https://research-methodology.net Necessary knowledge to conduct a business research Wed, 29 Jan 2020 09:17:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://rm-15da4.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-logoBRM-32x32.jpg https://research-methodology.net 32 32 https://research-methodology.net/an-overview-of-ebay-csr-practices/ Sun, 02 Oct 2016 00:19:03 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8507 Unlike other major corporations of similar sizes, eBay does not release an annual sustainability report. Nevertheless, information about eBay CSR efforts can be found on the company’s website. Most of eBay’s social responsibility initiatives are conducted by the EBay Foundation. Table 3 below illustrates the major points of eBay CSR programs and initiatives: Categories of CSR activities eBay Performance Supporting local  communities Global Impact Team program established in 2008 attempts to engage employees in service to the communities where they live and work In the US, 35 eBay offices have GIVE teams — groups of employees who voluntarily participate in charitable events and allocating grant funds to organizations in their local communities Educating and empowering workers eBay offers a range of leadership development programs to employees at all levels.  For example, eBay’s Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP) highlights a unique employee experience. Each FLDP cohort receives extensive leadership development, coaching, and senior executive mentoring, while working on challenging assignments Labour and human rights The company has been receiving the maximum score of 100 per cent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) every year since 2009 Employee health and safety eBay organizes an annual ‘health and safety week’ to raise awareness of health within the workplace. It includes completion of health and safety survey, attending workshop and seminars. Gender equality and minorities The launch of Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) in 2011 increased the number of women in leadership roles. 29% of eBay leadership positions are held by women and women represent 42 per cent of total workforce. The company publicly advocate for equal rights for same-sex couples Environment   a) energy consumption   b) water consumption   c) recycling   d) CO2 emissions     eBay used 716,353 MWh of energy in 2014 alone. In 2013, the company has announced its commitments to…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-mckinsey-7s-model/ Sat, 01 Oct 2016 00:10:27 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8504 eBay McKinsey 7S framework attempts to explain the ways in which seven elements of businesses can be aligned to achieve higher effectiveness. According to McKinsey 7S strategy, structure and systems represent hard elements, whereas shared values, skills, style and staff are soft elements. The framework stresses that there are strong links between elements in a way that a change in one element causes changes in others. As it is illustrated in figure below, shared values are positioned at the core of eBay McKinsey 7S framework, since shared values guide employee behaviour with implications in their performance. eBay McKinsey 7S Framework Hard Elements Strategy. eBay has traditionally pursued first mover business strategy since the e-commerce site has been set up by Pierre Omidyar in 1995. Accordingly, the business has enjoyed from the first mover advantage in becoming the first and the largest online auction website with the widest range of products. However, the latest changes in eBay business strategy are associated with the shift from a primarily auction website to becoming an online retailer in general, a segment which is traditionally dominated by Amazon. It can be argued that if eBay fails to find new solid sources of competitive advantage as an online retailer, the e-commerce company will find it increasingly difficult to compete with Amazon in the new area. Structure. eBay business strategy can be characterised as a hierarchical reflecting the massive size of the business that employs 12,000 people worldwide and has more than 160 million customers.[1] Separation of PayPal from eBay in 2015 resulted in a major structural change for the business, at the same time depriving eBay a solid source of cash. The Board of Directors and the Senior Leadership Team comprise 11 members each and each member is responsible for a specific aspect or a geographical…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-value-chain-analysis/ Tue, 27 Sep 2016 00:02:48 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8500 Value chain analysis is a strategic analytical tool that that is used to identify business activities important to create value and competitive advantage to the business. The figure below illustrates the essence of eBay value chain analysis. eBay Value chain analysis Primary Activities Inbound logistics eBay inbound logistics refers to ways in which the company acquires and stores raw material to be used for the business. This includes but not limited to the purchase of servers, other hardware products and a wide range of technological items along with office suppliers and other items. Due to the massive scope and scale of eBay business operations, the economies of scale can be specified as the major source of value in inbound logistics primary activities. Moreover, fostering strategic relationships with suppliers is another key source of value in eBay’s inbound logistics. Operations eBay operations revolve around  technology-enabled commerce. The full range of eBay technologies and services are divided into the following three platforms: Marketplace refers to an online marketplace available at www.ebay.com. This platform has more than 800 million listings at any given time[1] StubHub represents a platform to purchase tickets to the games, concerts and theatre shows and to sell tickets. Classifieds platforms include a collection of brands such as Mobile.de, Kijiji, Gumtree, Marktplaats, eBay Classifieds and others. Ebay classifieds are offered in more than 1500 cities globally.   