E-Business im Vertrieb von Industriegütern

Industrial goods manufacturers are faced with the challenge of constantly improving the coordination of their services with the customer processes. E-Business applications could be deployed for this purpose. The central question of this dissertation is, what potential benefits exist with E-Business in sales and distribution, and how could these be tapped successfully. Paul Ammann examines as to how the E-Business applications “Online Information”, “E-Learning”, “Online-Catalogue”, “Online-Configurators”, as well as “Online Collaboration”, could be instrumental in coping with the challenges in a better manner. On the basis of several case studies, the benefits and risks of E-Business applications are determined. Subsequently, it was examined as to which criteria determine the implementation of E-Business applications. The degree of individualization of the product stipulates the functionalities of the E-Business applications, which make sense in the sales and distribution process. The type of purchase (one-time purchase – repeat purchases) defines the intensity of the integration between the manufacturer and the partner. The distribution of the market power between the manufacturer and the target groups determines the degree of freedom of the manufacturer in the implementation of the E-Business applications. The most important success factor for the implementation of E-Business is the change of attitude of the target groups towards using these applications. The change of attitude can be supported by the integration of the target groups in the realization project, the easiest possible designing of the application, as well as through well planned and executed communication.