INTRANETS &
EXTRANETS
for International Business
Chapter 18

page 636

 
Intranets / Extranets

We [MGTC44] will discuss some of the material in the text re: Intranets but in addition, the professor will ask you to note some additional information below.
 

text says page 636 
"... 40% of firms had customer extranets... 20-25% had supplier extranets..."

These exact percentages are not so important -  keep in mind one thing:  in 2004, a reasonable number of large size companies have corporate intranets, and many medium sized companies are also learning the advantages of intranets, but still only a small portion of SME's actually use extranets for supply chain management. Extranets remain primarily a tool used by large sized companies.
 

"The real attraction of the Internet in the global supply chain management is that it not  only helps automate and speed up internal processes in a company through the intranet but also spreads efficiency gains to the business systems of its customers and suppliers"
Page 636 Text

translated -

it helps our company be more competitive
it also helps our partners be more competitive
...

Intranets
and 
Extranets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

go here to download the ppt for Chpt 7
 http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/bp/app/turban/cw/ppt/

Applications of Intranet page 244- Turban Text
the major functions that an Intranet can provide

  • corporate / departmental / individual web pages
  • database access
    • for better information about customers
    • inventory
    • assets and resources
  • search engines and directories
    • for companies handling massive quantities of text documents
    • eg. insurance and banking companies
  • interactive communication
    • chatting, audio, videoconferencing
    • in order to save costs
  • document distribution and workflow
    • very helpful in organizations were more than one person handles a file
    • eg. government agencies, eg. licensing agencies, health offices etc.
  • groupware
  • telephony
  • integration with electronic commerce
    • internet based sales have to be processed
    • processing can be economized with intranet structure for order fulfillment
    • eg. Amazon.com
  • extranet
    • geographically dispersed parts of the organization
.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Intranets
and 
Extranets
Information that is most often included in Intranets
(this list comes from some notes in the Turban text on page 244 - additional points added in by WTGR)
 
  • corporate policies
  • corporate procedures for caring out complex actions with many variables
  • timetables for people and events
  • scheduling information
  • directories
    • people
    • names, tel contacts
    • titles and functions
  • departments
    • part of reducing duplication of activity
    • enhanced use of existing resources
    • departmental "evangelism" (common in large organizations)
  • Human Resources
    • benefits and services to employees
    • performance evaluations guidelines
    • employment equity information and guidelines
    • stock information
    • intra-corporate employment opportunities
    • educational information
      • corporate training programs
      • schedules
      • descriptions, curriculum, participation forms
      • example  http://www.worldbiz.com/library.html 

        •  International Business Reports for Corporate Intranets
  • product catalogs
  • purchase orders
  • manuals
  • to enhance capability of service technicians 
  • to empower wholsalers and retailers
  • services
    • travel services
    • in-house services , eg. printing
  • archives
    • text, stories, documents, records
    • images (eg. for a newspaper)
    • video clips (eg. for a broadcaster)
.
 
http://www.witiger.com/ecommerce/intranets~extranets.htm  http://www.witiger.com/ecommerce/intranets~extranets.htm
This is a Unit on Intranets and Extranets which is mostly used for e-commerce classes - however since many medium and large sized companies involved in international business have online situation, the use of Intranets and Extranets has become a part of "doing International Business"
.