The full range of eBay business operations include the following processes: Seller registering on eBay website Buyers bidding for a specific product offered by the seller A successful bid by a specific Buyer (or purchasing via ‘Buy It Now’) Buyer paying to the bank via PayPal or other payment methods Bank notifying eBay about Buyer’s purchase eBay notifying Seller about the payment by Buyer The delivery (shipment) of the product by the Seller…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-porters-five-forces-analysis/ Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:17:47 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8494 eBay Porter’s Five Forces is an analytical model that explains five individual forces shaping an overall extent of competition in e-commerce industry. These forces are represented in Figure 1 below: Figure 1 eBay Porter’s Five Forces Threat of substitute products or services for each type of service offered by eBay is significant. eBay services can be divided into three categories: Marketplace, StubHub and Classified. A great range of supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart, Tesco, Target, Sainsbury’s and others represent a significant substitution for eBay Marketplace. Moreover, the presence of e-commerce sites of all large supermarket chains further increases the significance of this threat. eBay StubHub is a online place where customers can buy and sell tickets for  sports, concerts, theatre and other live entertainment events. Substitute services for StubHub include, but not limited to offline ticket offices, online forums and websites selling tickets along with other types of products and services. For eBay Classifieds, substitute services relate to Yellow Pages and other similar print advertising mediums. Media advertising, as well as, advertising on a wide range of media platforms can also be mentioned as substitutes for eBay Classifieds. Rivalry among existing firms in industries where eBay operates is highly intensive. This is primarily due to the impressive rate of industry growth and increasing numbers of competitors operating in the industry. eBay competes with a wide range of retailers, distributors, liquidators, import and export companies, auctioneers, catalogue and mail order companies, classifieds, directories, search engines, commerce participants (consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business), shopping channels and networks. eBay’s major competitors include Amazon Inc., Alphabet Inc, Alibaba, Yahoo Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc., Target Corporation, Chemours Co., Family Dollar Stores Inc., Staples Inc., Priceline Group Inc. and others. As it is illustrated in Figure 2 below, the number of eBay active users has been consistently…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-marketing-communication-mix/ Sun, 25 Sep 2016 00:02:34 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8490 eBay marketing communication mix integrates various forms of print and media advertising, sales promotions, events and experiences, public relations and direct marketing. Advertising Advertising expense of the company totaled USD1.0 billion, USD1.0 billion and USD844 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.[1] eBay engages in print and media advertising in an occasional manner to increase the level of brand awareness among the target customer segment. eBay advertising strategy primarily focuses on the use of online platforms such as paid search advertising, online banner advertising and viral marketing. As it is illustrated in figure below, eBay marketing message stresses the wide range of products available in its Marketplace and accordingly, the company’s target customer segment is vast. Patterns of eBay print and media advertising Sales Promotion EBay rarely engages in sales promotions in order to attract more sellers in its Marketplace. Nevertheless, there are many sales promotions going on at any time in eBay marketplace and these are conducted by sellers, not eBay Inc.  