Analysis of E-Commerce Application in Small Medium Enterprises ——A Case Study of Beijing HaoCheng Dental Enterprise

Ling Tian Xiaohong Wang Wanxin Xue School of Management School of Management School of Management Beijing Union University Beijing Union University Beijing Union University

Beijing, China Beijing, China Beijing, China glttianling@buu.edu.cn gltxiaohong@buu.edu.cn gltwanxin@buu.edu.cn

Abstract—Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise, a Chinese small private dental enterprise to build e-commerce website actively for expansion of corporate, enhance the corporate image, optimize the structure of them, reduce procurement costs, Simplify treatment procedures and so on, was built in Sep 2007. This paper surveys the status quo of e-commerce application in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise comprehensively from the perspective of technology, management, capital, operation and cooperation. The result indicates that, the status quo of e-commerce application in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise is worrisome, which is obviously way behind other Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Based on the analysis and current development trend of e-commerce application in SMEs, this paper puts forward with some suggestions for Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise.

Keywords-Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise ； e-commerce (EC)； Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)； application

I. INTRODUCTION Beijing is one of the earliest regions that started the

market economy in China, so its private economy is now in a pretty good shape with a large number of private small medium enterprises. Small medium enterprises play an important role in the whole enterprises. With the rapid development of China's Internet and e-commerce, many Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) had applied e-commerce for improving competitiveness. It is true that Beijing people dare lead first more than any others. In the late 1990s, when e-commerce emerged as a new mode of expanding markets, it was popularly received by Beijing enterprises. Many strive for registration of their own websites and start e-commerce activities.

In the past some studies on e-commerce application of SMEs in different geographical and cultural environments and work settings have been conducted, unfortunately scant information is available about e-commerce application in medical industry, especially in small private dental enterprise. To date, a very large number of the status quo of e-commerce application have been discussed in extant literature, but we still know relatively little about the variables associated with specific industry, for example, medical industry. At the

same time, there is also a dearth of case study on the e-commerce application. So far little investigation of case has integrated insights to consolidate findings in simultaneously exploring the e-commerce application and growth in SMEs. Therefore, there is a need to make a case study about the e-commerce application in traditional Small and medium medical enterprises.

Bjhcd.cn, founded in Sep 2007 by Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise, is a Chinese small private dental enterprise to offer simple dental-related information, including company profile, medical dynamic, service characteristics, knowledge of oral health, advisory, forum, booking service, recruitment, clinic location, and so on. It focuses on items that have basic enterprise-related information in Chinese to build Internet website actively for expansion of company, enhance the company image, optimize the structure of them, simplify the process of patients, and so on. But, Bjhcd.cn has many shortcomings in website features, website information update, and website ranking.

II. THE SURVEY OF THE STATUS QUO OF E-COMMERCE APPLICATION IN BEIJING HAOCHENG

DENTAL ENTERPRISE In the face of new economic format and information

technology, what is the status quo of e-commerce application in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise? What affect the growth of e-commerce? What has e-commerce brought it? How to improve e-commerce? To answer these questions, this survey selects the some-100 person covering managers, staff, registered users, page visitors, patients, dentists and nurses as the investigating targets and issues the questionnaires to them about the status quo of e-commerce application in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise comprehensively from the perspective of technology, management, capital, operation and cooperation. Ninety-three effective questionnaires are returned and analyzed in combination with visiting them in order to understand the status quo. The samples can reflect the situation of e-commerce application in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise.

The result indicates that, 92% of the investigated enterprise staff pays less attention to website, very few of them put forward a few requirements about enterprise’s

2009 Second International Conference on Future Information Technology and Management Engineering

978-0-7695-3880-8/09 $26.00 © 2009 IEEE

DOI 10.1109/FITME.2009.60

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website including features, color, framework, information update, and website ranking; only a few give some advice to improve the website; most of managers don’t want to increase annual investment on the website.

