processes more effectively. By capitalizing on a sustained business proposition and correctly applying technology, these start-ups are able to significantly reduce the barriers to entry while dramatically increasing their market reach. For e-businesses, the premise “first to market equals first to success” is often the case; however, the foundation needs to be laid carefully. A disciplined approach to evaluating the business opportunity, and correctly assessing how a competitive advantage may be gained using Internet technologies combined with leveraging the existing investment, is key to a successful e-business. An e-business model is simply the approach a company takes to become a profitable business on the Internet. There are many buzzwords that define aspects of electronic business, and there are subgroups as well, such as content providers, auction sites, and pureplay

Internet

retailers

in

the

business-to-consumer

space.

Given the carnage among dot-com stocks recently, what type of online business models are expected to succeed in the future? Businesses need to make more money than they spend. The new model is the old model, but technology is essential to maintain a competitive advantage, and cash flow is more important than ever. The concept of e-business model is the same but used in the online presence. The following is a list of the currently most

adopted

•

E-shops

e-business

models

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD. •

E-procurement

•

E-malls

•

E-auctions

•

Virtual Communities

•

Collaboration Platforms

•

Third-party Marketplaces

•

Value-chain Integrators

•

Value-chain Service Providers

•

Information Brokerage

•

E-shops Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services

over the Internet. An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web store, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricksand-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall. The metaphor of an online catalog is also used, by analogy with mail order catalogs. All types of stores have retail web sites, including those that do and do not also have physical storefronts and paper catalogs. Online shopping is a type of electronic commerce used

for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C)

transactions. Online shoppers commonly use credit card to make payments, however some systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as: •

Debit card

•

Various types of electronic money

•

Cash on delivery (C.O.D., offered by very few online stores)

•

Cheque

•

Wire transfer/delivery on payment

•

Postal money order

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD. •

PayPal

•

Google Checkout

•

Moneybookers

•

Reverse SMS billing to mobile phones

•

Gift cards

•

Direct debit in some countries Some sites will not allow international credit cards and billing address and

shipping address have to be in the same country in which site does its business. Other sites allow customers from anywhere to send gifts anywhere. While credit cards are currently the most popular means of paying for online goods and services, alternative online payments will account for 26% of e-commerce volume by 2009 according to Celent.

•

E-procurement E-procurement (electronic procurement, sometimes also known as supplier

exchange) is the business-to-business or business-to-consumer purchase and sale of supplies and services through the Internet as well as other information and networking systems, such as Electronic Data Interchange and Enterprise Resource Planning. Typically, e-procurement Web sites allow qualified and registered users to look for buyers or sellers of goods and services. Depending on the approach, buyers or sellers may specify costs or invite bids. Transactions can be initiated and completed. Ongoing purchases may qualify customers for volume discounts or special offers. E-procurement software may make it possible to automate some buying and selling. Companies participating expect to be able to control parts inventories more effectively, reduce purchasing agent overhead, and improve manufacturing cycles. E-procurement is expected to be integrated with the trend toward computerized supply chain management. E-procurement is done with a software application that includes features for supplier management and complex auctions. eBay's tools for its sellers have similar features. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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There are six main types of e-procurement: •

Web-based ERP (Electronic Resource Planning): Creating and approving purchasing requisitions, placing purchase orders and receiving goods and services by using a software system based on Internet technology.

•

E-MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operating): The same as web-based ERP except that the goods and services ordered are non-product related MRO supplies.

•

E-sourcing: Identifying new suppliers for a specific category of purchasing requirements using Internet technology.

•

E-tendering: Sending requests for information and prices to suppliers and receiving the responses of suppliers using Internet technology.

•

E-reverse auctioning: Using Internet technology to buy goods and services from a number of known or unknown suppliers.

•

E-informing: Gathering and distributing purchasing information both from and to internal and external parties using Internet technology.

The e-procurement value chain consists of Indent Management, ETendering, auctioning, Vendor Management, Catalogue Management, and Contract Management. Indent Management is the workflow involved in the preparation of tenders. This part of the value chain is optional, with individual procuring departments defining their indenting process. In works procurement, administrative approval and technical sanction are obtained in electronic format. In goods procurement, indent generation activity is done online. The end result of the stage is taken as inputs for issuing the NIT.

Advantages and disadvantages Advantages include getting the right product, from the right supplier, at the right time, for the right price and the right quantity. In reality e-procurement has the advantage of taking supply chain management to the next level, providing real time information to the vendor as to the status of a customer's needs. For example, a vendor may have an agreement with a customer to automatically ship materials when the customer's stock level reaches a INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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low point, thus bypassing the need for the customer to ask for it. A major disadvantage to this type of agreement could be that the vendor has the power to take advantage of the customer by knowing more information about the customer than they would have if the customer was in a normal supply chain management structure. •

E-auctions

A reverse auction (also called procurement auction, e-auction, sourcing event, e-sourcing or eRA) is a tool used in industrial business-to-business procurement. It is a type of auction in which the role of the buyer and seller are reversed, with the primary objective to drive purchase prices downward. In an ordinary auction (also known as a forward auction), buyers compete to obtain a good or service. In a reverse auction, sellers compete to obtain business. •

Virtual Communities A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people

that primarily interact via communication media such as newsletters, telephone, email or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes. If the mechanism is a computer network, it is called an online community. Virtual and online communities have also become a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other primarily in real life. Many means are used in social software separately or in combination, including text-based chatrooms and forums that use voice, video text or avatars. Significant socio-technical change may have resulted from the proliferation of such Internet-based social networks. Virtual communities, or online communities, are used for a variety of social and professional groups interacting via the Internet. It does not necessarily mean that there is a strong bond among the members, although Howard Rheingold, author of the book of the same name, mentions that virtual communities form "when people carry on public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships". An email distribution list may have hundreds of members and the communication which takes place may be merely informational (questions and answers are INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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posted), but members may remain relative strangers and the membership turnover rate could be high. This is in line with the liberal use of the term Virtual communities may synthesize technologies with the community, and therefore have been described as Community 2.0, although strong community bonds have been forged online since the early days of. Virtual communities depend upon social interaction and exchange between users online. This emphasizes the element of the unwritten social contract between community members. Web 2.0 is essentially characterized by virtual communities such as Flickr, Facebook, and Del.icio.us. A similar trend is starting to emerge within businesses where online or virtual communities are taking hold. These communities can be organizational, regional or topical depending on the business. From a technical perspective, software tools abound to create and nurture these communities including Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, LISTSERV, and Microsoft Sharepoint. The ability to interact with like-minded individuals instantaneously from anywhere on the globe has considerable benefits, but virtual communities have bred some fear and criticism. Virtual communities can serve as dangerous hunting grounds for online criminals, such as identity thieves and stalkers, with children particularly at risk. Others fear that spending too much time in virtual communities may have negative repercussions on realworld interaction (see Internet addiction disorder). The explosive diffusion of the Internet since the mid-1990s has also fostered the proliferation of virtual communities. The nature of those communities is diverse, and the benefits that Rheingold envisioned are not necessarily realized, or pursued, by many. At the same time, it is rather commonplace to see anecdotes of someone in need of special help or in search of a community benefiting from the use of the Internet. Different virtual communities have different levels of interaction and participation among their members. This ranges from adding comments or tags to a blog or message board post to competing against other people in online video games such as MMORPGs. Not unlike traditional social groups or clubs, virtual communities often divide into cliques or even separate to form new communities. Author Amy Jo Kim points out a potential INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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difference between traditional structured online communities (message boards, chat rooms, etc), and more individual-centric, bottom-up social tools (blogs, instant messaging buddy lists), and suggests the latter are gaining in popularity. •

