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Introduction The incredible growth of the Internet and connectivity to the Internet by individuals and businesses alike has brought many opportunities to generate new industries and new efficiencies within businesses and between businesses. These opportunities can be seen in the different e-business models that are currently providing benefits to organizations. A business model embodies a plan or offering a value proposition to customers, a source of revenues, an identification of costs, and a detailed set of processes for execution. According to Kador (2000), the digital economy is driving the creation of five business models from which every e-business must select. Every successful Internet-ready organization takes on one or more of these models. Whether they occupy a Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B), or Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) environment, every e-business must develop competencies in one or more of these models: e-business storefronts, infomediary, trust intermediary, e-business enabler, and infrastructure provider. E-Business Storefront E-business storefronts are the online analog to traditional ways of selling products or services. E-business storefronts like Intel, Amazon, E*Trade, Cisco, and Dell offer to their target audiences, niche markets and buyers, products, product offering, order taking, services, fulfillment, customer service, and support, and content, information on products and services. Their goal is to dominate and target niche markets. Further, their revenue streams are product, service margin and advertising. Infomediary Infomediary is defined as an entity that brokers content, information, knowledge, or experiences that add value to a particular e-business transaction. Infomediaries like NetBuy, Autobytel, Eloan, and Travelocity generally do not buy or sell anything, but rather facilitate transactions by providing aggregation services. Their target audiences are members of a virtual community, members of a value chain, or part of an industry’s value chain and market sector. Trust Intermediary Trust intermediaries like Verisign and CyberCash provide a secure environment in which buyers and sellers can confidently exchange values. Their revenue streams are licensing fee and subscriptions, and their goal is to extract value from each transaction by enabling a safe, secure transaction environment. E-Business Enabler For e-business enablers like Federal Express, LoopNet, and Chrome.com, the target audiences are E-business storefronts and Infomediaries. E-business enablers create and maintain an infrastructure in which product and service providers can conduct transactions reliably and securely.
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