Integrate the Information Technology with Supply Chain Management: A Trend of the Electronic Business in the New Century

In the new century, the concept of e-business (EB) has to be redefined. It covers more than e-commerce (EC) which simply handles with electronic ordering and/or on-line payment. EB covers all the managerial and operational functions of a business. So the concept of EB is to be more extensive. More and more people and business firms have recognized the fact that the application of Internet will cover both the outward functions (such as marketing, supplying, etc.) and the inward ones (such as manufacturing, R&D, etc.), go from the surface layers to the deeper layers, and arrive at the core of a firm’s business and the center of the social economy. From the point of view of a business firm, more realistic EB refers to replacement of the physical activities with electronic processes and to establish new cooperative relations with the suppliers and customers, and among all internal sections of the firm. It can be shown from an investigation and the author’s observations that the trend of EB is to integrate the information technology with the supply chain. Once business firms have completed the ERP (enterprise resources planning) or other internal integrated information systems, the business firm could develop CRM (customer relation management) or SCM (supply chain management) and so on, to get an external optimization with the internal optimal process. So EB will come true when the bases are ready and sound. By establishing communications between the upstream suppliers and the downstream cooperators, a business firm should extend its integrated information system and its operational conformity to the whole marketing management and to the whole supply chain. In years, the downstream links of a supply chain (B to C) may exist in various forms for that the customers have their individualized needs. But among the upstream links of a supply chain (B to B), the traditional business modes among business firms will certainly be replaced by EB. All the business firms have to face such a fact that from the basic application of Internet to the real-time business on Internet, there is a long way to go. At present, all business firms must face a complicated environment. Starting with the analysis of the environment of EB, this paper discusses EB’s trend and its influence on the business development, and brings forward that modern EB requires the participation of the suppliers, enterprise employees, cooperate partners, government and service institutes altogether