Business Organisation-By DR - Imran Sir (KMI) - Islamiah College-VNB
Business Organisation-By DR - Imran Sir (KMI) - Islamiah College-VNB
Business Organisation-By DR - Imran Sir (KMI) - Islamiah College-VNB
DR.K.MOHAMED IMRAN
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Islamiah College (Autonomous)-Vaniyambadi
Business organisation
All human beings, wherever they may be, require different types of goods and services to satisfy their needs.
Meaning
Business refers to those economic activities, which are connected with the production or purchase and sale
of goods or supply of services with the main object of earning profit. People engaged in business earn income in
the form of profit.
Definition
Business may be defined as an economic activity involving the production and sale of goods and services
undertaken with a motive of earning profit by satisfying human needs in society.
Concept of Business
The term business is derived from the word ‘busy’. Thus, business means being busy. However, in a
specific sense, business refers to any occupation in which people regularly engage in an activity with a view to
earning profit. The activity may consist of production or purchase of goods for sale, or exchange of goods or
supply of services to satisfy the needs of other people. These activities may be broadly classified into two groups
— economic and non-economic. Economic activities are those by which we can earn our livelihood whereas non-
economic activities are those performed out of love, sympathy, sentiments, patriotism, etc.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS
1. An economic activity: the object of earning money
2. Production or procurement of goods and services: Thus, every business enterprise either manufactures the
goods it deals in or it acquires them from producers, to be further sold to consumers or users
3. Sale or exchange of goods and services for the satisfaction of human needs: Directly or indirectly, business
involves transfer or exchange of goods and services for value. If goods are produced not for the purpose of sale but
say for internal consumption. Cooking food at home for the family is not business, but cooking food and selling it
to others in a restaurant is business.
4. Dealings in goods and services on a regular basis: Business involves dealings in goods or services on a
regular basis. One single transaction of sale or purchase, therefore, does not constitute business.
5. Profit earning: One of the main purposes of business is to earn income by way of profit.
6. Uncertainty of return: Uncertainty of return refers to the lack of knowledge relating to the amount of money
that the business is going to earn in a given period. Every business invests money (capital) to run its activities with
the objective of earning profit.
7. Elements of risk: Risk is the uncertainty associated with an exposure to loss. It is caused by some unfavourable
or undesirable event
COMPARISON OF BUSINESS, PROFESSION AND EMPLOYMENT
Business: Business refers to those economic activities, which are connected with the production or purchase and
sale of goods or supply of services with the main object of earning profit. People engaged in business earn income
in the form of profit.
Professional: Profession includes those activities, which require special knowledge and skill to be applied by
individuals in their occupation. Such activities are generally subject to guidelines or codes of conduct laid down by
professional bodies. Those engaged in professions are known as professionals.
Employment: Employment refers to the occupation in which people work for others and get remunerated in
return. Those who are employed by others are known as employees.
OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESS
business objectives also need to be aimed at contributing to national goals and aspirations as well as towards
international well-being. Thus, the objectives of business may be classified as
a)Economic Objectives b)Social Objectives c)Human Objectives d)National Objectives e) Global Objective
A) Economic Objectives: Economic objectives of business refer to the objective of earning profit and also other
objectives that are necessary to be pursued to achieve the profit objective, which includes creation of customers,
regular innovations and best possible use of available resources.
a) Profit Earning, b) Creation of customers, c) Regular innovations, d) Best possible use of resources
B) Social Objectives: Social objective are those objectives of business, which are desired to be achieved for the
benefit of the society. Since business operates in a society by utilizing its scarce resources, the society expects
something in return for its welfare. No activity of the business should be aimed at giving any kind of trouble to the
society.
a) Supplying desired goods at reasonable prices b) Fair Remuneration to employees c) Employment Generation d)
Fair returns to investor e) Social welfare f) Payment of Government Dues
C) Human Objectives: Human objectives refer to the objectives aimed at the well-being as well as fulfillment of
expectations of employees as also of people who are disabled, handicapped and deprived of proper education and
training. The human objectives of business may thus include economic well-being of the employees, social and
psychological satisfaction of employees and development of human resource.
i)Labour welfare ii) Developing human resource iii) Participative management iv)Labour management
cooperation
D) National Objectives: Being an important part of the country, every business must have the objective of
fulfilling national goals and aspirations. The goal of the country may be to provide employment opportunity to its
citizen, earn revenue for its exchequer, become self-sufficient in production of goods and services, promote social
justice, etc. Business activities should be conducted keeping these goals of the country in mind, which may be
called national objectives of business.
i) Optimum utilisation of resources ii) Optimum utilisation of resources, iii) Development of small scale Industries
iv) Development of backward areas
E) Global Objectives: There was a very rigid policy for import and export of goods and services. But, now-a-days
due to liberal economic and export-import policy, restrictions on foreign investments have been largely abolished
and duties on imported goods have been substantially reduced. This change has brought about increase in
competition in the market. Today because of globalisation the entire world has become a big market
CLASSIFICATION OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
1. Industry: Industry refers to economic activities, which are connected with conversion of resources into useful
goods. The term industry is used for activities in which mechanical appliances and technical skills are involved.