Collaboration Platforms An emerging category of computer software, collaboration platforms are unified

electronic platforms that support synchronous and asynchronous communication through a variety of devices and channels. Collaboration platforms offer a set of software components and software services that enable individuals to find each other and the information they need and to be able to communicate and work together to achieve common business goals. The core elements of a collaboration platform are messaging (email, calendaring and scheduling, and contacts), team collaboration (file synchronization, ideas and notes in a wiki, task management, full-text search), and real-time collaboration and communication (e.g., presence, instant messaging, Web conferencing, application / desktop sharing, voice, audio and video conferencing), and Social Computing tools (e.g., blog, wiki, tagging, RSS, shared bookmarks). Actually, the Collaboration platforms could be proprietary or open source or free software, and tend to be used in a wider information and communication environments, representing the collaboration platform one module or package more to be integrate in a bigger platform. •

Third-party Marketplaces Amazon Marketplace is Amazon.com's fixed-price online marketplace that

allows sellers to offer their goods alongside Amazon's offerings. Buyers can buy new and used items sold directly by a third party through Amazon.com using Amazon Marketplace. This concept is similar to eBay's successful half.com.

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This sales strategy and program has been very profitable for Amazon.com. Amazon charges a commission rate based on the sale price, a transaction fee, and a variable closing fee.Users can leave feedback on transactions using a five-star rating system. Any feedback less than four stars will negatively affect the seller's rating. •

Value-chain Service Providers The virtual value chain, created by John Sviokla and Jeffrey Rayport, is a

business model describing the dissemination of value-generating information services throughout an Extended Enterprise. This value chain begins with the content supplied by the provider, which is then distributed and supported by the information infrastructure; thereupon the context provider supplies actual customer interaction. It supports the physical value chain of procurement, manufacturing, distribution and sales of traditional companies. To illustrate the distinction between the two value chains consider the following: “when consumers use answering machines to leave a message, they are using an object that is both made and sold in the physical world, however when they buy electronic answering services from the phone company they are using the marketspace—a virtual realm where products and services are digital information and are delivered through informationbased channels.” (Rayport et al. 1996) There are many businesses that employ both value chains including banks which provide services to customers in the physical world at their branch offices and virtually online. The value chain is separated into two separate chains because both the marketplace (physical) and the marketspace (virtual) need to be managed in different ways to be effective and efficient (Samuelson 1981). Nonetheless, the linkage between the two is critical for effective supply chain management. •

Information Brokerage An information broker is a person or business that researches information for

clients. Common uses for information brokers include market research and patent searches, but can include practically any type of information research.

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In 1977 Kelly Warnken published the first fee-based information directory, which continues to be published and has expanded to cover international concerns. The Association of Independent Information Professionals, the first professional association devoted to information brokers, was formed in Milwaukee in 1987. The profession has its roots in 1937 when librarians and other information professionals formed an organization called the American Society for Information Science and Technology in an attempt to establish their professional identity separate from public libraries.

TYPES OF E-BUSINESS From simple communication through to complex analysis, the internet is increasingly involved in starting, managing and improving a business. Every time the internet is used within a business, it could be considered as an eBusiness activity. Some components of eBusiness have been around for years and are still frequently used. They include facsimiles (faxes), telephone banking, EFTPOS and video or telephone conferencing. You may already be conducting eBusiness if you: •

communicate with clients or suppliers via email

•

send email to other organisations to order supplies

•

sell or promote products or services via a website and/or email

•

publish a website to provide public information about the business

•

use the internet for online banking and paying your bills

•

research information about your customers and competitors using websites

•

provide technical or customer service by email or your website

•

manage and distribute internal company documents via an intranet

The forms of eBusiness are continually evolving. eBusiness is most successful when it is used to enhance basic business functions, for example:

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selling products and services

•

customer relationship management

•

competitive intelligence and research

•

human resources

•

production and distribution

•

management and strategy

Roughly dividing the world into providers/producers and consumers/clients one can classify e-businesses into the following categories: •

business-to-business (B2B)

•

business-to-consumer (B2C)

•

business-to-employee (B2E)

•

business-to-government (B2G)

•

government-to-business (G2B)

•

government-to-government (G2G)

•

government-to-citizen (G2C)

•

consumer-to-consumer (C2C)

•

consumer-to-business (C2B)

•

Business-to-Business (B2B) Business-to-business (B2B) is a term commonly used to describe electronic

commerce transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business and individual consumers (B2C) or business and government (B2G). B2B is also commonly used as an adjective to describe any activity, be it B2B marketing, sales, or e-commerce, that occurs between businesses and other businesses rather

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than between businesses and consumers. Similar to B2B, B2G is often meant to refer to B2G Marketing. "E-" or "electronic" marketplace in a business-to-business context is primarily a large online platform (B2B portal) or website that facilitates interaction and/or transactions between buyers and suppliers at organizational or institutional rather than individual levels. Since the builders of such marketplaces primarily aim at facilitating buyer-seller interaction (in most cases without being a buyer or seller themselves), these are also referred to as "thirdparty" B2B marketplaces.

These marketplaces can do one or more of the following: 1. Help buyers find new suppliers and vice versa 2. Help reduce the time and cost of interaction for B2B transactions 3. Help increase trade between distant geographies and cultures 4. Help manage payments and track orders for B2B transactions 5. Help the environment by using appropriate technology that is environmentally friendly •

Business-to-consumer (B2C) Business-to-consumer (B2C, sometimes also called Business-to-Customer)

describes activities of E-businesses serving end consumers with products and/or services. It is often associated with electronic commerce but also encompasses financial institutions and other types of businesses. B2C relationships are often established and cultivated through some form of Internet marketing. Advantages of B2C e-commerce B2C e-commerce has the following advantages:

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD. •

Shopping can be faster and more convenient.

•

Offerings and prices can change instantaneously.

•

Call centers can be integrated with the website.

•

Broadband telecommunications will enhance the buying experience.

Challenges faced by B2C e-commerce The two main challenges faced by B2C e-commerce are building traffic and sustaining customer loyalty. Due to the winner-take-all nature of the B2C structure, many smaller firms find it difficult to enter a market and remain competitive. In addition, online shoppers are very price-sensitive and are easily lured away, so acquiring and keeping new customers is difficult. A study of top B2C companies by McKinsey found that: •

Top performers had over three times as many unique visitors per month than the median. In addition, the top performer had 2,500 times more visitors than the worst performer.

•

Top performers had an 18% conversion rate of new visitors, twice that of the median.

•

Top performers had revenue per transaction of 2.5 times the median.

•

Top performers had an average gross margin three times the median.

•

There was no significant difference in the number of transactions per customer and the visitor acquisition cost.