But, 68% of users focus on website features, 20% of users focus on ease of operation, 98% of users focus on the security of personal information, the reliability and authenticity website information. All users hope that enterprise can improve the website and offer a series of reasonable activities as soon as possible. For example, by now, Bjhcd.cn hasn’t provided any payment option in the website, so all users hope that the website should provide them with more choice for online payment in the future, as soon as the development of IT technology. Moreover, judging from the updating and maintenance, Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise don’t have their own specialists, the updating cycle is very different. Sometime, website keep updating once three month, sometime, over one year. So, all users hope that dental-related information about medical dynamic, service characteristics, knowledge of oral health, company information and professional advice in the website can be updated day and night.

In addition, as an online dental-related information and service platform, Bjhcd.cn hasn’t offered maximal convenience and best communication services to customers by cooperating with the traditional producers and using advanced IT technology, customers contact with enterprise only by telephone. So, all user hope that Bjhcd.cn can deal with customer service in the way of call center, MSN, E-mail, QQ and BBS in the future.

In terms of the external obstacles Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise meet with in the process of doing e-commerce, such problems exist: First, the infrastructure is insufficient and even in poor shape. Second, payments are hard to accomplish. Third, the network has safety threats. Fourth, the physical distribution system is imperfect. Lastly, skillful talents are inadequate.

III. THE ANALYSIS OF THE STATUS QUO OF E-COMMERCE APPLICATION IN BEIJING HAOCHENG

DENTAL ENTERPRISE A. The awareness of e-commerce has not been built up

At the earliest stages of Beijing economic development, specialized markets and the sales force played an important role in bridging up. Then, with the continuous improvement of living standards, people's demand for health is growing in the medical profession, the private clinic develops rapidly. Many private dental clinics are building e-commerce site actively for help them survival in the market easily.

But, being influenced by the traditional ideas, most of managers don’t want to increase annual investment on the website, and prefers adopting old marketing model to taking e-commerce practice, then there are more shortcoming in website including online searching and selecting dentists, online submitting applications, online offering solutions, online booking, online paying Management System, and so on. Till now, they haven’t

realized the revolutionary changes that e-commerce brings, and the combining relationship between the traditional industry and the e-commerce. In other words, they still haven’t formed real idea of e-commerce.

B. Stagnant websites are seen It is true that Beijing people dare lead first more than

any others. In the late 1990s, when e-commerce emerged as a new mode of expanding markets, it was popularly received by Beijing’s SMEs. Many strive for registration of their own websites and start e-commerce activities. Just two years ago, Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise set up its own websites to adapt to the development of the Internet in new era. Unfortunately, owing to market situation and other factors, Bjhcd.cn has been put aside after a short period of popularity. Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise bid farewell to its e-commerce practice, and do not update its own websites very often. That is to say, Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise uses website as decorations instead for business purposes.

At present, many SMEs in the mainland make use of the Internet to do business and e-commerce occupies a large share in trade volume. Since China’s entry into WTO, dealings between Beijing’s SMEs and foreign businesses through the Internet will increase quite a lot. If the websites of SMEs are still just a decoration, many business opportunities will be lost and the SMEs’ reputation will get worse.

C. Skillful talents are inadequate As e-commerce develops so fast, the society is in

want of a lot of high-quality talents who can combine modern information technology with business management, especially those skillful and knowledgeable talents. The lack of e-commerce talents becomes a world and national phenomenon.

Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise is not an exception, partly due to the fact that there are very few high learning e-commerce talents in enterprise and it started training too late in the related talents. So, the serious lack of e-commerce talents also contributes to backward e-commerce in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise.

IV. SUGGESTION A. The improvement of website functionality is a key

factor To win in the more competitive world, Beijing

HaoCheng Dental enterprise must fully adopt information technology and optimize the use of resources to improve website functionality. It must make efforts to satisfy the needs from customers and shorten the treatment and reservation cycles to the greatest degree. As an website of dental-related enterprise, Bjhcd.cn should offer a free business platform, virtual host without space and time limit, an online tool for customer management, suggestions from dental experts and office room, while the industry's close advisers offer ideas, and the profits will be increased by Bjhcd.cn.