These include activities relating to producing or processing of goods as well as breeding and raising of animals.
Industries may be divided into three broad categories namely primary, secondary and tertiary.
(i)Primary industries: These include all those activities, which are connected with the extraction and production
of natural resources and reproduction and development of living organisms, plants etc.
(a) Extractive industries: These industries extract or draw out products from natural sources. Extractive
industries supply some basic raw materials that are mostly products of the soil. Products of these industries are
usually transformed into many other useful goods by manufacturing industries
(b) Genetic industries: These industries remain engaged in breeding plants and animals for their use in further
reproduction. For the breeding of plants, the seeds and nursery companies are typical examples of genetic
industries.
(ii)Secondary industries: These are concerned with using the materials, which have already been extracted at the
primary stage. These industries process such materials to produce goods for final consumption or for further
processing by other industrial units.
(A)Manufacturing industries: These industries are engaged in producing goods through processing of raw
materials and thus creating form utilities. They turn out diverse finished products that we consume, through the
conversion of raw materials or partly finished materials in their manufacturing operations.
(B)Construction industries; These industries are involved in the construction of buildings, dams, bridges, roads
as well as tunnels and canals. Engineering and architectural skills are an important part in construction industries.
(iii) Tertiary industries: These industries provide service facilities. As business activities these may be
considered part of commerce because as auxiliaries to trade they assist trade. Included in this category are
transport, banking, insurance, warehousing, communication, packaging and advertising.
2. COMMERCE: The process of buying and selling and all those activities which facilitate trade, such as storing,
grading, packaging, financing, insuring, transporting are called commerce. The principle function of commerce is
to remove the hindrances of person, place, time, exchange and knowledge, in connection with distribution of
commodities until they reach the consumers. Commerce includes two types of acti-vities, viz., (i) trade and (ii)
auxiliarie
(i)Trade: Trade is the fundamental state of business activity and involves the sale and purchase of goods and
services. It is to facilitate the transfer of goods from the seller to the buyer that all the above mentioned activities
are undertaken.
Trade may be classified into two broad categories — internal and external. Internal or home trade is concerned
with the buying and selling of goods and services within the geographical boundaries of a country. This may
further be divided into wholesale and retail trade. When goods are purchased and sold in bulk, it is known as
wholesale trade. When goods are purchased and sold in comparatively smaller quantities, it is referred to as retail
trade. External or foreign trade consists of the exchange of goods and services between persons or organisations
operating in two or more countries. If goods are purchased from another country, it is called import trade. If they
are sold to other countries, it is known as export trade. When goods are imported for export to other countries, it is
known as entrepot trade.
(ii) Auxiliaries to Trade: Activities which are meant for assisting trade are known as auxiliaries to trade. These
activities are generally, referred to as services because these are in the nature of facilitating the activities relating to
industry and trade. Transport, banking, insurance, warehousing, and advertising are regarded as auxiliaries to
trade,
Unit – II
Size of firm refers to the scale of operations of business enterprise. The size of the organisation determines the
amount of capital to be invested, number or employees to be employed, extent of land required, quantity of raw
materials required etc. Size of the firm is one of the important initial decisions that need to be taken by the
entrepreneur. Every entrepreneur is interested in earning maximum revenue and profits by utilizing available
resources. Deciding the optimum size would help an entrepreneur to achieve his objectives
Concept of Size:The term ‘size’ refers to scale of production, output or operations. Generally the size of a
business enterprise is assessed in terms of (a) plant (b) firm and (c) industry.
• Plant: Plant refers to any establishment engaged in the production of goods or provision of services. It is the
aggregate of physical facilities created. It includes the buildings, machinery and the workers engaged in the
production of goods or providing of services. The establishment may be a factory, mine, workshop, retail
shop, office etc.
• Firm: It refers to the enterprise which owns controls and manages the plant and also undertakes the
marketing of goods and services. The firm may be in the form of proprietary firm, partnership, company or
cooperative enterprise.
• Industry: Industry refers to the aggregation of firms which use the same raw materials or produce the same
product such as car industry, plant industry, paper industry, software industry etc
Though size of unit is used in all the above three contexts, in actual practice, size of the unit is used only in terms
of firm level.