Essentially, these masters of B2C e-commerce (Amazon, etc.) remain at the top because of effective communication and value to the customer. •

Business-to-employee (B2E) Business-to-employee (B2E) electronic commerce uses an intrabusiness network

which allows companies to provide products and/or services to their employees. Typically, companies use B2E networks to automate employee-related corporate processes. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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Examples of B2E applications include: •

Online insurance policy management

•

Corporate announcement dissemination

•

Online supply requests

•

Special employee offers

•

Employee benefits reporting

•

401(k) Management

•

special discounts to employees

•

Business-to-government (B2G) Business to Government (B2G) is a derivative of B2B marketing and referred to

as a market definition of "Public Sector Marketing" which encompasses marketing products and services to the U.S. Government through Integrated Marketing Communications techniques such as strategic public relations, branding, marcom, advertising, web-based communications to Uncle Sam. According to Gal Borenstein, CEO of The Borenstein Group (Fairfax-Based B2G Marketing Communications Firm), [1], the majority of government spending has been focus on fulfilling three mission areas identified in the Presidential Management Agenda (PMA) of current and past presidents: [2] 1. Empower government agencies with better Business Process to help make it more efficient. 2. become a better customer-service provider to Public Citizen and promote visible accessibility to public records via electronic records management. 3. Create visible accountability by reducing disparate systems and centralizing functions that can be reengineered to be measured, accounted for, and controlled by tighter oversight and controls. Examples of B2G Marketing Communications and Public Relations Agencies and Counselors that support Public Sector IT Marketers in the Multi-Billion dollar federal marketplace include: INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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•

FEDERAL DIRECT

•

THE BORENSTEIN GROUP

•

PRESTOVIVACE

•

Government-to-business (G2B) Government-to-Business (abbreviated G2B) is the online non-commercial

interaction between local and central government and the commercial business sector, rather than private individuals (G2C). For example http://www.dti.gov.uk is a government web site where businesses can get information and advice on e-business 'best practice'. •

Government-to-Government (G2G) Government-to-Government (abbreviated G2G) is the online non-

commercial interaction between Government organisations, departments, and authorities and other Government organisations, departments, and authorities. It's use is common in the UK, along with G2C, the online non-commercial interaction of local and central Government and private individuals, and G2B the online non-commercial interaction of local and central Government and the commercial business sector. •

Government-to-citizen (G2C) Government-to-Citizen (abbreviated G2C) is the online non-commercial

interaction between local and central Government and private individuals, rather than the commercial business sector G2B. For example Government sectors become visibly open to the public domain via a Web Portal. Thus making public services and information accessible to all.

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD. •

consumer-to-consumer (C2C) Consumer-to-consumer (or C2C) electronic commerce involves the

electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is the online auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered. These sites are usually some form of an auction site. The consumer lists items for sale with a commercial auction site. Other consumers access the site and place bids on the items. The site then provides a connection between the seller and buyer to complete the transaction. The site provider usually charges a transaction cost. In reality this site should be call C2B2C. •

consumer-to-business (C2B) Consumer-to-business (C2B) is an electronic commerce business model in which

consumers (individuals) offer products and services to companies and the companies pay them. This business model is a complete reversal of traditional business model where companies offer goods and services to consumers (business-to-consumer = B2C). This kind of economic relationship is qualified as an inverted business model. The advent of the C2B scheme is due to major changes: •

Connecting a large group of people to a bidirectional network has made this sort of commercial relationship possible. The large traditional media outlets are one direction relationship whereas the internet is bidirectional one.

•

Decreased cost of technology : Individuals now have access to technologies that were once only available to large companies ( digital printing and acquisition technology, high performance computer, powerful software)

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Example: Harry is planning a holiday in Darwin. He requires a flight in the first week of December and is only willing to pay $250. Harry places a submission with in a web based C2B facility. Dodgy Brothers Airways accesses the facility and sees Harry's submission. Due to it being a slow period, the airline offers Harry a return fare for $250.

APPLICATIONS OF E-BUSINES Following are some of the applications of e-business:

Realestate Contracting&construction Trading ServiceIndustry InsuranceBrokers SharesManagement Engineering Printing Hotel Transport Cargo Auto spare parts E-Commerce benefits The face of doing business both within Australia and overseas is rapidly changing. The Internet, electronic funds transfer, e-commerce and the like have brought with them both opportunities and threats. Your business competitors may no longer be just the business down the street, but a business located in any number of places around the world. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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The flip side of course is that your potential market is now not just your local area, or even Queensland, but cashed up consumers across the world. E-commerce won't go away. On-line and Internet commerce is currently experiencing dramatic growth, and is expected to add 2.7% to Australia's GDP by 2007. Aggregate employment is also expected to rise by half a per cent as a result of ecommerce. It is now a truism that to stay in business in the new millennium, e-commerce will have to be a part of your business. According to experienced organisations, the introduction of e-commerce can, if it's done correctly: •

1.lower transaction costs

•

2.reduce inventory holdings

•

3.provide a competitive business advantage

•

4.expand one's market

•

5.increase speed to market

•

6.streamline supply chain managemen

E-Commerce strategy The Department has set itself a vision that Queensland will be a leading participant in the global new economy with the objective that the Department of tourism, Regional Development and Industry will be a catalyst for the uptake of e-commerce by Queensland businesses. To achieve this vision and objective, the department will pursue the following four key strategies: 1. Facilitating e-commerce for business

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The department will facilitate the uptake of e-commerce within the business community by actively promoting e-commerce to business, raising awareness and providing measures which support effective e-commerce adoption. 2. Creating the capability The department will assist in the provision of hard and soft infrastructure necessary for successful participation in the information economy. 3. Providing leadership within government The department will coordinate with and influence other agencies, at the State, Commonwealth and Local level, to promote the benefits of e-commerce and to encourage them to develop initiatives aimed at increasing the uptake of e-commerce by the business community. 4. Modelling the way The department will become an active adopter of e-commerce technologies leading to improvements in its internal business processes and service delivery and opportunities for clients and suppliers to be exposed to secure e-commerce transactions. What are the existing practices in developing countries with respect to buying and paying online?

In most developing countries, the payment schemes available for online transactions are the following: A. Traditional Payment Methods •

Cash on delivery. Many online transactions only involve submitting purchase orders online. Payment is by cash upon the delivery of the physical goods.

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Bank payments. After ordering goods online, payment is made by depositing cash into the bank account of the company from which the goods were ordered. Delivery is likewise done the conventional way.

B. Electronic Payment Methods •

Innovations affecting consumers, include credit and debit cards, automated teller machines (ATMs), stored value cards, and e-banking.

•

Innovations enabling online commerce are e-cash, e-checks, smart cards, and encrypted credit cards. These payment methods are not too popular in developing countries. They are employed by a few large companies in specific secured channels on a transaction basis.

•

Innovations affecting companies pertain to payment mechanisms that banks provide their clients, including inter-bank transfers through automated clearing houses allowing payment by direct deposit..

Ecommerce Vs E-Business While the words Commerce and Business don't have much difference in English and in fact are largely interchangeable as nouns describing organized profit-seeking activity, there is a difference between eCommerce and eBusiness. The difference is quite artificial, but different terms do carry different meanings. The first wave of thinking about electronic business was a reaction to the success of Amazon and Dell in selling products over the Internet. Electronic business transactions involving money are "eCommerce" activities. However, there is much more to eBusiness than selling products: what about marketing, procurement and customer education? Even to sell on-line successfully, much more is required than merely having a website that accepts credit cards. We need to have a web site that people want to visit, accurate catalog information and good logistics.For selling online successfully one needs to know basics of website development. The term "eBusiness" was introduced as a deliberate attempt to say to people: "Your first understanding of INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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eCommerce was too narrow. To be successful, we need

to

think more broadly."

