BUSINESS NETWORKING
   
1．Challenge of the Information Age
   
　　Business is undergoing a transformation from the industrial to the information age．Information technology（IT）opens up possibilities for new business solutions；it offers exceptional opportunities for fast innovators and harbors fundamental risks for laggards [1]．
　　This transformation poses a gigantic challenge for both business and society．Success stories alternate with news of project failures．New companies，such as Amazon，Siebet or Yahoo！，have been growing at rates of 100 percent a year and more and achieve quite incredible levels of market capitalization within a few years of their existence while others，such as banks or travel agencies，introduce drastic cutbacks in staff every year or disappear from the market[2]．
　　Information technology makes new business solutions possible．This might mean new or improved products and services（e. g. automobile and navigation），additional sales channels（e. g. Internet banking），more efficient forms of procurement（e. g．global procurement by means of electronic markets），new ways in which suppliers and customers can cooperate（e. g. collaborative planning），new services（e. g. virtual communities），more effective management（e. g. through the automatic measurement of key performance indicators）or new information services（e. g. product catalogs）[3]．
   
2．Imperatives of Business in the Internet Age
   
　　Imagine a scenario in which every employee，every customer，every business partner，every appliance and every computer has immediate access to each other’s data at any time．That is exactly what the Internet is about to make possible within a few years [4]．What will your business be like by then?
　　We summarize the most important rules within the framework of the business model of the information age and explain them with the aid of the example of the process car ownership in Fig. 16-1[5]．
　　Networks makes it possible to offer all products and services for a customer process on a coordinated basis and from a single source[6]．It is not the customer but the supplier who is the specialist in the process car ownership[7]．The car dealer takes on the task of helping the customer with car selection，obtaining the test reports，financing，navigation，resale，etc．This applies equally to the stages upstream of the car dealer，e．g．completeness of a car journal’s services，perhaps including online research in earlier issues or access to sources．The credit scoring institute provides not only the customer’s credit rating but also concrete information on delays in payment or loan insurance，the tire dealer supplies not only the tires but also the CAD data（computer-aided design）and test reports as well as batch quality data，etc．    

3．Seven Trends
   
　　Seen by a business point of view the numerous IT developments are responsible for seven fundamental trends in business transformation（see Fig. l6-2）．
 
　　●　Enterprise resource planning，i．e．the operational execution of business，runs almost imperceptibly in the background．Integrated applications for administration as well as for product development and technology make it possible to concentrate on business rather than on administration．
　　●　Knowledge management supplies each task within a process with the necessary knowled-ge about customers，competitors，products，etc. and above all about the process itself．
　　●　Smart appliances take information processing to the point of action．Traffic information is supplied via the satellite navigation system（GPS）to the motorist，point-of-sale information from the cash register to the product manufacturer and machine faults via sensors to the service engineer[8]．
    ●   Business Networking makes collaboration between two companies so simple that they appear to be one enterprise[9]．Information on sales of the end product is immediately available to all the companies in the supply chain．
　　●　Many sub-processes which companies still operate individually at the moment will be a-vailable from the Net as electronic services．One example could be customer profiling．In addition to the supplier，a third party online-database provider and the customer him or herself can take over the responsibility of his or her profile and offer it via an electronic service[10]．
　　●　Companies will not simply be selling products or services but will be supporting entire
customer processes．Transport businesses will take on the logistics process，doctors will support the whole therapy process and insurance companies will handle the claim processing instead of the customer．
　　●　Corporate management will no longer merely focus on financial results but also on fact-ors contributing to these resuits．Financial management will become value management which keeps an eye on key performance indicators for the success of the business[11]．

NOTES
 　 [1] harbor此处为动词，为隐匿、窝藏。
    [2] 由连接词while连接的并列句。
    [3] 由7个并列成分组成的长句。
    [4] what引出的是表语从句。
    [5] 此处所有权ownership是指加工汽车时各部门的任务和职能。
    [6] 此句指为一个用户单独进行生产，按图16-1所示就是生产汽车，source为信息源。
    [7] 由于通过网络为单个客户生产汽车，因而供应商应有这方面的专业知识。
    [8] point-of-sale...句中省略了is supplied。
    [9] so... that引导的是结果状语从句。
    [10] profiling意为模型加工，此句话和下面一句指通过网上的电子服务可以进行对客户模型的加工。
    [11] which引出的为定语从句，修饰value management；keep an eye on为注意，留心观察之意。

KEYWORDS
    information age      信息时代
    Information Technology（IT）    信息技术
    computer-aided design（CAD）    计算机辅助设计
    global positioning satellite（GPs）    全球定位卫星
　　cash register      现金出纳机
　　Enterprise Resource Planning（ERP）    企业资源计划
    knowledge management     知识管理
    smart appliance      智能设备
    business networking      商业联网
    sub-process       子过程，子进程
    electronic service      电子服务，电子业务

