Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce（课件）《电子商务专业英语》（中国水利电力出版社）

1 An English Course for E-Commerce (The Second Edition) Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-2 Key points: Useful terms and definitions of B2B E-Commerce Difficult points: Identifying electronic commerce opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 2 电子商务专业英语 4-3 Requirements: 掌握B2B电子商务的定义与范畴； 了解B2B电子商务潜在提高生产力的四种类型； 理解B2B在线B2B媒介的特点； 了解B2B电子商务美国的发展、现状及未来； 体会科技论文的组成及其写作的基本方法; 掌握常用英汉互译技巧。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-4 4.1 Intoduction New Words & Expressions: pin down v.使受约束, 阻止, 压制 securities n.有价证券 intermediary n.仲裁者, 调解者, 中间物 bond n. 公债, 债券, 合同 consolidation n.巩固, 合并 intercompany n.公司间的 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-5 Business-to-business commerce includes a broad range of intercompany transactions, including wholesale trade as well as company purchases of services, resources, technology, manufactured parts and components, and capital equipment. It also includes some types of financial transactions between companies, such as insurance, commercial credit, bonds, securities and other financial assets. The popular phrase B2B e-commerce refers to the substitution of computer data processing and Internet communications for labor services in the production of economic transactions. Many companies engaged in B2B e-commerce are intermediaries between other companies that buy and sell goods and services. 企业间商务包含广泛的公司间交易,包括批发贸易以及公司购买服务、资源、技术、制部件与零件和资本设备。它也包括公司之间的一些金融交易类型, 例如保险、商业信贷、债券、证券和其他财务资产。B2B(企业间)电子商务这个流行短语指在经济交易生产中用计算机数据处理和因特网通信代替人工服务。许多从事B2B电子商务的公司是其他买卖货物与服务的公司之间的中介。 4.1 Introduction Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-6 The potential size of B2B e-commerce in the economy is vast, though somewhat difficult to pin down. 尽管有些难以准确说明，B2B电子商务在经济中的潜在规模是巨大的， Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-7 Expectations about productivity gains from B2B e-commerce can be usefully divided into four areas: possible efficiencies from automation of transactions, potential economic advantages of new market intermediaries, consolidation of demand and supply through organized exchanges, and changes in the extent of vertical integration of companies. 对来自B2B电子商务的生产力增益的预期可有效地分为四个领域：来自交易自动化的引起的可能效率、新市场中介的潜在经济优势、经过有组织的交换引起的供与求的合并和公司间纵向整合程度的变化。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-8 4.2 Cost Efficiencies from Automation of Transactions New Words & Phrases interbusiness n. 企业间的 confirmation n. 证明，证实，认证，确认 contract n.合同, 契约, 婚约 mediate vt.调停，斡旋 personnel n. 人员, 职员 drum n. 盛装大量化学品的桶槽 quantity n. [pl. ]大量; 大宗; 大批 contractual adj.契约的 anecdotal adj.轶事 teller n. 柜台职员,出纳员 back office 后台管理 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-9 Traditionally, interbusiness transactions begin with a buyer looking for inputs or a supplier seeking buyers for its goods and services. Buyers and suppliers search for each other through advertising, trade shows, brokers, and dealers. Suppliers send out sales agents. Buyers then negotiate with potential sellers concerning product specifications and prices, and perhaps conclude a spot transaction or form a long-term contract. After the agreement has been reached, the transaction still involves ordering, billing, arrangements for transportation, confirmation of payments, and acceptance of delivery. 传统上，企业间交易开始于买方寻找输入或供应商为它的货物及服务寻找买主。买方和供应商通过广告、交易展览、经纪人和交易商。彼此寻找供应商派出销售代理。然后买方与可能的卖方议定关于产品规格与价格，而且也许达成一个现货交易或形成一个长期合同。在达成协议之后,交易仍然包括定单、付账、安排运输、支付查证和收货检验。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-10 E-commerce innovations aim to reduce the cost of procurement before, during and after the transaction. At every stage, e-commerce avoids the need to translate computer files into paper documents, a process that generally involves errors, delay and costly clerical personnel. E-commerce automates this process by mediating transactions through Web sites and electronic data interchange (EDI). 电子商务技术革新旨在减少交易前、交易中和交易后的采购成本。在每个阶段，电子商务避免了将计算机文件转换为纸质文档的需要，而这个过程通常包括错误、延迟和昂贵的办事人员。电子商务通过网站和电子数据交换(EDI)促成交易使这个过程自动化。