E-business goes far beyond ecommerce or buying and selling over the Internet, and deep into the processes and cultures of an enterprise. It is the powerful business environment that is created when you connect critical business systems directly to customers, employees, vendors, and business partners, using Intranets, Extranets, ecommerce technologies, collaborative applications, and the Web. Dell Computer gets a lot of attention as a pioneering ebusiness today and is the best example of this form of business. It sells $ 15m worth of computers from its websites each day. The company has created a ‘fully integrated value chain’ – a three-way information partnership with its suppliers and customers by treating them as collaborators who together find ways of improving efficiency across the entire chain of supply and demand. Dell's suppliers have real-time access to information about its orders. Through its corporate extranet, they can organize their production and delivery to ensure that their customer always has just enough of the right parts to keep the production line moving smoothly. By plugging its suppliers directly into the customer database, Dell has ensured that they will instantly know about changes in their demand. Similarly, by allowing entry to customers into its supply chain via its website, Dell enables them to track the progress of their orders from the factory to their doorstep. Successful new-businesses can emerge from nowhere. Trends suggest it takes little more than two years for a start-up to emerge out of nowhere, formulate an innovative business idea, establish a web-presence and reach a dominant position in its chosen sector. The high valuation of the stocks of such start-ups and the massive amount of venture capital flowing into their businesses is proof enough that complacency is foolhardy here. America has already reached a threshold in e-business, from where it is set to accelerate into hyper-growth, as per Forrester Research. Britain and Germany will go into the same level of hyper-growth two years after America, with Japan, France and Italy, a further two years behind. E-business is a powerful tool for business transformation that allows INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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companies to enhance their supply-chain operation, reach new markets, and improve services for customers as well as for suppliers and employees. However, implementing the ebusiness applications that provide these benefits may be impossible without a coherent, consistent approach to e-business security. Traditional network security has focused solely on keeping intruders out using tools such as firewalls. This is no longer adequate. E-business means letting business partners and customers into the network, essentially through the firewall, but in a selective and controlled way, so that they access only the applications they need. To date, organizations have controlled and managed access to resources by building authorization and authentication into

each

e-business

application.

This piecemeal approach is time-consuming error-prone, and expensive to build and maintain. Emerging technology provides a new role-based access control infrastructure for all of the enterprise’s e-business applications. With this infrastructure, developers no longer need to code security features into each application. This can greatly speed up and simplify the deployment of new applications, cut maintenance costs, and give organizations a consistent security policy. This new access control infrastructure also lets organizations implement consistent privacy policies and ensures that authorized people are denied access to sensitive business information sources. In addition, a centralized security solution lends greater flexibility to supporting new technologies such as mobile Internet devices, which are expected to proliferate over the next few years. Besides controlling access, organizations also need to monitor security events across the enterprise so that suspicious activities can be quickly pinpointed. This is becoming critical as enterprise networks grow rapidly in complexity and strategic importance. New monitoring technology lets organizations consolidate data from all their disparate security sensors—firewalls, anti-virus software, host systems, and routers— and provide a coordinated single image of potential intrusions for effective incident response. The greatest security threat to e-Businesses is not from the outside but from the inside. Employees or former employees that either are looking to cause problems or simply INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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seeing how far they can break into a company database are a greater threat to most organizations than outside crackers. The obvious ways to prevent unauthorized access by insiders are the ones that most businesses thing they’re already taking: •

keeping secure passwords

•

changing passwords often for administrative access to system (root access)

•

granting the most limited access needed to employees

•

having procedures in place to revoke privileges when employees leave the company

CURRENT TRENDS IN E-BUSINESS Distributed work: Telecommuters need not necessarily work from the home. A more recent extension of telecommuting is distributed work. Distributed work entails the conduct of organizational tasks in places that extends beyond the confines of traditional offices. It can refer to organizational arrangements that permit or require workers to perform work more effectively at any appropriate location, such as their homes and customers' sites - through the application of information and communication technology. An example is financial planners who meet clients during lunchtime with access to various financial planning tools and offerings on their mobile computers, or publishing executives who recommend and place orders for the latest book offerings to libraries and university professors, among others. Another example is the telework centers around Washington, D.C. in Maryland (6), Virginia (8), and D.C. and West Virginia (one each), which generally are relatively close to a majority of people who might otherwise drive or take public transit, and also feature the full complement of office equipment and a high-speed Internet connection for maximum productivity, and perhaps may feature support staff such as receptionists.[12] These work arrangements are likely to become more popular with current trends towards greater customization of services and virtual organizing. Distributed work offers great INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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potential for firms to reduce costs, enhance competitive advantage and agility, access a greater variety of scarce talents, and improve employee flexibility, effectiveness and productivity.[13][14][15][16] It has gained in popularity in the West, particularly in Europe. While increasing in importance, distributed work has not yet gained widespread acceptance in Asia.[17] Virtual offices Virtual offices are attractive to management because they reduce overheads, reduce office space needs, increase productivity, and reduce staff turnover. However, managers (whose roles are varied and not well defined) in telecommuting roles typically receive fewer promotions due to the lack of direct contact they need. From that aspect, telecommuting seems to work best for professionals such as engineers. Coworking Coworking is a social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share a common working area as well as the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space. Typically, a coworking facility offers hotdesking and other services with common office infrastructure, as well as social areas such as a coffee shop. Microjobs Telecommuters who begin working from home part-time for one company may acquire selfemployed status through agreement or necessity. From that position an employee may seek more work from other sources. Ultimately, the size of the job unit may reduce, so that many more people are working for small periods of time for multiple clients. These short-timeperiod jobs have been named microjobs.[18]

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Telecommuting Telecommuting 2.0 offers solutions to some of the problems that have kept telecommuting from being fully embraced by management and workers. Telecommuting 2.0 takes advantage of Remote Office Centers, which are distributed centers for leasing offices to individuals from multiple companies. A Remote Office Center provide professional grade network access, phone system, security system, mail stop and optional services for additional costs. ROCs are generally located in areas near where people live throughout population centers, so that workers do not have to commute more than a couple of miles. The telecommuter works in a real office but accesses the company network across the internet using a VPN just as in traditional telecommuting. Telecommuting 2.0 has the additional cost since the company will have to lease office space for the employee, but companies already pay for office space and network infrastructure in traditional office environments. The continuing increases in fuel costs are making telecommuting (either version 1.0 or 2.0) more and more attractive for companies and workers alike. Potential drawbacks •

Telecommuting has come to be viewed by some as more a "complement rather than a substitute for work in the workplace".[19] Thus, some workers may find their work load increased to the point where they are under more stress than before. Distractions at home can have a similar effect, especially among workers who leave the office to be better able to care for small children and the infirm.

•

Fellow employees in the employer's office sometimes resent home telecommuters

•

A telecommuter may lack the sense of loyalty to the company that he or she would have if working at an office.

•

Employees that work by telecommuting can lose space in their homes, possibly even suffer the cost of converting a room into an office.

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Telecommuters need to be more adept at using their equipment as they have less access to a dedicated employee at the company whose job is to maintain that equipment.

•

Even when a company successfully implements telecommuting practices, increasing productivity and decreasing stress, they face an increased risk of confidential data loss and risks to data integrity resulting from the increased geographical diversity of their network and the loss of direct corporate control over the telecommuter's physical work environment. For instance, a major breach of privacy by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs resulted from a laptop being stolen from a worker who took his work home. The result was described as "potentially the largest loss of Social Security numbers to date."

•

Initially, managers may view the teleworker as experiencing a drop in productivity during the first few months. This drop occurs as "the employee, his peers, and the manager adjust to the new work regimen". The drop could also be accountable to inadequate office setup. Managers need to be patient and let the teleworker adapt. It can be claimed that as much as "70 minutes of each day in a regular office are wasted by interruptions, yakking around the photocopier, and other distractions". Eventually, productivity of the teleworker will climb.

•

Management needs to recognise the communication barriers that telecommuters experience. The feeling of alienation can be very difficult for the teleworker. The job should be clearly defined as well as its objectives. Performance measures should be thorough and apparent.

