E-business Implementation and Its Impacts on Oman Air's Performance

This report analyzes the impacts of E-business on Oman Air, a hospitality industry player. It examines the benefits of E-business, including enhanced customer service, competitive advantages, and increased organizational effectiveness. The report reviews articles discussing the importance of E-business and compares Oman Air's policies with those of Emirates Airlines. It applies Porter's five forces theory to assess the competitive landscape and provides recommendations for Oman Air to improve its online presence, security, and customer loyalty programs. The conclusion emphasizes that E-business implementation will significantly enhance Oman Air's brand value and operational efficiency, helping it to gain a distinctive market image.

Running head: IMPACTS OF E-BUSINESS
Impacts of E-business
Name of the student
Name of the university
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Executive summary
The aim of this report is to determine the implications of E-business on the business process of
Oman air. Critical review of articles stated by different authors is being analyzed here in this
report. The critical analysis concludes that there are various positive implications of initiation of
E-business for Oman air. Emirates airlines are being taken in order to compare their business
policies with that of Oman air. In addition, various recommendations are being discussed in this
report, which will further help to enhance the productivity of Oman air. It is being concluded
that, initiation of E-business will help Oman air to enhance their organizational productivity as
well as effectiveness.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the article....................................................................................................................3
Evaluation of the article...................................................................................................................4
Evaluation of E-business policies on Oman air...............................................................................5
Implementation of Porter’s five forces theory.................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
In the current business scenario, internet and online technologies are contributing in
rapidly evolving the existing scenario of doing business. The exiting process of providing service
to the customers, providing customer convenience and value creation of the products are being
changing rapidly with the help of online technologies1. One of the key or prime developments
being happened due to the initiation of internet is the E-business. With the help of this concept,
business organizations are going beyond own limits to provide effective customers service and to
stay ahead in the competition.
Hospitality industries such as Oman air will have several advantages from the
involvement of E-business2. It will enable them to effectively deal with the customers and
enhancing their convenience. Thus, they will gain more competitive advantages in the market.
This report will discuss about the impact of initiation of E-business on Oman air. Suitable article
will be reviewed in order to determine the effectiveness and viability of using the concept of E-
business for Oman air.
Overview of the article
There are various articles being discussed by the different authors about the impact of E-
business on the organizational performance and effectiveness. According to Voola, Casimir,
Carlson and Agnihotri (2012)3, E-business is the new age trend in the contemporary business
1 Wilson, Alan, et al. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw
Hill, 2012.
2 Andam, Z. R. (2014). e-Commerce and e-Business.
3 Voola, Ranjit, et al. "The effects of market orientation, technological opportunism, and e-
business adoption on performance: A moderated mediation analysis." Australasian Marketing
Journal (AMJ) 20.2 (2012): 136-146.

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scenario. According to them, there are various aspects that should be maintained in order to
initiate the concept of E-business in the organization. However, in this article, there are various
potential benefits being discussed for the business organizations. Thus, discussion of these
benefits of E-business will help Oman air to determine the most effective steps for enhancing
their organizational performance with the help of internet. According to the authors, initiation of
the e-business with the help of innovations such as webpage, online payment systems, and online
shopping will help the business organizations to cater to more number of customers effectively.
Moreover, these steps will help them in gaining competitive advantages in the market by
providing updated services to the customers.
Evaluation of the article
The above discussed article have only discussed about the implication of technological
innovation and E-business concept on the organizational performance. According to this article,
organizational performance will get enhanced with the initiation of the concept of E-business.
However, in the initiation of the e-business, there are other various factors that should also be
considered by the organizations, to increase the effectiveness of their e-business. Opinions being
given by George Wynn, Turner and Lau (2013)4, states that, implementation of the concept of E-
business in the organization will involve the change process and involvement of information
technology. This is due to the reason that, according to the authors, implementation of the
process of E-business involves change in the existing business procedures and thus change is
required to adhere to the criterions of E-business. On the other hand, another theory being given
4 George Wynn, Martin, Phillip Turner, and Erin Lau. "E-business and process change: two case
studies (towards an assessment framework)." Journal of Small Business and Enterprise
Development 20.4 (2013): 913-933.

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by Lai, Jung-Yu, Chih-Wei Kan and Khire Rushikesh Ulhas (2013)5, employee involvement and
participation in the organizational process is also required in effective implementation of the
concept of E-business. Moreover, initiation of the e-business is not only beneficial for the
customers and organizations but also for the employees6. This is due to the reason that,
employees will be more equipped and will be supported by the updated technologies in dealing
with the customers.
Thus, it can be concluded that, there are various factors that should considered by the
business organizations in implementing the process of E-business. Moreover, it is also being
stated by the authors that, implementation of E-business is having various positive implications
for the business organizations7. The following sections will discuss about the implications of E-
business on the organizational performance and effectiveness on Oman air.
Evaluation of E-business policies on Oman air
Various E-business policies such as marinating websites, online ticket booking facilities,
online payment systems, offering e-cash to the customers and providing online customization
options for the added services will help Oman air to provide more and effective customer
convenience8. This will have various and diversified positive outcomes for the organization. In
this case, the example of Emirates airlines can be taken. The design of the official website of
5 Lai, Jung-Yu, Chih-Wei Kan, and Khire Rushikesh Ulhas. "Impacts of employee participation
and trust on e-business readiness, benefits, and satisfaction." Information Systems and e-
Business Management 11.2 (2013): 265-285.
6 Soto-Acosta, Pedro, Simona Popa, and Daniel Palacios-Marqués. "E-business, organizational
innovation and firm performance in manufacturing SMEs: an empirical study in
Spain." Technological and Economic Development of Economy 22.6 (2016): 885-904.
7 Gloor, Peter. Making the e-business Transformation. Springer Science & Business Media,
2012.
8 Kaura, Vinita, Ch S. Durga Prasad, and Sourabh Sharma. "Service quality, service
convenience, price and fairness, customer loyalty, and the mediating role of customer
satisfaction." International Journal of Bank Marketing 33.4 (2015): 404-422.