MEASURES OF SIZE
The business units are of different sizes such as: 1)Large scale units 2)Medium scale units and 3)Small scale
units
In order to determine the size, quantitative measurement of the firm is necessary, which in turn requires some
standard or yardstick. But selection of a suitable standard is not an easy task. There are various standards with
which the size of a firm can be measured. But no such standard is precise of definite. All standards are only
approximate and each one is having its own limitation.
STANDARDS FOR MEASURING THE SIZE :the measures that are generally used in measuring the size of
the business unit can be discussed under tow heads viz:
1. Input measures and
2. Output measures
1. Input measures: Input measures are those measures, which are based on the value or volume of the various
factors of production employed. They are:
(a) Capital Investment/ Networth: Capital investment is one of the standards used to measure the size of
the units. Networth refers to the aggregate of its paid up capital and free reserves.
(b) Number of Employees: Scale of the firm can be measured by the number of employees working in the
organization.
(c) Power Consumed: Number of units of power consumed can also be used as a measure to judge the
scale of operations. Generally, larger firms consume more power when compared to smaller firms. But
this measure can be used for comparison between firms which equal efficiency in terms of power
consumption.
(d) Plant Capacity: Plant is any establishment that produces goods or services. It may be small or large
depending on the infrastructure (buildings, machinery etc.)
(e) Amount of Materials Used: The amount of raw materials may be good measure where different
concerns are engaged in the production of similar products.
2. Output Measures: The following are the important output measures
(a) Volume of output: The quantity of units produced can also be used as a measure to judge the size of
an organisation..
(b) Value of output: In case of industries which produce a variety of products the value of output can be
used to measure the size of operations. For eg: in the FMCG industry, HLL is the number one company
in terms of value output. A firm with a higher value of output would be considered to be of large size
when compared to a firm with a lower value of output.
Main Factors Responsible for Determining the Size of the Firm
There are various economic as well as non-economic factors that influence the size of a business unit. The
relative importance of the factor varies with the products manufactured, industry in which the firm operates etc.
size is primarily determined by the goals and objectives of the organisation and influences the efficiency of
operations. The six main factors responsible for determining the size of the firm are as follows:
The size of an average firm varies from country to country. We have, on the one hand, giant concerns in the
United States and Germany and tiny businesses in small Indian towns. Why is it so? There are a number of factors
which determine the size of a business unit in a country.
The following are the main factors responsible:
1. Entrepreneurial Skill: The most important factor of comes is the skill, initiative and resourcefulness of the
entrepreneur. Everything depends on his judgment and ability. An entrepreneur of outstanding ability will be able
to procure as much finance as he may need, hire the requisite labor force and build up a huge business. But an
entrepreneur of moderate ability will run business on a moderate scale and a man of limited entrepreneurial skill
will be content with a small business.
2. Managerial Ability: For running the routine part of the business, managers are appointed. If a firm is lucky
enough to have a manager of great ability, the size of the firm will grow to considerable dimensions. On the other
hand, a mediocre manager will have a small-sized firm to manage.
3. Availability of Finance: It is finance which oils the wheels of business machine. If ample funds are available, it
will help the entrepreneur to make his business grow to a big size. This requires a proper development, of the
banking system so that savings of the community can be effectively mobilized and utilized in the development of
trade and industry.
4. Availability of Labour: Another factor on which the size of the firm depends is the availability of labour of
requisite skill. After all, what can the entrepreneur even with large capital do, if the labour to man the business is
not available? What is required is efficient and skilled labour.
5. Nature of Business: Much also depends on the nature of business. If the business obeys the law of increasing
Returns, it will grow to a big size, otherwise, in the case of diminishing returns it will remain stunted, and in the
case of constant returns it will remain stagnant.
6. Extent of the Market: The size of the firm also depends on the extent of the market. If the commodity in which
the firm deals or which it-manufactures has a wide market, naturally the business will assume a large scale. But if
the demand for the commodity is fitful or limited, the size of the firm will continue to be small. These are some of
the factors on which the size of an average firm in a country depends.
7. Nature of demand If the demand for the product is high and expected to grow further in the future, the size of
the firm would increase. In case demand for a product is showing d declining trend, the size of the firm would not
be increased.
8. Economic Environment Economic environment plays a significant role in influencing the value of the firm. In
case the economy is in a boom condition, the purchasing power in increasing, the entrepreneurs would be induced
to increase the scale of operations. Whereas in case the economy is passing through recession of depression, the
size of operation would remain small.
9. Government Policy The government has reserve certain items for manufacture by the small scale industry.
Therefore the size of such firms would be small in order to enjoy protection and government privilege.