•

Managers need to be aware that although overhead decreases, the cost of technology becomes greater. Information Technology (IT) managers experience greater demands because of user requirements for remote access through laptops, personal digital assistants, and home computers. Use of non-standard software can create problems. Setting up security and virtual private networks increase the demands for IT.

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Traditional line managers are accustomed to managing by observation and not necessarily by results. This causes a serious obstacle in organizations attempting to adopt telecommuting. Liability and workers' compensation can become serious issues as well. Companies considering telecommuting should be sure to check on local legal issues, union issues, and zoning laws. Telecommuting should incorporate training and development that includes evaluation, simulation programs, team meetings, written materials, and forums. Information sharing should be considered synchronous in a virtual office and building processes to handle conflicts should be developed. Operational and administrative support should be redesigned to support the virtual office environment. Facilities need to be coordinated properly in order to support the virtual office and technical support should be coordinated properly. The conclusion for managers working within telecommuting organizations is that new approaches to "evaluating, educating, organizing, and informing workers" should be adopted.

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ELECTRONIC TICKETING IN INDUSTRY E-commerce had already revolutionized the business field all around the world. With the ever-advancing informational technology, producers and consumers now do most business transactions over the net. Furthermore, internet commerce continues togrowrapidly,withincreasingusers. E-ticket is one of the many branches of e-commerce. Short hand for electronic ticket, e-ticket exists only in digital form. It changes the structure and way airline businesses are

done

by

eliminating

many

manual

tasks

and

reducing

costs.

My research focuses on how, since the last decade, e-ticket has changed or affected the way people travel and airlines operate. My goal is to see if the e-ticket transformation for the travel industry and consumers is genuinely more socially beneficial or not. It will also delve into details about the operations of e-ticket and the potential problems that may occur. I will draw my conclusion about the changes e-ticket has brought upon both parties by weighing the positive and negative sides with scholarly resources, news, business articles, and statistical data. An electronic ticket or e-ticket is used to represent the purchase of a seat on a passenger airline, usually through a website or by telephone. This form of airline ticket rapidly replaced the old paper tickets (from close to zero to 100% in about 10 years) and became mandatory for IATA members as of June 1, 2008. During the last years, where paper tickets were still available, airlines frequently charged extra for issuing them. E-tickets are also available for certain entertainment venues. Once a reservation is made, an e-ticket exists only as a digital record in the airline computers. Customers usually print out a copy of their receipt which contains the record locator or reservation number and the e-ticket number.

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Electronic tickets are introduced in road, urban or rail public transport too. For example, in February 2007 the Czech bus reservation system AMSBUS introduced the product e-jízdenka for several bus routes. Since November 2007 it has been possible to buy an SMS-ticket (SMS jízdenka) for use on Prague's urban transport. E-ticket is an electronic ticket. In the traditional ticketing process, ticketing information is printed on the paper ticket. However, when you book online and buy e-ticket, all your ticketing information is stored directly in the airline's computer system. This ticketing information stored in the airline's computer system is called an e-ticket. A paperless air ticket. E-ticket is available for all domestic destinations and most international and intercontinental flights. For more info about destinations, contact the call center. E-ticket can only be used on Alitalia Group flights. Tickets are valid for the named passenger only and are not transferable.

One of the most important trends in the tourism sub-sectors of transport (as well as recreational, cultural and sporting activities) has been, and is likely to remain, e-ticketing. Airlines are the vanguards of this development. Especially no-frills carriers work exclusively with e-tickets; the avoidance of classical paper-based tickets is one of the core elements of their business model, as it considerably saves costs. Traditional incumbent airlines also take measures to promote e-tickets and roll back paper tickets. This conforms to the development towards dis-intermediation, as the issuing of paper tickets is a duty of classical intermediaries. Airlines first started using electronic ticketing since the early 1990s, and although customers had the option of requiring a paper ticket without any additional charge back then, most people simply follow through the airlines' e-ticket transformation. Already by 1994, as reported by United Airlines, e-tickets already spanned over sixty percent of its sales. By December 2003, most domestic airlines such as Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines had claimed to stop issuing paper tickets completely. Now, most ask for an INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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additional charge for printed-paper How

tickets.

electronic ticketing works:

Electronic ticketing simply is the combination of purchasing ticket and issuing the ticket. Formerly two separate actions with paper tickets are now reduced to one, all through the use of computing. A passenger's reservation of the flight is stored in the airline's computer database. Therefore, when he or she arrives at the airport, he/she only needs to providea valid photo identification such as a driver's license or passport (sometimes airlinesdemand credit card of purchase also) in order to receive the boarding pass. E-ticketsaretransacted through ticketing models provided by The Central Reservation System(CRS),aproviderthat record and control most air travel transactions. An automatic e-processisused,writtenin middleware such as Perl or Java. It is the IATA, International AirTransportAssociation, that gave permission for traveling agents to sale tickets without issuingpaperticket(they transmit purchase information directly to the intended airline's database),andfortravelersto board without providing paper ticket proof. In addition, airlinessuchasJetbluealsoadded new self-service computing device called the "self-check-inkiosk,"whichthecustomeronly needs his/her credit card and confirmation

number

/

printed

barcode

to

get

boarding

pass

and

check in luggage. Everything can be done without ever needing a paper ticket. The IT Trends Survey reported a statistic that shows how US major airline carriers expect over halfofits passengers to use "self-check-in kiosks in home markets" by the end of 2006. E-ticketing is an extremely fast-paced e-business transformation. For example, United Airlinesfirst started using e-tickets in domestic flights in November 1994. By November 1997,UnitedAirlines extended this to international flights to England. Now, e-ticketing process is used for all United flights. Furthermore, since e-ticketing is so dominating now, Sabre has been working in the laboratory to develop more advanced ways of using thistechnology. IATA, in 2004, had announced its goal of eliminating paper tickets by December 1, 2007. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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Although it seemed a daunting task at that time, now it is certainly reasonable. Because when fewer paper tickets are used, the cost for each ticket goes up for the company. Thus,thegrowth in use of e-tickets jumps up easily. The challenge was the idea of interlining, a universal alliance between big and small airlines around the world, all using thesame technical standards. In other words, a bilateral agreement between all different airlines is essential between airlines. To achieve interlining, Flightinternational reported that "Sabre offers an open systems software product that will let carriers interline e-tickets with each other without taking on the expense of creating their own e-ticketing systems." Also, airlines use Interline Electronic Ticketing (IET) Hub provided by IATA sothatthey do not have to construct individual ticketing servers. Intermediaries in ticket sales Traditionally the majority of air travel tickets have been sold through travel agents, whereas for other modes of transport many tickets have been sold directly by the transport operator – especially in surface transport, where many passengers just ‘turn up and go’. Since the late 1990s there has been a strong pressure on airlines to reduce their commission costs and this, coupled with the development of the internet as a viable alternative sales channel, has meant that more and more airline tickets were sold directly. Meanwhile many airlines in the USA pay no commission at all, and in Europe a number of airlines have decided to do the same. An important factor in the attempts of airlines to reduce their distribution costs has been the development towards e-ticketing (cf. Graham 2006, Doganis 2006). The implementation of e-ticketing The International Air Transport Association – IATA – has established a working group on electronic ticketing which addresses airline data interchange, interline revenue accounting, passenger handling, fraud prevention, security, as well as legal and facilitation issues. IATA has issued an ‘Electronic Ticketing Implementation Guide’ and set up the aim to achieve a 100% penetration of e-ticketing worldwide by the end of 2007, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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i.e. from the 1st of January 2008, only e-tickets shall be issued by the world’s airlines.71 Other public means of transport have also decided to switch to e-tickets, including railways and coach operators. Operators of cultural and sporting facilities are promoting e-ticketing as well.72 E-ticketing may be a win-win situation: customers may obtain tickets more conveniently and service providers may automate sales processes for tickets – clearly a feasible measure to save costs. Apart from these core benefits, e-ticketing also has other advantages: If tickets are sold over the internet, customers may need to register themselves. In this way, sellers of tickets can identify their customers who might otherwise remain anonymous in a classical ticket sale at the cashier’s desk. This may deliver valuable data about the clientele – one of the basic requirements for the application of customer relationship management (CRM).

