Strategic Management Plan
Part B: Number 4 – Industry Analysis
The e-commerce industry is a profitable sector of most economies. Countries like the U.S. and China have emerged as successful markets for e-commerce investment. Similarly, the global value of the e-commerce industry is growing in value in other market regions such as Africa and India. For instance, Jumia has taken over the e-commerce sector of most economies in Africa. The global value of the e-commerce industry is estimated to be $29 trillion (Wimmer & Yoon, 2017). Investing in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) seems to be the new trend of most e-commerce corporations. Globalization has promoted e-commerce platforms with standardized products and professional practices.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been influential in promoting the e-commerce business. For instance, the organization standardizes the quality and quantity of products that are sold in the international market. Similarly, the organization regulates payment systems for e-commerce platforms to ensure stability in the global economy (Gai, et al. 2015). The e-commerce industry is a promising sector in most countries. However, this industry encounters different challenges in different regional markets. E-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba receive frequent complaints of counterfeit from brand products. The rise in e-commerce development has been affected by counterfeit products that end up in the market.
Fig 1: The growth of counterfeit products with respect to ecommerce development.
Part B: Number 7 – Recommendations Based on Issues/Opportunities
Amazon condemns the growth of counterfeit production in modern retailing markets. The firm experiences losses from reimbursing clients who complain of purchasing a counterfeit product in its e-commerce platform (Gai, et al. 2015). Amazon should consider adding another line of e-commerce service that would generate more revenue to the organization. Amazon should consider training experts of Quality Assurance officers on behalf of its clients or partners. For instance, Amazon could develop an information system that verifies genuine products using specialized software. This system would be integrated as a module of production during the branding stages. Having front-end and back-end officers with constant communication on counterfeit cases would aid in solving cases of fake product sales on Amazon.
Amazon should also consider implementing security measures that punish individuals who engage in counterfeit malpractice. In most countries, state agencies that address the issue of counterfeit products fail to be objective in implementing effective solutions. For instance, state agents who quality check counterfeit products collude with businesspeople to commit the malpractice (Wimmer & Yoon, 2017). It should be the responsibility of state agencies to partner with the affected stakeholder in eradicating the vice. State agencies choose the wrong partners in fighting the sale of counterfeit products. Amazon should develop a proposition which suggests the inclusion of relevant stakeholders in fighting counterfeit production of commodities.
Opportunities could arise if Amazon suggested the relevant stakeholders required for creating a fair competitive platform in the e-commerce sector. Amazon would create job positions for a new position which links e-commerce platforms with a state agency that fights the vice. All parties would be expected to produce a brand representative who gathers and analyses information related to the counterfeit sale of goods (Gai, et al. 2015). Frequent reports would aid all parties in making relevant decisions in the form of strategizing security policies in the organization. Similarly, the involved government could adopt practices that punish the production of counterfeit products such as hefty fines and penalties. Prison sentences should also be suggested to punish business malpractice in the production and sale of counterfeit products.
References
Wimmer, H., & Yoon, V. Y. (2017). Counterfeit product detection: Bridging the gap between design science and behavioral science in information systems research. Decision Support Systems, 104, 1-12.
Gai, K., Qiu, M., Zhao, H., & Dai, W. (2015, November). Anti-Counterfeit Scheme Using Monte Carlo Simulation for E-Commerce in Cloud Systems. In 2015 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Cyber Security and Cloud Computing (pp. 74-79). IEEE.
Please follow the provided guidelines and information. You only need to develop Part B, numbers 4 (industry analysis) & 7 (recommendations base on issues/opportunities). For number 4 please provide as additional material a chart.