E-Business Modeling : A Case Study with IKEA

E-business modeling is a concept that has several components and can be designed based on different combinations of them. Furthermore, it is a concept that is vulnerable to changes as it is associated with technology, which is developing rapidly day by day. By con-ducting this research on 1) how the companies are managing changes in a competitive envi-ronment by means of adjusting their e-business models, and 2) if there are any compo-nent(s) of e-business model(s) that has more importance than the others for the competi-tiveness of the company, the thesis intends to define the change management procedures that the organizations involved in e-business are using, and to compare the components of the e-business models in order to find out if there is any component that is more important than the others for the competitiveness of the organization. We conducted the research through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A semi-structured interview method was chosen for the collection of qualitative data with the aim of acquiring in-depth information from our respondents. On the other hand, quan-titative data, which we gathered via questionnaire, provided us with the opportunity to make statistical inferences about the data. According to our report, there are four components of e-business models; product innova-tion, customer relationship, infrastructure management, and financials. Each component has three elements. By asking the respondents to state the degree of importance of each element in each component, this thesis aims to compare the degree of importance of each component via statistical measures. Furthermore, by combining the statistical inferences with the qualitative data and theories related to the components of the e-business model, financials component is found to be more important than the other components for the competitiveness of the organization. Additionally, this report uses several change management models and procedures from books and articles from the library and the Internet. In comparing those theories with the answers gathered from the respondents, we found out that being proactive towards the changes, applying changes without modifying the basic strategy of the organization, stress-ing on the training and involvement of the users, communication with users and stake-holders, and early commitment of the stakeholders were found to be important issues for the change management in an e-business environment. Besides, the utilization of external parties in the areas where organizations lack expertise concerning change was found to be important for a successful change in an e-business environment. When we reviewed the research questions, we observed that the purpose has been fulfilled and the research questions have been properly answered. By considering the conclusion that has been derived, organizations could successfully design their e-business models and experience competitive advantage, and successfully manage changes that could take place in their e-business environment