Advantages There are many advantages of e-tickets for both the airlines and its consumers. For the airlines, the most obvious advantage is cost savings. A report from flightinternational shows that an airline can usually cut their costs by around eighty percent less than paper tickets. Typically, savings from each booking can be as high as $9, depending on the size of the airline. IATA also estimated that if interlining is achieved, there would be a gross saving of three billion dollars. E-ticketing also gives a corporate easier accounting. For instance, with a more efficient passenger processing, company can get immediate access to the sold inventory revenue. It can record revenue immediately once the traveler checks-in. The financial report would thus be more accurate because it is human-error free. Less time is wasted with e-tickets for both consumers and producers. E-tickets save many ticket-issuing steps and thus the process speed is faster for every passenger. Airlines not only save paper ticket costs but also operating costs. Travel agents also save time by skipping the process of printing paper tickets for the consumers. Consumers, on the other hand, spend less time waiting in line for check-ins. One only needs to provide a photo ID at the airport to get the boarding pass directly, without any busy paper work. Alternatively, and more efficiently, INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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one can simply do advance check in online at home and print the boarding pass on the day of travel. For business people on tight schedules, this would be extremely convenient. They would no longer have to worry about having not enough time to wait in long lines to do check-in. Also, with unusual yet unpreventable circumstances such as airline strikes, airlines and travelers are better off with interlining e-tickets: no more delayed flights or significnat loss of profit during strikes. A consumer also has the advantage of not having to worry about losing tickets or forgetting to bring tickets to the airport. No more worries about ticket theft because everything would be in an inaccessible database. No more worries about how tickets are lost in mail or stuck in a jacket somewhere. In addition, if one wants to change anything, he or she can do so immediately and easily by phone or over the internet. There is no more "operating-hours" restriction. What e-ticketing has achieved for producers are dramatic cost saving and for consumers is an extreme convenience. Some people might question about the trustworthiness of depending solely on computing / information technology. Statistical analysis done by Emory Universtiy and University of Illinois proved that a computer's verification and transaction are always less probable to get inconsistency than verification and processes done by humans. Because there is considerably less human-involved processing for issuing e-tickets, less potential mistakes can be made. The computer database, noted in research "E-Process Design and Assurance Using Model Checking," does formal verification with mathematical logic that can "account every possible execution"

and

is

more

reliable

because

being

less

error-prone.

• You can buy it over the phone or on the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week • You can book it up to one hour before departure and pay for it right up until the flight closes • It can’t be lost, stolen or left behind •No waiting for the paper tickets to be issued.

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Disadvantages Most disadvantages questioned are for the consumers. Sometimes, technological inefficiency happens such as a computer crash and then some passengers' reservations have vanished. When this happens, paper ticket holders do have an advantage over e-ticket users. Paper ticket is a document that the airline is honor bound to follow. Thus, in case of a missing reservation for unsolved technical difficulty, the paper-ticket holder can board the aircraft as usual, but e-ticket users are going to be delayed. Naturally, disputes might also arise. With e-ticketing, people simply book flights online directly over the internet. This implies that technology has replaced the human force. Travel agency would one day be obsolete, and its workers would loose their jobs. In other words, the e-ticket transformation . There are also security issues with self-check in kiosks. It is possible that manipulations can be made so that the genuineness of the ticket holder is harder to be detected. It would be more secure if a person checks in with the real proof of ticket in case anything is disordered in

the

computer

database.

In the event of a flight cancellation or delay, paper ticket holders also have the upper hand. Paper tickets are better off than e-tickets when one wants to transfer to another carrier. Most major airlines will accept paper tickets of other carriers as a transfer in unexpected situations. Because currently, interlining is still deficient, e-tickets are not portable between airlines. Thus, e-ticket holders cannot easily transfer to another carrier in unexpected situations. Even if one has an "unrestricted" e-ticket, he or she still has to obtain a paper ticket and then present it to the alternative airline. The whole process is more inconvenient Why are e-tickets less

portable

than

paper-tickets?

When airlines were still only using paper tickets, they used an exclusive interline system such as Worldspan. This standardized system allowed airlines to make and record reservations, sale tickets, keep accounting, and track flights for all dominating airlines. A passenger with multiple connecting flihgts and different carriers can be tracked in just one reservation. CRS can always transfer one's and more time consuming.

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But now, since individul airlines started using their own computing system for e-tickets, being less elastic, CRS is not able to transfer fares between airlines. How to travel with e-tickets? When you buy e-tickets from online booking sites or airlines, they e-mail you an e-ticket receipt which contains detailed information such as your e-ticket number, itineraries, payment information etc. Here is how you use your e-ticket. (This is a general information and should not be replaced with the information you get from the online booking sites and airlines.) 1. Print out your e-ticket receipt which contains your booking information 2. Bring these three items to the airport. o

Printed copy of your e-ticket receipt.

o

A government-issued photo ID such as driver's license or passport.

o

The same credit card that you used to pay for your e-ticket.

3. Get a boarding pass from the airline check-in counter or airline kiosk. Self-service kiosks are usually placed in front of airline's check-in counter. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires a boarding pass at many selected airports before entering any security checkpoint that leads to a flight gate. 4. Proceed through the security checkpoint directly to the departure gate. Where to get it? • On this website, paying by credit

card

• Contacting the call center and

paying:

- directly over the phone by credit card; - at the "Bancomat" ATM cash points of the following banks: BNL, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca di Roma, typing in the code supplied by the call center operator; - at

Alitalia ticket offices and

travel agencies

•

At the Alitalia airport and

city

ticket offices

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD.

•

At travel

agencies

An official receipt will be issued at all payment points and/or check-in desks. If you use a "Bancomat" ATM cash point, the receipt will be issued at the end of the transaction

FEATURES •

No software or hardware to buy or install

•

Various packages available to meet your changing needs

•

Low Convenience Fees on all package choices

•

Sell tickets 24/7 from your own website.

•

Buy and print tickets online securely anywhere and at anytime.

•

Reduce staffing, mailing costs, lost tickets.

•

Increase revenues by selling sponsorship opportunities.

•

Create an E-Marketing database.

•

Web page customization to merge with your website.

•

Eliminate “Will Call” lines.

•

Inventory control of sales. Multiple products per inventory (such as child and adult seats for the same limited seating).

•

Tie inventory to custom numbering, reserved seats and our proprietary bar code system.

•

Sell in real time during a show for scanning at the gate.

•

Customize the look and feel of the ticket. Disclaimers, gate instructions, and the ticket detail can be easily customized.

•

E-Tickets can carry coupons, sponsored ads, maps and/or a list of general show information.

•

Reports of several types are available including basic sales, financial and order detail, sales by city, data download for further analysis, gate and scan reports.

•

Interface with either your own authorize.net merchant account or operate through our system.

•

Display multiple events on your fulfillment listing page.

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD. •

Online Group Sales program available.