10. Estimates of future If an industry is expected to perform well in the future, then entrepreneurs would be ready
to set up large sized business to meet future demand. For eg; with the increase in employment and purchasing
power the demand for automobiles, housing, consumer durables are expected to increase. Therefore business units
engaged in these businesses are encouraged to increase their size.
Factors influencing optimum size of a Business unit
The following are the factors that influence the optimum size of a firm:
1. Technical forces
2. Managerial forces
3. Financial forces
4. Marketing forces
5. Forces of risk and fluctuations
1. Technical forces influence size of a firm
Technical forces which influence the optimum size of firm are degree of specialization (division of labour),
mechanization and integration of work processes.
In the case of division of labor, a job is split into small functions and each function is assigned to a specific
workman. When a workman performs a specific operation over a long period of time, the skill of the workman,
speed of performance, quality of work etc improve.
2. Managerial forces influence size of business units
Managing an organization today is a complex task. The services of qualified, experienced, professionals
are required to run the organization in an efficient manner. Therefore businesses which desire to maximize their
sales and profitability need to appoint a competent management team. To appoint such personnel, high amounts of
remuneration and benefits have to be paid. Only large organizations would be able to offer such high remuneration
levels. The expert managers using their ability and skills can ensure the growth of the business in various spheres.
But there is a limit to which expert management can grow the organization.
3. Financial forces influence size of a business unit
Investors have more confidence in large and established firms. They prefer to invest their money in large
firms because of the possibility of earning high returns. Investors generally do not prefer to invest in new or small
firms because they feel that such investment is risky and the possibility of earning high returns is also less.
Therefore large firms are able to raise required financial resources easily. Banks also come forward to lend loans at
cheaper rates of interest and therefore cost of funds is also less for large firms.
4. Marketing forces influence size of business
A large firm can enjoy economies of buying and selling. Since it buys raw materials in bulk quantities it
can enjoy the benefits of quantity discounts. It can employ experts for purchase. They would be able to source
quality raw materials at cheaper prices. Similarly experts can be employed for marketing their products. In case a
large firm has multiple products the sales force can market the entire range of products.
5. Forces of risks and fluctuations influence size of business
Business enterprises face risks from different sources. Risks may arise due to the following reasons:
▪ changes in customers preferences (textiles to ready-made, typewriters to computers etc.)
▪ changes in fashions (jeans to cotton casuals etc.)
▪ increased competition (in all industries)
▪ changes in government policies (reservation to De-reservation in SSI’s, ban on lottery sales in Tamil Nadu,
from protection to local industry to liberalization, globalization and privatization etc.)
▪ fluctuations in currency rates (1$ = Rs.30 in 1980’s to 1$ = 68 in 2016)
▪ difficulty in getting production inputs (power shortages in many states etc)
▪ loss of key employees.
▪ development in technology (pagers to mobile phones, floppies to CD’s)
▪ theft, pilferage and embezzlement of organizations resources natural calamities (earthquakes, tsunami,
floods, etc).
Advantages or Merits of Small Scale Industries
1. Potential for large employment
2. Requirement of less capital
3. Contribution to industrial output
4. Contribution to exports.
5. Earning foreign exchange
6. Equitable distribution.
7. Use of domestic resources
8. Opportunities for entrepreneurship
9. Cost efficiency
10. Reducing migration
11. Suitable for non-standardized products
Demerits or Disadvantages of Small Scale Industries
1. Lack economies of scale:
2. Low wages
3. Lack of modernization
4. Inefficiency.
5. Overcrowding.
6. Sickness
7. Less innovation capacity
8. Low competitiveness
9. Low capacity utilization.
10. Lack of pollution.
MSME – Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises:MSME stands for micro, small and medium enterprises. It
plays an important role for economic development of our country. The major advantage of the sector is its
employment potential at low capital cost. The labor intensity of the MSME sector is much higher than that of the
large enterprises. It satisfies the demand of local customer.
Industry coming under MSME
• Food Processing (kfc product, berger,pasta)
• Agricultural Inputs (Seeds, fertilizer)
• Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (medicines)
• Engineering; Electricals, Electronics
• Electro-medical equipment
• Textiles and Garments
• Meat products
• Sports goods
• Plastics products
• Computer Software, etc.