Specific types of sales promotion techniques employed by eBay sellers include order discounts, codeless coupons, shipping discounts, sale events, accessory discounts and others. Various forms of sales promotions techniques are applied frequently to promote StubHub and gifts cards are adopted as the most effective tool for this purpose. Specifically, StubHub offers eGift Cards and Plastic Gift Cards that can be used to treat friends, relatives or employees to a night out on the town for a discounted price. Additionally, there are many discount websites such as www.couponcabin.com, www.retailmenot.com, www.groupon.com and others that offer StubHub coupons. The company does not engage in frequent sales promotions in order to sell its Classified services… eBay Inc. Report contains more detailed discussion of eBay marketing communication mix and marketing strategy. The report also illustrates the application of…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-segmentation-targeting-positinoing/ Sat, 24 Sep 2016 00:56:59 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8487 eBay segmentation, targeting and positioning relate to marketing decisions and efforts associated with the identification of specific group within the population that eBay aims to sell its services to. Segmentation involves dividing population into groups according to certain characteristics, whereas targeting implies choosing specific groups identified as a result of segmentation to sell products. Positioning refers to the selection of the marketing mix the most suitable for the target customer segment. eBay services can be divided into three categories and segmentation, targeting and positioning patterns vary according to the type of the service. Marketplace refers to an online marketplace available at ebay.com. The company uses multi-segment type of positioning for the marketplace and accordingly, exploits more than one segment with different service packages. StubHub represents a platform to purchase tickets to the games, concerts and theatre shows and to sell tickets. The positioning strategy used for StubHub can be described as adaptive and the company periodically repositions its services according to changes in the segment Classifieds platforms include a collection of brands such as Mobile.de, Kijiji, Gumtree, Marktplaats, eBay Classifieds and others. eBay uses multi-segment positioning to sell its classifieds services. The following table illustrates eBay segmentation, targeting and positioning: Type of segmentation Segmentation criteria eBay target segment   Marketplace StubHub Classifieds   Geographic Region International International USA Density Urban/rural Urban/rural Urban/rural   Demographic Age 16 – 60 16 – 40 20 – 60 Gender Males & Females Males & Females Males & Females Life-cycle stage Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I Full Nest II Full Nest III Empty Nest I Empty Nest II Solitary Survivor I Solitary Survivor II Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I Full Nest II   Bachelor Stage Newly Married Couples Full Nest I Full Nest II Full Nest III Empty Nest I Empty…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-7ps-of-marketing/ Fri, 23 Sep 2016 08:45:56 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8483 eBay 7Ps of marketing covers seven elements of the marketing mix – product, place, price, promotion, process, people and physical evidence. The company’s Advertising expense totalled USD1.0 billion, USD1.0 billion and USD844 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively[1]     Product While eBay was once an auction site selling vintage items, today 80% of the items sold on eBay are new, and at any given time it has more than 800 million live listings[2] eBay services are divided into the following three platforms: Marketplace refers to an online marketplace available at ebay.com StubHub represents a platform to purchase tickets to the games, concerts and theatre shows and to sell tickets. Classifieds platforms include a collection of brands such as Mobile.de, Kijiji, Gumtree, Marktplaats, eBay Classifieds and others eBay commits to systematic investments to develop new products and services. Capitalized internal use and platform development costs were USD136 million and USD144 million in 2015 and 2014, respectively[3] Place Being an e-commerce business and an online platform, eBay services can be used from any part of the globe given the following two conditions are met: Customers have access to the internet Customers have access to PayPal and other payment methods allowed by eBay People from 190 markets buy from eBay and it has been acknowledged as Top 10 global retail brand[4] The company’s website at www.ebay.com  and eBay app are the major sales channels for the business. The popularity of eBay app as sales channel has been consistently increasing and it has been downloaded more than 326 million times[5] The time of delivery of products represents a major point of competition between online stores and this also relates to the place element of the marketing mix. The time of delivery varies according to the nature of…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-pestel-analysis/ Thu, 22 Sep 2016 00:37:16 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8478 The acronym behind the strategic analytical tool PESTEL stands for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. eBay PESTEL analysis involves an analysis of potential effect of above factors on the volume of revenues and growth prospects of the business. It has to be specified that the range of factors covered within PESTEL framework are the external factors for the business and the company has little or no impact on these factors. Political Factors eBay’s financial performance and growth prospects can be affected by a range of political factors that include political stability in the market, the levels of bureaucracy and corruptions in the country, activities of trade unions and home market lobbying groups and others.  