Electronic commerce as an instrument of international business activity

Magisterarbeit von Julia Todorova

Abstract:

The object of research is electronic commerce as an instrument of new economy which has gained a foothold in the western business practice and is developing in Ukraine at a furious pace. The subject of the research is organizational, structural and functional development of e-commerce.

The purpose of the thesis is, basing on the analysis of current state of electronic commerce in the world and Ukraine, to estimate the its prospects for doing business internationally and to develop recommendations for a Ukrainian company „X” which considers the possibility of introducing e-commerce business models into its business practice.

The information data of the thesis are based on official statistical reports, current web-archives of research and statistical Internet-companies, national Boards of Statistics, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, publications on e-business and e-commerce issues, economic literature from the funds of the scientific library of Otto-von-Guericke University (Magdeburg, Germany).

The thesis applies the method of scientific abstractions, cause-effect and functional analysis to understand the mechanism of electronic commerce and its place within the electronic business framework; comparative statistical analysis to study the state of the art in the electronic commerce in the world and in Ukraine, SWOT-analysis to define the strategic potential of electronic commerce; economic-mathematical simulation to estimate the efficiency of the Internet shop for the business activity of the company «Х».

The thesis describes the Internet as an environment for doing business, defines the concept of e-commerce, its components, advantages, costs and challenges. It considers the peculiarities of studying international e-commerce, its dynamics in the world and in Ukraine, analyses factors that influence its development in transitional economies. The thesis gives classification of business-models for electronic commerce and provides calculations proving the efficiency of the Internet shop as the simplest and most available business model for a Ukrainian company that considers a possibility to launch e-commerce initiative including the international business activity. Calculations prove that introduction of the Internet shop contributes to increasing the efficiency of the business activity, to improving customer service quality and strengthening the company competitiveness in the home and foreign markets.

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