(As Per Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006)
Manufacturing Enterprises – Investment in Plant & Machinery
Description INR USD($)
Micro Enterprises upto Rs. 25Lakh upto $ 62,500
above Rs. 25 Lakh & upto Rs. 5 above $ 62,500 & upto $ 1.25
Small Enterprises
Crore million
above Rs. 5 Crore & upto Rs. 10 above $ 1.25 million & upto $ 2.5
Medium Enterprises
Crore million
Major Players In spite of their limitations, the SMEs have made a significant contribution towards technological
development and exports. They are established in almost all-major sectors in the Indian industry such as: Food
Processing, Textiles and Garments, Agricultural Inputs, Leather and leather goods, Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals,
Bio-engineering, Engineering, Electricals, Sports goods, Electronics, Plastics products, Electro-medical
equipment, Computer Software, etc.
Key Challenges Faced by the MSME Sector Lack of availability of adequate and timely credit
• High cost of credit• Collateral requirements
• Limited access to equity capital
• Procurement of raw material at a competitive cost
• Problems of storage, designing, packaging and product display
• Lack of access to global markets
• Inadequate infrastructure facilities, including power, water, roads, etc
• Low technology levels and lack of access to modern technology
• Lack of skilled manpower for manufacturing, services, marketing, etc
• Multiplicity of labour laws and complicated procedures associated with compliance of such laws. Despite the
various challenges it has been facing, the MSME sector has shown admirable innovativeness, adaptability and
resilience to survive the recent economic downturn and recession.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute to economic development in various ways such as creating
employment opportunities for rural and urban population, providing goods & services at affordable costs by
offering innovative solutions and sustainable development to the economy as a whole. SMEs in India face a
number of problems - absence of adequate and timely banking finance, non-availability of suitable technology,
ineffective marketing due to limited resources and non availability of skilled manpower.
Registration enables an MSME to take advantage of the following schemes offered by the central
government:
· Priority sector lending – Small and medium enterprises get loans at rates lesser than the market rates,
especially those in agriculture and located in rural areas.
· Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme – This scheme helps MSMEs achieve technological up gradation
(in case of production of government-approved products/sub-products). Under this scheme, a capital subsidy of 15
per cent or Rs. 15 lakh (whichever is lower) is offered on investment in plant & machinery approved by the
government. The maximum limit for such investment has been capped at Rs. 1 crore.
· Credit Guarantee Fund Trust For Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) – Under this scheme, banks
offer finance of up to Rs. 100 lakh to MSMEs without any collateral security and/or third-party guarantee. Each
bank has separate targets for financing of MSMEs under this scheme.
· Procurement of raw materials and marketing activities –The National Small Industries Corporation
(NSIC) helps MSMEs procure raw material for production, through arrangements with wholesale manufacturers.
The NSIC also provides MSMEs assistance in bill discounting, exports, and promotional activities, as well as
financial help for making payments to raw material suppliers.
· Excise Exemption Scheme – MSMEs producing government-approved products/services can avail of
exemption from paying excise duty under this act, or pay such duty at a concessional rate.
· Reservation - The central government reserves certain products to be exclusively manufactured by MSMEs.
Apart from these schemes, there are certain facilities and incentives made available to MSMEs by their
Unit – III
UNIT – IV
EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES IN BUSINESS
FRANCHISING : franchising may be defined as a contractual licence (right) granted by one person (franchiser)
to another (franchisee) which:
• permits the franchisee to carry on a particular business using the franchiser’s business know-how under the
franchiser’s brand as an independent business
• enables the franchiser to exercise control over the manner in which the franchisee carries on the franchised
business
• requires the franchiser to provide the franchisee with ongoing support in carrying on the franchised
business
The salient features of franchising are as follows:
1. The franchiser allows the franchisee to use his trade mark under a licence.
2. The franchise agreement requires the franchisee to follow franchiser’s policies regarding mode of operation of
business.
3. The franchiser provides marketing support and technology to the franchisee to carry on business in the manner
specified in the franchise agreement. Thus, a franchiser virtually sets up the business for the franchisee.
4. The franchiser may also arrange for the training of personnel working in the franchisee organisation.
5. The franchisee pays to the franchiser a sum of money (called royalty) for using his business know-how and
trade mark.
6. The right to use the business know-how and trade mark of the franchiser is for a limited period of time defined
in the franchise agreement. However, the franchise agreement may be renewed from time to time.
Benefits of Franchising
(I) To the Franchiser
1. The franchise can expand his distribution system in the least possible time.
2. The franchiser is able to expand the business with little extra capital as the franchisee provides the capital for
the outlet.
3. The franchiser gets important feedback about the popularity of the product and specific needs and preferences
of the local customers from the franchisees.
4. Franchising enables the franchiser to increase his goodwill and reputation by expanding his network.
5. The Franchiser gains wider acceptance of his brand name through the franchisees.
(II) To the Franchisee
1. The business is based on a proven idea. The franchisee can check out how successful other franchisees are
before committing himself.
