Page 259 - Electronic Commerce

Chapter 5

J.B. Hunt needs far fewer customer service representatives. Also, J.B. Hunt found that
its customers could monitor their own shipments more effectively than the company,
saving J. B. Hunt more than $12,000 per week in labor and lost shipment costs. When
transportation and freight companies engage in the business of operating all or a large
portion of a customer’s materials movement activities, the company is called a third-party
logistics (3PL) provider. For example, Ryder has a multiyear contract to design, manage,
and operate all of Whirlpool’s inbound freight activities and is considered a 3PL provider
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to Whirlpool.
Both FedEx and UPS have freight-tracking Web pages available to their customers.
Firms that run their own trucking operations have implemented tracking systems that use
global positioning satellite (GPS) technology to monitor vehicle movements. With sensors
in the vehicles that track speed, throttle positions, adjustable air suspension system
settings, and fuel consumption, it is now possible to manage each vehicle in real time
when those sensors are connected through mobile Internet access to a central operations
location. Many of these freight-handling companies also provide 3PL services to other
businesses as a way to generate additional revenue from their investments in tracking
technologies.
Truckers themselves have benefitted from advances in Internet technologies, in
particular the increase in mobile device connectivity. In the not-so-distant past, a long-
haul truck driver relied on maps and updates heard on the radio to avoid traffic jams,
weather-related slowdowns, and highway construction activity. Today, a variety of
smartphone and tablet apps can warn a trucker of all these risks and more. Apps for
truckers include information about permanent threats (low overpasses, tight turns, and
roads that prohibit commercial vehicle traffic) and current threats (heavy traffic,
construction, speed traps) as they develop. Truckers with mobile devices have continual
access to the latest information about risks and opportunities (such as good prices on
fuel or meals).
The marriage of GPS and portable computers with the Internet was an excellent
example of second-wave electronic commerce. The addition of mobile device technologies
to the mix is an example of third-wave electronic commerce.

Business Process Support Activities
Activities that support all of a business’ processes include finance and administration
tasks, the operation of human resources, and technology development activities. Finance
and administration business processes include activities such as making payments,
processing payments received from customers, planning capital expenditures, and
budgeting and planning to ensure that sufficient funds will be available to meet the
organization’s obligations as they come due. The operation of the computing
infrastructure and database management functions of the organization is also an
administration activity. Human resource processes include activities such as hiring,
training, and evaluating employees; administering benefits; and complying with
government record-keeping regulations. Technology development includes networking
research scientists into virtual collaborative workgroups, sharing research results,
publishing research papers online, and providing connections to outside sources of

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