EXERCISES
1．True / False．

（1）______Information Technology offers harbors fundamental risks for fast innov-ators．
（2）______ERP runs almost imperceptibly in the background．
（3）______In business networking the supplier of car is the specialist in the process car ownership rather than the customer．
（4）______New business solutions might mean new or improved products and serv-ices．
（5）______Corporate management will focus on financial results only．
（6）______Using the Internet every customer，every business partner and every co-mputer can access immediately to each other’s data at any time．
（7）______We have six fundamental trends in business transformation．
（8）______Smart appliances take information processing to the point of action．
（9）______Electronic services are some sub-processes on which companies still op-erate individually．
（10）______Companies with IT will simply be selling products or services．

2．Fill in the blanks．

（1）Business is undergoing a transformation from the industrial to______．
（2）Knowledge management supplies each task with______about customers，competitors，products，etc．
（3）______are in the same layer of the road to the enterprise of the information age．
（4）Fig. 16-1 gives a example concerning______．
（5）Business networking makes information on sales of the end product available to______．
（6）Electronic markets are______of procurement．
（7）______are new services that IT provides．
（8）______poses a gigantic challenge for both business and society．
（9）A third party online-database provider can take over the responsibility of profile via______．
（10）Networks are able to offer______for a customer process．
      a．all the companies in the supply chain
      b．the information age
      c．an electronic service
      d．virtual communities
      e．Business networking，knowledge management and smart appliances
      f．all products and services
      g．the necessary knowledge
      h．the process car ownership
      i．Transformation from the industrial to the information age
      j．more efficient forms

答案：
1．
（1）f  （2）t  （3）t  （4）t
（5）f  （6）t  （7）f  （8）t
（9）t  （10）f
2．
（1）b  （2）g  （3）e  （4）h
（5）a  （6）j  （7）d  （8）i
（9）c  （10）f

翻译：

商业网络技术
     
1．信息时代的挑战

    企业正在经历着从工业化向信息时代的转变。信息技术（IT）开拓了新的企业运营方式；它为捷足先登的革新者提供了特殊的机遇，给落伍者带来了基本的风险。
    这种转变对企业和社会都是一个巨大的挑战。成功的故事与项目失败的新闻在交替出现。新的公司，如亚马逊，西贝尔或雅虎以每年高于100％的速度在增长，并且在它们开业的几年内达到了完全难以置信的市场投资水平，而在另一方面，如银行或旅游代理，每年都在大幅度裁员，甚至从市场上消失了。
    信息技术使得新的企业运营方式成为可能，这就意味着会产生新的或改进了的产品和服务（例如汽车和航空），附加的销售渠道（例如因特网银行业务），促成更有效的形式（例如借助电子市场获得全球条件），新的供应商和客户可以合作的方法（例如合作计划），新的服务（例如虚拟社团），高效管理（例如通过对关键性能指标的自动测量）或新的信息服务（例如产品目录）。

2．因特网时代商业的紧迫感

    可以想象这样一个情景，每个雇员，每个客户，每个商业伙伴，每个设备和每台计算机都可以在任何时刻立即访问相互之间的数据。这就准确地说明了在短短几年内因特网能够做什么；从那时起你的企业可能会像什么样子。
    我们归纳了信息时代在商业模式主框架内最重要的一些规则并且用图16-1所示的处理汽车所有权的例子加以说明。
    网络使得通过协调可以从一个信息源向客户提供所有的产品和服务。不是客户，而是供应商才是处理汽车所有权方面的专家。汽车分销商的任务是帮助客户选择汽车，拿到检测报告，财务结算，驾车，转卖等这同样适用于汽车商上游业务的几个阶段，例如，处理一辆汽车的日常业务，也可能包括在线查找早期的问题或访问信息提供者。信誉评价机构给出的不仅是客户的信誉度还提供延迟支付或贷款，担保等具体信息，轮胎分销商不仅提供轮胎，还提供计算机辅助设计（CAD）数据和测试报告以及批量质量数据等。

3．7大趋势

　　从企业观点看到的大量IT的开发，在企业变革中负有7项使命（见图16-2）。
　　●　企业资源计划（ERP），也就是企业的运作实施，总是悄悄地在后台运行。使管理上的综合应用、产品开发和技术更集中在商业上而不是在管理上成为可能。
　　●　知识管理为每项任务提供所需要的有关客户、竞争对手、产品以及上面的所有过程本身的知识。
　　●　智能设备把信息处理带到作业点：交通信息通过卫星导航系统（GPS）传给汽车驾驶人；生产厂家现金出纳机上的销售信息传递给产品生产厂家；而机器故障信息经由传感器传给服务工程师。
　　●　企业联网使两个公司之间的合作简单得能以一个企业的面貌出现。最终产品的销售信息立即可为供应链上所有公司使用。
　　●　一些公司在某时刻单独运作的很多子过程可从网上作为电子服务提供。例如顾客模型加工，除了供应商以外，一个第三方在线数据库提供者和顾客本人可以承担他们的模型加工责任并通过电子服务提供模型。
　　●　公司将不只简单地销售产品或服务，而是支持全客户流程。运输业将使用后勤流程，医生将支持整个治疗流程，保险公司将代替客户处理索赔流程。
　　●　合作管理将不再只关注财务结果，也关注产生这些结果的因素。财务管理将变成为评价企业成功的关键性能指标的价值管理。