Ecommerce Business Operations: Going Beyond Normal through Knowledge Management

Abstract

The fusion of technology and ravaging pandemic has forced business units to move beyond the normal by the application and management of requisite knowledge needed to run business and to manage the customers. With the customers confined to stay indoors, large amount of time was consumed by ecommerce websites. The result, large scale knowledge accumulation was heaped and waiting to be exploited by the customer as well as by business executives. This paper is an attempt by the authors in trying to highlight the constituents of knowledge and this knowledge can be capitalized to move beyond the normal. Thus, the paper addresses the following research questions (a) What constitutes knowledge in the domain of Ecommerce operations by business units and consumers (b) What means and mechanisms are needed to identify drivers of knowledge (c) What measurable parameters are required to be developed for managing the identified drivers and (d) What is needed to address the dynamic changes of the Ecommerce world in terms of knowledge management? The development of the paper is based on the grounded theory by Stevin and Korbin, the theory of motivation by Mcgregor. In developing the paper, the authors have used primary and secondary data from the respondents comprising of students, working executives and housewives. The domain of the study is restricted to buying of FMCG and home furnishing products. The sample size if restricted to 320 thought he authors initially have targeted for 600 respondents. The technique for data analysis is based on the application of multi variate data analysis. The findings indicate that knowledge management constitutes an important component during the buying and selling operations in Ecommerce websites. However, what constitutes knowledge in the first place is the crucial aspect of managing operations. The findings also indicate that when it comes to managing knowledge timing plays a crucial part and above all one needs to be weigh into consideration the risks involved in the process. The study contributes to the literature providing new sight into the domain of information technology in terms of Ecommerce buying and selling operations. As far the knowledge of the authors, the existing literature has failed to address this vital domain. The managerial implications of the study is that it provides a new avenue for the Ecommerce business managers to design and develop execution strategy so as to serve the customers. The research implication of the study stems from the fact that this study provides a new dimension which can be taken up as a future course of study. The limitation of the study is the restriction of the limited number of websites which the consumers use.