Best practices in B2B e-commerce : the case of AT&T and MCI Worldcom in the telecommunications industry

Abstract

The evolution of the Internet has deep influence on the way businesses are managed. It not only has great impact on the way businesses approach their customers but also on the interface with their trading partners, employees, as well as their internal businesses processes. Today, developing an electronic business implies the total redesign of the enterprise; in other words it involves the total transformation of the way we do business. This thesis will address the following main question: How do different companies within the telecommunications industry gain competitive advantage from business to business e-commerce? The main focus of the study will be to compare and contrast business to business e-commerce practices for two companies within the following matrix: Maturity, Incumbent, Attacker: Company, AT&T, MCI Worldcom. In order to answer the main question I will be focusing on the following issues (for the above mentioned cases): ** What have been their approaches to b2b e-commerce? ** What has been the economic impact, due to the b2b e-commerce practice? ** What are the implications on the corporate strategy level? Have any of these companies redefined their culture and/or business model? ** What is the impact of such b2b e-commerce initiative on the value proposition? ** What appears to be the critical success factors in leveraging B2B e-commerce? ** What have been the constraints and or limitations?