2. The franchisee can use the brand name of the franchiser to attract customers and increase his sales.
3. The franchisee can get assistance from the franchiser in training his staff, promotion of the product, designing
store layout etc.
4. There are greater chances of success of the franchisee because the brand of the franchiser is well known.
5. The franchise ensures a high degree of quality control. This enables the franchisee to satisfy his customers by
offering quality products.
6. The franchisee enjoys exclusive rights in his territory. The franchiser won’t sell any franchises in the same
region.
Disadvantages of Franchising
(I) To the Franchiser
1. The franchiser’s brand name and reputation may get tarnished if the franchisee is not able to maintain
standards of quality and service.
2. The franchiser has to provide initial financial assistance and support in the form of staff training, advertising
etc.
3. There are ongoing costs of supporting the franchisee and national advertising.
(II) To the Franchisee
1. The franchisee does not enjoy complete freedom in his business. The franchise agreement generally contains
restrictions on how the franchisee would run the business.
2. Payment of royalty on a regular basis is to be made to the franchiser.
3. The franchisee cannot sell his business without taking approval from the franchiser.
BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING : Business process outsourcing, or BPO, is a business practice in
which one organization hires another company to perform a task (i.e., process) that the hiring organization requires
for its own business to successfully operate. BPO has its roots in the manufacturing industry, with manufacturers
hiring other companies to handle specific processes, such as parts of their supply chains that were unrelated to the
core competencies required to make their end products.
Benefits of BPO: Organizations engage in business process outsourcing because they expect to benefit from the
arrangement.
The benefits typically cited by proponents of BPO include:
• Financial benefits: Organizations often find that an outsourced provider can perform a business process at
lower costs, or they often find that by contracting with an outsourced provider they can save money as a result
of the relationship in other ways, such as in tax savings.
• Flexibility: BPO contracts can allow organizations greater flexibility to adjust how it completes the outsourced
business process, allowing them to better react to changing market dynamics.
• Competitive advantage: BPO allows organizations to outsource those processes that aren't core to their
businesses or missions, thereby allowing organizations to focus more of its resources on the operations that
distinguish them in the marketplace.
Higher quality and better performance: Because the core business of BPO providers is performing the specific
processes they're hired to do, they are, in theory, able to focus on providing those processes at the highest levels,
often with greater accuracy, efficiency and speed.
E – COMMERCE E-Commerce: E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business
which addresses the need of business organizations, vendors and customers to reduce cost and improve the quality
of goods and services while increasing the speed of delivery. E-commerce refers to paperless exchange of business
information using following ways.
Electronic Data Exchange (EDI)
Electronic Mail (e-mail)
Electronic Bulletin Boards
Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
E-Commerce, or electronic commerce, is the buying and selling of goods or services via electronic systems such
as the internet or other computer networks. The E-Commerce process draws on various technologies and systems
such as: electronic funds transferring, internet marketing, online transaction processing, and inventory
management systems. The dot-com burst has led to a huge increase in the amount of transactions that are done
through online selling.
FEATURES
E-Commerce provides following features
Non-Cash Payment − E-Commerce enables use of credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, electronic fund transfer
via bank's website and other modes of electronics payment.
24x7 Service availability − E-commerce automates business of enterprises and services provided by them to
customers are available anytime, anywhere. Here 24x7 refers to 24 hours of each seven days of a week.
Advertising / Marketing − E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products and services of businesses.
It helps in better marketing management of products / services.
Improved Sales − Using E-Commerce, orders for the products can be generated anytime, anywhere without any
human intervention. By this way, dependencies to buy a product reduce at large and sales increases.
Support − E-Commerce provides various ways to provide pre sales and post sales assistance to provide better
services to customers.
Inventory Management − Using E-Commerce, inventory management of products becomes automated. Reports
get generated instantly when required. Product inventory management becomes very efficient and easy to
maintain.
Communication improvement − E-Commerce provides ways for faster, efficient, reliable communication with
customers and partners.
E-COMMERCE – ADVANTAGES
E-Commerce advantages can be broadly classified in three major categories:
Advantages to Organizations
Advantages to Consumers
Advantages to Society
Advantages to Organizations: Using E-Commerce, organization can expand their market to national and international
markets with minimum capital investment. An organization can easily locate more customers, best suppliers and
suitable business partners across the globe.
• E-Commerce helps organization to reduce the cost to create process, distribute, retrieve and manage the
paper based information by digitizing the information.
• E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.
• E-commerce helps organization to provide better customer services.
• E-Commerce helps to simplify the business processes and make them faster and efficient.
• E-Commerce reduces paper work a lot.