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Emirates airline is being done in such way that it will provide holistic service to the customers.
Customers visiting their web page will have the access to the history of the company along with
having the facility of online ticket booking. Moreover other online facilities being offered by
them are the online check in facilities, online management of the passenger seat, customer
loyalty programs and added facilities such as tourism package and hotel bookings across the
world9. Thus, with having these diversified facilities, Emirates is covering the diversified needs
of the customers.
In the case of Oman air, enhancing the utility of their official websites will help them to
enhance their competitive advantages in the market. This is due to the reason that, in the current
business scenario, especially in the airline sector, customers are more looking for the
convenience and peace of mind in selecting their preferred airliner10. Thus, organizations such as
Emirates are going ahead in the competition. In order to stay competitive in the market, Oman air
also has to initiate the facilities of online payment and other facilities11. This will help them to
enhance the effectiveness of their organizational process by catering to more number of
customers.
Implementation of Porter’s five forces theory
Porter’s five forces theory will help to determine the various impacts of involving of E-
business in the organizational activity of Oman air. According to this theory, the first step is the
threat of entry. For Oman air, the threat of entry is always high due to the probability of new
9 "Emirates Special Offers | Book A Flight | Emirates." Emirates. N.p., 2017. Web. 18 Oct. 2017.
10 Wang, Stephen W. "The moderating effects of involvement with respect to customer
relationship management of the airline sector." Journal of Air Transport Management 35 (2014):
57-63.
11 De Bel-Air, Françoise. Demography, migration, and the labour market in Oman. 2015.

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entrants12. Moreover, the new entrants in the market will offer more updated service to the
customers. Thus, it is of utmost importance for the Oman air to initiate E-business to offer
service to the customers according to the change in the requirement in the market. Thus, the
more will be the diversified online services being provided by them, the more they will be
equipped to take on the new entrants.
The next aspect is the bargaining power of the suppliers. For Oman air, suppliers include
the partners of them such as booking agents and travel agents13. However, in case of not having
any online or E-business activity, they will be more depended on the existing partners and it will
increase the bargaining power of the suppliers. On the other hand, initiation of E-business will
help to reduce the dependency on the suppliers. The next element of this theory is threat to the
substitutes. In the current scenario, various airliners are operating and competition is high. The
core service being offered by them is same of providing air service. Thus, in order to stay ahead
in the competition, Oman air has to promote distinctive service for their customers. Initiation of
the E-business will enable them to promote unique services to the customers from their portal,
which will help them to stay ahead in the competition.
The next step is the bargaining power of the buyers14. In the case of airline industry, the
bargaining power of the buyer is more due to the presence of different airliner in the market. In
this case also, initiation of the E-business will help Oman air to provide one of a kind services to
the customers, which will reduce the number of options available to the customers. The last step
is the industry rivalry. Switching cost for the customers is very less and thus, customers have low
12 Gayle, Philip G., and Chi-Yin Wu. "A re-examination of incumbents’ response to the threat of
entry: Evidence from the airline industry." Economics of Transportation 2.4 (2013): 119-130.
13 Haucap, Justus, et al. Bargaining power in manufacturer-retailer relationships. No. 107. DICE
Discussion Paper, 2013.
14 Li, Xinxin. "Group buying, buyer heterogeneity, and sellers' bargaining power." Decision
Sciences 43.5 (2012): 761-783.

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level of loyalty. Hence, with the initiation of the E-business, the diversity of the product and
service portfolio of Oman air will get increased15. More added service can be offered to the
customers. Thus, among the competition, Oman air will have competitive advantages16.
Recommendations
 The initiation of the E-business should be implemented in the global scenario. This will
enable the customers to have the online flight booking facility for all the major cities
around the world.
 The interface of the portal or web page should be changed periodically in accordance to
the market trend. This will enhance the visibility and attractiveness of the web page to the
potential customers.
 Privacy and security is one of the key contemporary issues being faced by the online
portals. Thus, Oman air should ensure the security of their portal. This is important due to
the reason that, customer information will be stored and thus leakage or breach of
customer information will have negative implication for them.
 Customer loyalty bonus and rebate should be initiated in order to motivate the customers
to use their online facilities. It will help them to increase the online traffic. In this case,
extra discount can be provided for the customers booking tickets from online portal.
 Any organizational excellence and achievements should be effectively communicated
and promoted through their portals. It will help Oman air to enhance their brand value
and service as well as attracting more customers.
15 Bilbiie, Florin O., Fabio Ghironi, and Marc J. Melitz. "Endogenous entry, product variety, and
business cycles." Journal of Political Economy 120.2 (2012): 304-345.
16 Kirchmer, Mathias. Business process oriented implementation of standard software: how to
achieve competitive advantage efficiently and effectively. Springer Science & Business Media,
2012.

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 The online portals should be made available in different major languages to effectively
communicate and reach out to different customers from different social groups.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that, initiation of the E-business will help Oman air in
enhancing their organizational effectiveness. Their brand value will also get enhanced and
communicated to more number of customers around the world. Critical analysis has also been
done to determine the benefits of having E-business for Oman air. It is been determined that
initiation of the E-business will help Oman air to gain more competitive advantages in the
market and will help to create distinctive image in the market. Various recommendations are also
been provided and discussed in this report. It is being expected that, effective implementation of
these recommendations will help to enhance the organizational performance of Oman air.