In 2015, eBay has been caught into a political controversy and the company has been accused of “collaborating with hundreds of overseas retailers to defraud the taxman of millions of pounds every day”[1]. Specifically, non-EU sellers on eBay and Amazon were not paying VAT tax in the UK or elsewhere, causing the loss of millions of pounds annually. In another political case in 2015, amid an intensifying national debate over the use of the Confederate flag, eBay along with Walmart, Amazon and Sears announced that they will stop selling the controversial flag[2]. This is due to the association of the Confederate flag with slave-holding practices in the US and willingness of the business to avoid offending customers segment who are sensitive towards the issue. As it is illustrated in figure below, eBay has a solid annual lobbying budget to pursue its political agenda to a certain extent and to contribute to the creation of a political environment that is favorable for the business. Annual Lobbying by eBay Inc.[3] Economic Factors There are many economic factors that may affect eBay revenues and growth prospects directly, as…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-swot-analysis/ Wed, 21 Sep 2016 00:20:55 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8474 SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to organizations. The following table illustrates eBay SWOT analysis: Strengths 1.      First mover advantage 2.      Sophisticated infrastructure and the global scale of operations 3.      Brand value 4.      Organizational culture of experimentation and entrepreneurship Weaknesses 1.      Dependence on products and services controlled by competitors 2.      Complexity of business model 3.      Lack of clear business strategy and competitive advantage 4.      Absence of own distribution network Opportunities 1.      Making a disruptive innovation in online retail industry 2.      Engaging in business diversification 3.      Formation of strategic alliances 4.      Engaging in acquisitions Threats 1.      Inability to compete with Amazon as online retailer 2.      Breach of security 3.      Crash of the website 4.      Patent infringement and other lawsuits against the company eBay SWOT analysis Strengths First mover advantage has been traditionally a major strength for eBay. Apart from being the first platform in the world for online auctions, eBay has a first mover advantage in a range of areas such as Seller Performance Standards, eTRS, Verified Rights Owner Program and Feedback Forum. Particularly, the first mover advantage in online auctions has enabled the company to become a multi-billion company within a matter of a few years and ensured market leadership of the business. eBay has a highly sophisticated infrastructure that enables global scale of operations without any disruptions. At any given time it has more than 800 million live listings and in 2015, about 59 per cent of transactions between users on Marketplace and StubHub platforms take took place outside of the US[1]. The presence of such an advanced global infrastructure can play an instrumental role in terms of achieving global market penetration of new products and services in an effective manner. Interbrand and Forbes estimate eBay brand value as USD 13.9 billion and USD…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-organizational-structure/ Tue, 20 Sep 2016 00:14:12 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8470 eBay organizational structure is hierarchical due to the massive size of the company that employs nearly 12,000 people worldwide.  In 2015, a major restructuring was introduced to the company by separating PayPal from eBay Inc.  The figure below illustrates changes to eBay organizational structure as a result of PayPal’s separation. eBay Organizational Structure eBay Board of Directors comprises 11 members and Thomas J. Tierney is the Chairman of the Board. David Wenig leads eBay executive team as President and CEO and is closely assisted by other leaders in the following positions: President, StubHub SVP, Chief Technology Officer SVP, General Counsel VP of Global Operations SVP, eBay North America SVP, eBay Asia Pacific SVP, Chief Product Officer SVP, Chief Financial Officer SVP, Chief Communications Officer SVP, eBay Europe SVP, Chief People Officer eBay Inc. Report comprises a comprehensive analysis of eBay. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and McKinsey 7S Model on eBay. Moreover, the report contains analyses of eBay’s marketing strategy and discusses the issues of corporate social responsibility.]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-leadership/ Mon, 19 Sep 2016 01:48:01 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8467 eBay leadership at the most senior position has been assumed by only four people since its establishment in 1995 by 28-year-old Pierre Omidyar. By June 1996 the company had USD10,000 in monthly revenues and its first employee and it secured a multi-million dollar round of venture capital funding the next year.