As technology significantly improves, once complicated, time-consuming activities are getting much easier for the public and businesses. People expect easy, instant results for every little job they do. In terms of business activities, business owners and employees only have a few hours in their workday to get things done. Job duties such as accounting, finance, marketing, manufacturing, and human resources have been made extremely easy and quick with the introduction of electronic business (e-business). In electronic business, e-commerce is taken to a whole new level as information systems and the Internet are utilized to conduct all business-related activities.

            Business activities that are strong applicants for transferring to e-commerce are ones that are strictly on paper, long and tedious, and inconvenient for customers. E-commerce is just any business transaction executed electronically between companies, whether it is business-to-business, companies and consumers, consumers and other consumers, business and the public sector, and consumers and the public sector. [1] These business activities may include things such as distribution, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services.

            As e-commerce is already a great development, e-business takes the concept of e-commerce a step further. Electronic business works directly with suppliers and partners, linking internal and external data processing systems more proficiently and flexibly, to better fulfill the needs and expectations of their customers. E-business fully utilizes the Internet to achieve their goals and could be said to have a more strategic concentration and emphasize on the functions that arise using electronic resources, while e-commerce is a division of a general 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.” [2]

            Websites such as Yahoo!, AltaVista and Lycos were a few of the first to connect users to the Internet. In addition to search functionality, search engines like Yahoo! Offered its users services such as websites and email accounts at no extra charge. Search provides also sold advertising and marketing services to businesses that were eager to hook up with the millions of people using the Internet. Social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube are all models of social media platforms that enable users to share content over the Web. “These e-businesses normally get their start from venture capitalists who invest in the companies with the anticipation of getting a return. Social media companies have to determine how to monetize their services or seek acquisition from a larger company. Google's acquisition of YouTube in 2006 is an example of how social media e-businesses can continue to grow even when they do not have a defined way of capitalizing on their user base.” [3]

            In conclusion, many businesses today are rethinking their business strategies in terms of the Internet and its great new culture and capabilities. It is extremely important for companies to stay updated with the growing technology world to satisfy customer wants and needs. Many companies are using the Internet to purchase parts and supplies from other companies, to work together on sales promotions, and to do dual research. “Exploiting the convenience, availability, and world-wide reach of the Internet, many companies, such as Amazon.com, the book sellers, have already discovered how to use the Internet successfully.” [4]

[1] pg. 17: Fundamentals of Information Systems by Ralph Stair and George Reynolds 6^th Edition

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_business

[3] http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/examples-ebusinesses-11344.html

[4] http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/e-business