• E-Commerce increased the productivity of the organization. It supports "pull" type supply management. In
"pull" type supply management, a business process starts when a request comes from a customer and it
uses just-in-time manufacturing way.
Advantages to Customers
• 24x7 supports Customer can do transactions for the product or enquiry about any product/services provided
by a company anytime, anywhere from any location. Here 24x7 refers to 24 hours of each seven days of a
week.
• E-Commerce application provides user more options and quicker delivery of products.
• E-Commerce application provides user more options to compare and select the cheaper and better option.
• A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are buying or see the review
comments of other customers before making a final buy.
• E-Commerce provides option of virtual auctions.
• Readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed information within seconds rather
than waiting for days or weeks.
• E-Commerce increases competition among the organizations and as result organizations provides
substantial discounts to customers.
Advantages to Society
• Customers need not to travel to shop a product thus less traffic on road and low air pollution.
• E-Commerce helps reducing cost of products so less affluent people can also afford the products.
• E-Commerce has enabled access to services and products to rural areas as well which are otherwise not
available to them.
• E-Commerce helps government to deliver public services like health care, education, social services at
reduced cost and in improved way.
E-Commerce - Disadvantages
E-Commerce disadvantages can be broadly classified in two major categories:
1. Technical disadvantages 2. Non-Technical disadvantages
Technical Disadvantages
• There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards owing to poor implementation of e-
Commerce.
• Software development industry is still evolving and keeps changing rapidly.
• In many countries, network bandwidth might cause an issue as there is insufficient telecommunication
bandwidth available.
• Special types of web server or other software might be required by the vendor setting the e-commerce
environment apart from network servers.
• Sometimes, it becomes difficult to integrate E-Commerce software or website with the existing application
or databases.
• There could be software/hardware compatibility issue as some E-Commerce software may be incompatible
with some operating system or any other component.
Non-Technical Disadvantages
• Initial cost: The cost of creating / building E-Commerce application in-house may be very high. There
could be delay in launching the E-Commerce application due to mistakes, lack of experience.
• User resistance: User may not trust the site being unknown faceless seller. Such mistrust makes it difficult
to make user switch from physical stores to online/virtual stores.
• Security/ Privacy: Difficult to ensure security or privacy on online transactions.
• Lack of touch or feel of products during online shopping.
• E-Commerce applications are still evolving and changing rapidly.
• Internet access is still not cheaper and is inconvenient to use for many potential customers like one living
in remote villages.
E-Commerce - Business Models
E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce business models can generally categorized in following categories.
Business - to - Business (B2B)
Business - to - Consumer (B2C)
Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
Consumer - to - Business (C2B)
Business - to - Government (B2G)
Government - to - Business (G2B)
Government - to - Citizen (G2C)
Business - to - Business (B2B)
Website following B2B business model sells its product to an intermediate buyer who then sells the product to the
final customer. As an example, a wholesaler places an order from a company's website and after receiving the
consignment, sells the end product to final customer who comes to buy the product at wholesaler's retail outlet.
Business - to – Consumer (B2C)
Website following B2C business model sells its product directly to a customer. A customer can view products
shown on the website of business organization. The customer can choose a product and order the same. Website
will send a notification to the business organization via email and organization will dispatch the product/goods to
the customer.
Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
Website following C2C business model helps consumer to sell their assets like residential property, cars,
motorcycles etc. or rent a room by publishing their information on the website. Website may or may not charge the
consumer for its services. Another consumer may opt to buy the product of the first customer by viewing the
post/advertisement on the website.
Consumer - to - Business (C2B)
In this model, a consumer approaches website showing multiple business organizations for a particular service.
Consumer places an estimate of amount he/she wants to spend for a particular service. For example, comparison of
interest rates of personal loan/ car loan provided by various banks via website. Business organization who fulfills
the consumer's requirement within specified budget approaches the customer and provides its services.
Business - to - Government (B2G)
B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are used by government to trade and exchange information
with various business organizations. Such websites are accredited by the government and provide a medium to
businesses to submit application forms to the government.
Government - to - Business (G2B)
Government uses B2G model website to approach business organizations. Such websites support auctions, tenders
and application submission functionalities.
Government - to - Citizen (G2C)
Government uses G2C model website to approach citizen in general. Such websites support auctions of vehicles,
machinery or any other material. Such website also provides services like registration for birth, marriage or death
certificates. Main objectives of G2C website are to reduce average time for fulfilling people requests for various
government services.
M – COMMERCE: Definition: M-Commerce also called as Mobile Commerce involves the online
transactions through the wireless handheld devices such as mobile phone, laptop, palmtop, tablet, or any other
personal digital assistant. It does not require the user to sit at the computer that is plugged in and perform the
commercial transactions. Through M-Commerce, people can perform several functions such as pay bills, buy and
sell goods and services, access emails, book movie tickets, make railway reservations, order books, read and watch
the news, etc.