[1] Aware of his entrepreneurial and leadership limits, Omidyar brought in Meg Whitman who oversaw IPO, international expansion, numerous acquisitions including PayPal, and several well-publicized site crashes. Meg Whitman stepped down as eBay CEO and President to run for the office of the Governor of California in 2008 and eBay leadership was assumed by John Donahoe. During the times he was in charge, Donahoe was seen as effective leader and turnaround manager. He was against the split of PayPal from eBay and unable to prevent the split, Donahoe had to step down on July 2015. It has been noted that “the changes implemented during John Donahoe’s tenure have proven to be controversial as shifts in rules and fees structures and an increased orientation toward high-volume, fixed-price retail channel selling have alienated portions of eBay’s traditional community even as the competitive landscape around eBay stiffens”[2] Today, Devin Wenig is the President and CEO of eBay Inc. and the executive leadership team comprises 13 members.  There are 11 members in the Board of Directors comprises 11 members, including eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. The role of the Chairman of the Board is currently held by Thomas J. Tierney.  Currently, eBay leadership is faced with a challenge of declining business growth. During 2015 – 2016 holiday season “sales grew an estimated 4.8 percent, which is way below the 13.3 percent typical for ecommerce companies”[3] The leadership of Devin Wenig can be criticized for the lack of clear strategy and competitive advantage for eBay. Plans…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-inc-business-strategy/ Sun, 18 Sep 2016 12:34:06 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8459 eBay has been continuously reinventing itself since its founding in 1995 and its strategy places a great emphasis on the first mover advantage.  eBay business strategy can be described as service differentiation with the focus on user experience of both, buyers and sellers. Specifically, the most recent changes include “improving the site’s search capabilities making finding items more structured. Instead of listing all available items when a product is searched, there will now be categories such as “best value,” “brand new” and others.”[1] Generally, for the past few years eBay business strategy has been marked with a shift from a listings-based format toward a product-based format. The pursuit of this business strategy has involved a collection of product-related data from sellers to enhance user experience with the ultimate aim of building machine learning capabilities to process a global, accessible catalogue of things. In other words, eBay business strategy is attempting to shift the role and image of the company from e-commerce facilitator to an online retailer. While this decision by CEO and President Devin Wenig may reflect the overall tendency in the global market, eBay may find it increasingly difficult to compete with Amazon, taking into account Amazon’s high level of cost-effectiveness and competence in the delivery of goods. eBay business strategy for a medium term perspective also includes improving its ranking in Google search results via employing a structured data. It is important to note that the business strategy of service differentiation requires systematic financial investments in research and development. From this point of view, it can be argued that eBay may find it difficult to pursue this strategy in the future, since after the separation from PayPal in 2015, eBay lost a solid source of cash flow and a powerful growth engine. eBay Inc. Report contains more detailed…]]> https://research-methodology.net/ebay-inc-report-6/ Sun, 18 Sep 2016 11:45:38 +0000 http://research-methodology.net/?p=8453 eBay Inc. is a US-based e-commerce company and global corporation that provides consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer online sales platform. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, nowadays eBay employs nearly 12,000 people worldwide, including 6200 employees in the USA. More than 160 million people buy from eBay annually and the company generated the revenues of more than USD 8.6 billion in 2015 alone. eBay’s mission statement is ‘to be the world’s favourite destination for discovering great value and unique selection’. eBay business strategy focuses on benefiting from the first mover advantage via introducing innovative services and regularly adding new features and capabilities to existing services with the aim of enhancing user experience. The senior management led by CEO and President Devin Wenig has made a strategic decision to transfer the business from an online auction to become the largest online retailer, an area which is currently dominated by Amazon. The e-commerce company has certain weaknesses that include dependence of the business on a range of products and services controlled by competitors such as Google, an overall complexity of the business model and an absence of eBay’s own distribution network to compete with Amazon. eBay Inc. Report contains the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis and McKinsey 7S Model on eBay. Moreover, the report contains analyses of eBay’s business strategy, leadership and organizational structure and its marketing strategy. The report also discusses the issues of corporate social responsibility. 1. Introduction 2. Business Strategy 3. Leadership 4. Organizational Structure 5. SWOT Analysis 5.1 Strengths 5.2 Weaknesses 5.3 Opportunities 5.4 Threats 6. PESTEL Analysis 6.1 Political Factors 6.2 Economic Factors 6.3 Social Factors 6.4 Technological Factors 6.5 Environmental Factors 6.6 Legal Factors 7. Marketing Strategy 7.1 7Ps of Marketing 7.2 Segmentation,…]]>