Virtual Companies
An Informational Website
EXAMPLES OF VIRTUAL COMPANIES:
There are many examples of different types of companies that operate as virtual companies. One company, Ensemble - a division of Hallmark, is an example of the virtual enterprise that relies on outsourcing to become a more successful company. They rely on other companies to handle their manufacturing and distribution. Under an agreement, USCO handles their entire order fulfillment, receipt of inbound goods, warehousing, and outbound transportation. Customers call in, fax, or transmit their orders to Ensemble via EDI. These orders then go to USCO. One of the main benefits Ensemble gains is that they only pay for the space and service they require. By this, they can control costs, have flexibility, and still generate dynamic sales and marketing programs [4].
Another example of companies that become some type of virtual company is an insurance or financial service company. They do this to achieve optimum efficiency. The greatest improvement for insurance companies is to eliminate tasks by outsourcing, not by working to make them more efficient. By relying on telecommunications, they are more flexible and able to meet the consumer's demand for speed and responsiveness [5].
Consumers use virtual companies for almost everything these days. From buy.com to amazon.com, they can purchase anything imaginable on the Internet. Amazon.com and buy.com are virtual companies that only exist on the web. buy.com, a leading Internet superstore and low price leader, sells a broad range of categories including computer hardware and peripherals, software, consumer electronics, books, videos, DVDs, games, music, golf, clearance equipment, and travel booking services. The buy.com e-commerce portal links ten specialty stores and features products from thousands of popular manufacturers such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and many more. Product reviews in technology categories, easy search functionality across all categories, product recommendations, best sellers, and music clips are among some of the features that help customers make better buying decisions. Individuals can shop at buy.com 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as track packages online and have access to customer service representatives at any time. The company's virtual operating model allows for better efficiency and entry into new categories quickly, helping provide the best customer experience with one-stop shopping, larger selections and a low price guarantee [6].
Wedding Channel.com is another virtual enterprise. This company works by linking all of the needs of a bride to be into one central location. They offer tips, advice, links to invitation providers and bridal registry stores, and planning tools. The company does not sell everything one may need for a wedding, but instead provides a central location for a customer to go for all their wedding planning needs.
Jobs.com is one of the many virtual companies that have brought together job seekers with companies. It is a national website that links individuals with job openings. With Job.com's advanced technology, it allows an individual to search for a job by location, salary range, field and level of experience. Jobs.com allows the candidates to submit a resume on line and a recruiter to receive emailed resumes from candidates.
This service has had a drastic impact on the world of recruiting. Jobs.com joins another large web-based recruiting site, Monster.com, as two of the largest on-line recruiting sources. Monster.com provides the same services as Jobs.com in that it allows job seekers and recruiters to come together throught the internet. These sites also offer job seekers helpful information on preparing a resume, salary information and advice from the experts on searching for a job [8].
CheMatch.com is an Internet exchange and information resource for buying and selling bulk commodity chemicals, polymers and fuel products. It allows customers and buyers to buy and sell chemicals 24 hours a day 7 days a week around the world. CheMatch acts as an independent neutral third party, delivering instantaneous access to an expanding list of commodity chemicals, polymers and fuel products traded on an exchange.
Just one click puts the consumer in touch with a global pool of pre-qualified buyers and sellers. In addition to the industry leading exchange capability, CheMatch.com offers online auctions, reverse auctions and tenders a choice of market formats to meet a company's strategic sales and sourcing requirements [9].
Jennifer Wolk hard at work...