Advantage of M – Commerce
• Through M-commerce, the companies can be in regular touch with the users through the Push
Notifications. Any discount, scheme, pay back benefits can be communicated to the customers through a
message to their mobile phones.
• M-Commerce enables local business to grow by tracking the location of the potential customer and sharing
the information on their mobile phones.
• With the help of M-commerce, the users can pay their mobile bills, electricity bills, without standing in the
long queues.
• M-commerce enables the customers to book movie tickets, railway tickets, air tickets, and event tickets
thereby saving a lot of time.
E.g. Book My Show, IRCTC mobile applications offers the online reservation services.
• Through M-Commerce, customers can easily access the complete information about the product or service
provider before availing its services.
• M-Commerce helps the marketer to have a wider reach of potential customers than he can have by visiting
all personally.
Disadvantage of M- commerce
• The Screen of mobile phones is generally small as compared to the computer screen and, therefore, the
display of cellular gadgets may not influence the user to make the purchase.
• M-Commerce software is costly as compared to the E-commerce, many retailers may not go for it, and
hence the mobile users may have fewer options.
• Poor connectivity also hampers the M-commerce to flourish. Sometimes the data is too slow to access the
websites through mobile applications.
• M-commerce, being the latest technology is struggling with its applications in terms of its graphics and
the content that result in more reliance on the E-commerce applications.
• Information shared through the wireless medium have higher chances of getting hacked. Therefore, people
use more of E-commerce applications to perform the money transactions.
PROCESS OF SETTING UP A BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
The major steps involved in the process of setting up a new business enterprise include the following.
1. Identification of business opportunity
2. Generation of business idea
3. Feasibility study
4. Preparation of business plan
5. Launching the enterprise
1. Identification of business opportunity: Business opportunity refers to a business idea which can be converted
to a profitable business. The world of business offers a number of business opportunities, but not many people can
identify them. An entrepreneur should be able to identify such business ideas which can be converted to profitable
business ventures
2. Generation of business idea: This stage requires generation of an idea that can be converted into a business.
The idea should be able to yield a reasonable return on investment
3. Feasibility study: Feasibility study is a detailed study done by an entrepreneur to ensure that the project is
viable
1. Technical Aspect:
2. Commercial Aspect
3. Financial Aspect
4. Socio-economic Aspect
4. Preparation of business plan: Business plan is an important document prepared by the entrepreneur that
describes various elements involved in starting a new enterprise. It is often an integration of functional plans such
as marketing, finance, production, personnel etc.
5. Launching the enterprise: After preparing the business plan, the entrepreneur assembles the necessary
resources to launch the enterprise. He collects the required funds and acquires land and buildings, plant and
machinery, furniture and fixtures, raw materials, employees etc. Once this is achieved, it is necessary to ensure
that the project is implemented properly and it has smooth and uninterrupted operation
GENERATION OF BUSINESS IDEA
This stage requires generation of an idea that can be converted into a business. The idea should be able to yield a
reasonable return on investment i.e. it should be worthwhile for implementation. A business idea may be
discovered from the following sources.
1. Observing Markets: The promoter should study the market to find out the demand and supply position for
various products. He should then estimate the future demand after taking into account the anticipated changes in
income levels, fashions etc. market surveys can also reveal competition and price trends. From the data collected
through market surveys, the promoter should try to identify those products and industries where demand exists and
supply needs to be increased.
2. Prospective Consumers: Contacts with prospective consumers can give an idea of the features that should be
built into the product/service. It is also important to collect data on customer needs and preferences before
choosing the product to be manufactured. A market test of the prototype product can be conducted before
launching the product in the market.
3. Study of Project Profiles: Various publications of public and government agencies on various projects and
industries is an important source of business ideas. Such project profiles describe in detail the prevailing market
situation and the technical and financial requirements of different projects. A careful analysis of such details can
bring out the most promising projects which can then be taken up for further evaluation.
4. Developments in Other Nations: An entrepreneur can discover good business ideas by keeping good
knowledge about developments in advanced nations of the world. Underdeveloped and developing countries prove
to be a good market for those products which are the ‘in things’ in developed nations. An entrepreneur can also
visit foreign markets to explore the possibility of a foreign collaboration and to discover other types of business
ideas.
5. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions: A visit to national and international trade fairs and exhibitions can provide
information about various products. It is also a good place to explore possibilities of collaboration and dealership
and gives a fair idea of the existing competition in the market.
While selecting the business idea, the following points need to be considered.