Checking in with an e-ticket To check in with an e-ticket, the passenger usually comes to the check-in counter and presents the confirmation or reservation code. In some airlines it's not even necessary to present the code, as the reservation is confirmed solely on the basis of the passenger's identity, which may be proven by a passport or the matching credit card. After confirming the reservation, the passenger checks-in his/her luggage and is given a boarding pass. Self-service and electronic check-in Having an e-ticket also allows any passenger without luggage to check to completely skip the check-in counters and proceed directly to security. The option to checkin online is available on some airlines. A passenger enters their confirmation number at the airline's website, and the passenger prints the boarding pass on their home printer. Online check-in is typically permitted up to twenty-four hours before the flight's scheduled departure time, though this may vary by airline. On airlines without assigned seating such as Southwest, it typically guarantees a passenger early boarding and a better seat. Besides identification, the boarding pass that has been printed is all that needs to be presented upon arriving at the airport. On airlines without online check-in, the check in may take place at a self-service kiosk in the airport, or at the check-in counter. A boarding pass is required to board an aircraft; in some countries, such as the United States, it is also needed to pass through airport security checkpoints. E-tickets are very popular because they allow extra services like: •

online/telephone/self-service kiosk check-in

•

early check-in

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD. •

printing boarding passes at airport kiosks and at locations other than an airport

•

automated refunds and exchanges online, by telephone and at kiosks

Several web sites exist to help people holding e-tickets accomplish online check-ins in advance of the twenty-four-hour airline restriction. These sites store a passenger's flight information and then when the airline opens up for online check-in the data is transferred to the airline and the boarding pass is emailed back to the customer. E-ticket limitations E-tickets are sometimes not available for some flights from an airline which usually offers them. This can be due to a number of reasons, the most common being software incompatibility. If an airline issues tickets for a codeshare flight with another company, and there is no e-ticket interlining agreement, the operating carrier would not be able to see the issuing carrier's ticket. Therefore, the carrier who books the flight needs to provide hard copy versions of the tickets so the ticket can be processed. Similarly, if the destination airport does not have access to the airline who booked the flight, a paper ticket needs to be issued. Industry discount (ID) tickets also tend to be issued on paper if they are valid for more than one airline, and if the airlines that the tickets are valid for do not have an interlining agreement. Since e-ticket interlining is still the exception rather than the rule, tickets valid for more than one airline are usually issued on paper. Currently the ticketing systems of most airlines are only able to produce etickets for itineraries of no more than 16 segments, including surface segments. How E-Tickets Work When you buy a ticket online, you're usually buying an eticket. Airline and travel agency sites will walk you through the purchase process -- after you've selected your

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD.

flight online, you'll be prompted to pay with a credit or debit card. The screen will then present you with your payment confirmation receipt, your ticket number and your itinerary. Print these out and you have your eticket, which is also stored in the airline's database. The eticket may also be emailed to you with an itinerary confirmation which you can print out, especially if you've gone through a travel agency, or you may be mailed an eticket confirmation and a link to the airline's website, where you can view and print the eticket itself and itinerary. Print these out and keep them with your travel documents. If you lose the eticket print-out, head for the nearest internet cafe and find the email confirmation to go through the steps and print the eticket again. (Learn why you should email yourself travel documents now, too.) How Etickets Work At the Airport What to Bring to the Airport ? Bring the printed copies of your payment receipt and itinerary and, as always, your legitimate photo identification and passport and/or visa to the airport. I've been asked for the debit card or credit card with which I made the e-ticket purchase; make sure you have it at check-in, just in case. You may not need to show these to anyone if you check in with a self service check in kiosk -- many airlines have these at airports. And you may be able to check in online -- your eticket confirmation will alert you if that's the case and walk you through the online check in process. What Happens at Check-In With most airlines, you still need a boarding pass. At check-in, the airline's agent will compare your e-ticket against the airline database and issue you a boarding pass when everything checks out. You may also be able to plug your data into a self service check-in INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT IN KERALA, KOLLAM CENTRE

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD.

computer or kiosk and print your own boarding pass; look around after you've secured a place in line at your airline's check-in counter. •

Learn more about baggage check in and how to avoid lost luggage

Well prepared travelers should, of course, be prepared for everything not to check out, so be sure you arrive with plenty of time to spare in case of problems like computer glitches. Those kinds of hassles are increasingly rare with e-tickets, though. It can be a little nerve wracking to use an e-ticket for the first time, but take the leap and you'll see how easy, convenient and simple it is. And above all, you'll learn how practical e-tickets are for students traveling internationally. What to Keep With Your Eticket Keep a copy of your air itinerary and your lodging itinerary with your eticket. Your lodging may take you through the same online process and allow you to print lodging confirmation. Keep copies of lodging and air itineraries in your checked baggage in case of lost luggage, and keep a copy in your carry on with all your travel documents Ticket Distribution Services E-Ticketing provides many benefits, including: Cost Savings - Reduce the costs associated with printing and mailing tickets to your ticket buyers. Eliminate or reduce the need for ticket stock, envelopes and postage. Labor Savings - Reduce the labor associated with printing and mailing tickets. Cut down on the effort required to retrieve tickets for Will Call pick up orders. Safe and Secure - E-Tickets are safe and secure. Barcode validation eliminates the possibility of counterfeit and duplicate tickets.

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Actual Attendance Reporting - Find out how many of your e-ticket patrons attended your event and when they arrived. Instant Delivery - Ticket buyers love being able to print their tickets immediately. There's no need to wait for the mail or wait in line at the event. Customers can print their electronic tickets immediately after they purchase them. This makes e-tickets ideal for the last minute gift or the last minute decision.

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD.

E-BUSINESS IN THE ORGANIZATION COMPANY PROFILE OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD take pride in introducing ourselves as a composite organization, where the complete range of Tour & Travel Services are provided under one roof with totally dedicated and experienced team of highly motivated staff. The company endeavors to deliver a high quality personalized tour and travel services OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD has a distinction of efficiency serving its vast network of satisfied

customers,

which comprises of corporate house, international

tourist & walk-in clients Our belief in quality, which reflects in every sphere of operations, comes from a mutual feeling of trust and dedication that we share with you. It comes from knowing that the best and the most sincere professionals are serving you. It comes from building a relationship based on firm commitment and understanding that last eternally. That thrilling and fulfilling experience is our promise to you. Our vacation offers you a rich educational experience, the camaraderie with fellow travelers who share your interest and of course, a healthy dose of fun. Our tour leaders are renowned specialist who will inform you, enlighten entertain and delight you, and our groups are small enough to allow a truly personal experience. In 2000, we incepted with a view to provide a ‘Single Window Solution’ to those seeking for professionalize & qualitative services for their requirement of tour & travel. These Five years have matured us through a whole range of experience and thanks to the continued support of our esteemed clients.

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We dedicate this organization solely for handling INBOUND & MICE –as it is spelt for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions. network of specialized associates all over India & across the Globe and the experience of servicing global clientele, on the other hand, enable us to deliver what is –THE BEST FOR YOU, in a proactive manner. Since our inception we have been providing best of our services to customers. We organize Cultural trip in India to experience the vast culture of India. Our trekking tour packages in India help many adventure seekers to realize their dream. We even operate pilgrimage tour in India to feel the presence of almighty. We let people explore beautiful locales of Kerala through our tour packages. The paragliding services that we offer provide complete entertainment. Through our services you can take a break away from routine work and rejuvenate yourself. Register now to get that heavenly experience. “The goal doesn't matter. The path doesn't matter ... because everything comes to an end, except effort." -

Unknown

OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD may have made a place for ourselves in the Indian marketplace, that's alright. We have grown into a premier travel company providing end to end solutions for that discerning traveller who knows what he or she wants. We are not just a travel agency who take people from one place to another. We try to see ourselves from the point of view of a traveller. That way we try to figure out and gain insight into the needs and requirements of

our

esteemed clients.

OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD understand that luxury is not a physical entity and contrary to popular perception, we believe that luxury and high prices are not synonyms. We provide premium services to you and yet it may not cost you the earth.

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OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD.

Our Vision We bring with us an experience, matured over for last five year and a team of dedicated professionals, to ensure for you – •

Best value of your money Our services are worth the price at which you buy it.

•

Proactive service – We take care of your unspoken words.

•

Personalized service – Once given an opportunity, we ensure your comfort level.

•

Crisis management – In crisis, we are there before you, to solve it in a manner, which only years of experience can ensure.

•

Innovative Ideas – Our designer programs (holiday/conference) are to bowl over you.

•

High satisfaction level All of the above leading to a fulfilling experience.

Our Mission •

We have a one word mission.

•

We are committed towards excellence.

•

We may be providing any of the above services or may be meeting a new need that might have arisen, but our endeavour to be the best in whatever we might be doing is never lost on us. Once we are done with a job, we try to improve upon it the next time.

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Our motto is “…Take good care

of

the

customers,

and the customers will take care of us…” Our Services The moment we meet a client, we start a new relationship where both of us try to understand each other. That forms the cornerstone of our understanding of the word "service". Service is all about conveying the proper messages and being prepared to go all out whenever our clients need us. we ensure complete customer satisfaction. Customer is like our God and we leave no stone unturned to achieve it. Our timely and reliable services compel people to avail tour packages that we provide. Reliability and authenticity are some of the salient features of our services. OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD are a well established name among market leaders as tour and travel service provider all over India. We paid attention to each and every possible aspect to make our services unique among a large number of service providers existing in market. Latest innovations competing the world class trends, unexpected satisfaction and easy & fast process make our services very popular among a large group of tour and travel lovers all over country. The variety of services offered by us include:Tours Package Family Package Group Travel Package Tours at Tourist places Air Ticket Booking Services Air Ticketing We provide Air Ticket booking services for almost all Domestic and International airlines at the lowest rates at our various centers and on line (via Internet) as well. You can trust on us for any kind of tour and travel services.

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You may forget some details while planning for vacation. That happens when you are excited, that's why we are there to keep track of everything including air tickets because their worth is felt when they don't arrive in time. With us, you can be assured that this won't happen to you. Documentation We provide services to all possible spheres of the travel world including your passport and visa needs. We ensure that all your due documents needs are met in time so that you can concentrate on your travel. Passport services Ours is a renowned Passport agency in India. We help people arrange passports for travel across India. We assist our customers in complete procedure to get their International passport made. We also offer emergency passport services. Visa Consultancy Services We provide highly reliable and effective Visa Consultancy Services in India. We help people get their international travel visa. Through our travel visa services we assist them in the entire process. After getting tour visa people are able to spend their holidays in any location of the world.

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E-TICKETING IN OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD E-commerce had already revolutionized the business field all around the world. With the ever-advancing informational technology, producers and consumers now do most business transactions over the net. Furthermore, internet commerce continues to grow rapidly, with increasing

users.

E-ticket is one of the many branches of e-commerce. Short hand for electronic ticket, e-ticket exists only in digital form. It changes the structure and way airline businesses are

done

by

eliminating

many

manual

tasks

and

reducing

costs.

My research focuses on how, since the last decade, e-ticket has changed or affected the way people travel and airlines operate. My goal is to see if the e-ticket transformation for the travel industry and consumers is genuinely more socially beneficial or not. It will also delve into details about the operations of e-ticket and the potential problems that may occur. I will draw my conclusion about the changes e-ticket has brought upon both parties. . OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD are a well established name among market leaders as tour and travel service provider all over India. We paid attention to each and every possible aspect to make our services unique among a large number of service providers existing in market. Latest innovations competing the world class trends, unexpected satisfaction and easy & fast process make our services very popular among a large group of tour and travel lovers all over country. The variety of services offered by us include:Tours Package Family Package Group Travel Package Tours at Tourist places Air Ticket Booking Services

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Air Ticketing OLYMPUS TRAVELS PVT.LTD provide Air Ticket booking services for almost all Domestic and International airlines at the lowest rates at our various centers and on line (via Internet) as well. You can trust on us for any kind of tour and travel services. You may forget some details while planning for vacation. That happens when you are excited, that's why we are there to keep track of everything including air tickets because their worth is felt when they don't arrive in time. With us, you can be assured that this won't happen to you.

Models adopted by Olympus Travels In the most basic sense, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself-that is ,generate revenue.The business model spells out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain. Olumpus travels is a service which provides services to the customers like air ticket booking services, tour packages , family tour packages , hotel booking facilities etc. The model adopted by Olumpus Travels is Business-to-consumers (B2C). Business to consumers describes activities of E-business serving and consumers with products and /or services. B2C relationship are often establishedand cultivated through some form of internet marketing. Limitations The transactions are carried over via e-mails number of fraudary may increase. It is reported that out of 100 e-mails, 75 cases are reported as fraud e-mails. Travels cannot make sure that the card holder and the card number is valid or not.

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FINDINGS  Olympus Travels offer the lowest fare available through each of our direct outlets.  They notify passengers of known delays, cancellations and diversions.  Olympus Travels assist passengers facing delays.  They allow telephone reservations to be held for 24 hours.  Olympus Travels take measures to speed up check-in.  Olympus Travels provide information to passengers regarding commercial and operational conditions.  With the implementation of e- ticket in airline industy the transaction and conveniences of both the companies and customers become very easy and smooth.  Olympus Travels private Ltd. Provides websites for their service,but it lacks much information about the company.  By the application of software both the customers and the company is satisfied with the speedy transactions.  Olympus Travels provides facilities of online ticket booking and cancellation.

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SUGGESTIONS

 Improve trade promotion activities by displaying facilities through hoardings and can give advertisements through publications.  Company should more often organize social meetings or gatherings with employees for interaction and creating an environment whereby employees get motivated to perform at their best efficiency.  The inconvenience of e-ticket holder in the event of flight cancellation or delay has to be rectified.  Proper training to the staff should be given according to the change in the technologies.  More details about the company should be included in the company website.  Periodically the Olympus Travels must offer refresher courses to front line staff to train and update their communication skills.  Olympus Travels should make new holiday packages and discount offers to attract passengers.

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CONCLUSION After analyzing through the details about e-ticketing, its advantages, and disadvantages, e-ticketing transformation proves itself as a definite, positive step forward for both consumers and air travel corporate.The many pros outweigh the cons. All the disadvantages can be solved with an alternative solution. For example, the security concern can be solved by placing more personals at the gate, or simply, a tighter security check-in. The biggest problem now seems to be the difficulty of achieving interlining. Yet, with e-ticketing's current evolutionary speed shown in its domination over the ticketing process, it is possible for airlines worldwide to achieve interlining before the 2007 deadline. Because the savings in cost is so great for the airlines, rivalry interests are currently put aside in pursuit of mutual, bi-lateral agreement. Furthermore, as the historical and current facts about e-ticket show, informational technology has demonstrated how quickly and efficiently it can change a long, established, customary process. In mere ten years,consumershave changed from booking flights with traveling agents through excessive mundane steps of booking to now the simple and quick online booking. Furthermore, consumershave moved from holding tickets in long lines for boarding pass to now self-check-in kiosksor advanced check-in athome.

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