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In detail, as a dental-related information and services provider, Bjhcd.cn should develop the registration, searching and selecting, submitting applications, offering solutions, signing a reservation, and paying Management System, based on its practice on dental-related services. Bjhcd.cn should provide the simple version of the system to its customers for free. With the use of the Management System, its customers can management their medical records exactly, and its customers can get more choices and the lowest price. The system should include such modules as medical records management, booking management, services management, return management, customer management and sales management, etc.

Also, it should strictly economize the cost, actively improve the quality of service and abide by the treatment date. In this way, enterprise is expected to increase its adaptive capability and achieve higher efficiency. Only after the improvement of website functionality is realized, could e-commerce be implemented in reality.

B. The combination of e-commerce and traditional industry should be targeted at The real implementation of e-commerce should and

must be combined with traditional industry more closely. The application of e-commerce in traditional dental industry can enjoy a sharp cutting-edge in marketing, because when e-commerce is deployed in the field of dental, there will be many successful advantages form Bjhcd.cn on the cooperation with traditional dental industry, including low-cost, not subject to restrictions on space and time, simple and fast to publishing dental-related information, details and rapid expert advice by Internet. In the process of development and prosperity, Bjhcd.cn will lay a solid foundation in online service. So, only after taking an approach of combining e-commerce with traditional dental industry and striving to optimize the business process, can the application of e-commerce be developed down-to-earth. Otherwise, it would just be a decoration.

Lack of the combination of e-commerce with traditional industry is also the reason why so many Beijing’s SMEs withdraw from e-commerce practice. It is an important strategy for traditional enterprises to start online marketing in order to exploit the Chinese market.

C. Website promotion should be pay more attention Website promotion should be paid more attention to

enhance website ranking and attract more customers. For the ads, less ads of Bjhcd.cn are put on the Internet customers and the traditional customers. In order to attract more customers, Bjhcd.cn should often update dental-related information and spread propaganda to improve brand awareness. Detailed speaking, Bjhcd.cn should reinforce the customer relationship management, do market research on customer satisfaction, analyze the question feed-backed in the BBS and BLOG, deal with the customer complaints effectively, and improve the communication with customers.

In addition, Bjhcd.cn could use emerging online marketing way to attract the eyes and customers. Bjhcd.cn can cooperate with leading websites and

companies in worldwide also, such as SINA, SOHU, YAHOO, GOOGLE, AOL, CSITE, ALIBABA, BUIDU, etc. So, Bjhcd.cn can enter a long term strategic alliance for common development with partners.

D. A team of skillful talents should be constructed The application of e-commerce doesn’t necessarily

mean that it is ok to buy some computers and software, or to promulgate some standards, or to set up some communication networks. It is an enormous systematic project, in which the training of talents is, above all, important. For Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise, the problem is more serious.

To find a way out earlier, the approach of introducing from other places and local training should be pursued.

First, actively introduce talents. The municipal government has carried out a series of preferential policies, which has constructed a more relaxing environment to introduce talents from other cities or enterprises. Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise should also take some positive measures and write it into its missions as strategic considerations. This conduct will produce a big impact on introducing skillful talents.

Second, Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise’s cooperation with universities can bring many talents, and it provided powerful R&D support for enterprise’s development. All in above, Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise must continue to attract highly qualified employees.

Third, engage in vocational training of the working staff. This is also a means to solve the talent shortage problem in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise. Many universities have taken much collaboration with Department of Laboring Force to train primary and intermediate e-commerce practicing and achieved good results. As long as a mode of training is established on different levels, with different kinds of channels, can the shortage of talents in e-commerce be resolved and thus form a healthy system to train electronic specialists. Only after a team of talents with reasonable layout is set up, could e-commerce in Beijing HaoCheng Dental enterprise maintain a sustainable development.

V. CONCLUSION Based on the above analysis, Beijing HaoCheng

Dental enterprise has experienced a lot of pains in developing e-commerce. However, it has turned to be more reasonable. As the macro-environment for e-commerce all over the country gets updated thoroughly, we can believe under further research and practice about e-commerce, Bjhcd.cn will have more achievements and contributions to the applications of managing dental-related information and services in Internet. As well as fully advantages of e-commerce and quicken the pace of information technology utilization, hopefully e-commerce in Beijing’s SMEs will surely enter into a stage of fast development.

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