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-11 Before the transaction, Internet technology may lower the cost of searching for suppliers or buyers and making price and product comparisons. Search costs can be significant relative to the value of the product, particularly for small purchases. Alf Sherk, the founder of e-Chemicals, claims: “When you're dealing with one or two drum quantities, the cost of comparison shopping can be more than the value of the product”. Sales personnel acting as sales representatives have traditionally carried out such mundane tasks as tracking product availability and pricing and supplying such information to customers. By automating these information services, e-commerce relieves sales personnel of these tasks, allowing them to concentrate on account management and marketing strategy. 在交易之前，因特网技术可以降低供应商或买主的搜索成本和比较价格与产品的成本。搜寻成本相对于产品的价值可能是值得注意的,特别是对于小型购买。 Alf Sherk，电子化学品的创办人,宣称:“当你进行一两桶(化工产品)交易的时候,比较购物的成本可能比产品的价值还高”。作为销售代表的销售人员在传统上完成了这些任务，如跟踪产品可用率和订价并将这些信息供应给顾客。通过自动化这些信息服务，电子商务将销售人员从这些任务中解脱出来,允许他们集中于财会管理和市场营销战略。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-12 During the transaction, e-commerce can reduce the cost of communicating with counterparts in other companies regarding transaction details. Transactions over computer networks avoid many of the associated costs of inter personal economic exchange, including the costs of travel, times spent on communication, physical space for meetings, and processing paper documents. 在交易过程中，电子商务能减少与其他公司的对手就交易细节进行交流的成本。在计算机网络上的交易避免了许多的个人间经济交换的相关成本, 包括旅差费、通信上花费的时间、会见需要的物理空间和加工纸上文档。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-13 After the transaction, electronic commerce allows companies to lower costs of communication, to monitor contractual performance, or to confirm delivery. In addition, companies can apply information generated by the transaction to update their inventory, production and accounting records by automatically linking their transactions to software used for managing all aspects of the firm including sales, purchasing and operations. 在交易之后，电子商务允许公司降低监视契约履行或确认交货的通信成本。此外，公司能通过将交易与用于管理公司各个方面（包括销售、采购和运作）的软件自动相连，应用由交易产生的信息更新他们的存货、产量和会计记录。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-14 The potential cost savings in this area are substantial. Processing a purchase order manually, including paperwork, data entry, phone calls, f axes, and approval requests, can be quite expensive, so online transactions might easily reduce costs by a factor of five or ten or more. There is anecdotal evidence that such cost reductions are possible. 在这个领域的成本节省是重要的。手工处理一个定购单，包括文书工作、数据登录、打电话、传真和核准请求,其成本可能相当昂贵,因此在线交易可以容易地减少成本5倍或10倍或更高。有轶事证据显示这种成本降低是可能的。 By lowering the costs of transactions, e-commerce will change not only operating costs but also the characteristics and scope of feasible transactions. 通过降低交易成本，电子商务将不仅改变运营成本，而且改变可行交易的特性和范围。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-15 4.3 Economic Efficiency Gains from Intermediation in B2B E-Commerce New Words & Phrases mitigate v.减轻 market maker 庄家, 市场制造者, 做市商 market making 市场开拓, 造市 assortment n.分类 almond n. 杏仁 lighting fixture 照明器材 embryos n. 胚胎 apparel n.衣服, 装饰 freelance n. 自由劳动者 over-the-counter 买卖双方直接交易的 creditworthiness n. 信用,信贷价值 appraisal n.评价, 估价,鉴定 disintermediation n.不干预, 脱媒 supplant vt.排挤掉, 代替 one-on-one adj. 一对一的 auctioneer n.拍卖商 referral n.职业分派[介绍], 介绍, 指点 subsidiary n.辅助的,子公司 proliferation n.增殖 counteroffer n. 还价，还盘，反建议 polyethylene n.聚乙烯 bilateral adj.有两面的, 双边的 Market-clearing 市场结算 host of 许多, 一大群 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-16 Intermediation and market-making are central activities in a market-oriented economy, bringing buyers and sellers together. Intermediaries can reduce transaction costs relative to direct exchange, by reducing the costs of search, certifying product quality, mitigating communication costs, and providing guarantees for buyer or seller commitments. Companies acting as market-makers enhance transaction efficiency by creating institutions of exchange, adjusting and communicating prices, clearing markets, allocating goods, and providing liquidity and immediacy. 中介和造市使买卖双方走到一起，是面向市场的经济中的中心活动。中介可以减少与直接交换有关的成本，通过减少搜寻和证实产品质量的成本、减轻通信费用和为买方或卖方义务提供担保。起造市作用的公司通过创立交换制度、调整并沟通价格、开拓市场、分配货物和提供流动性与直接性提高交易效率。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-17 Business-to-business e-commerce appears likely to transform the traditional patterns of intermediation in ways large and small. Intermediaries reduce search costs by consolidating markets, providing market information and offering an assortment of goods and services, so that buyers obtain the cost efficiency of one-stop shopping, rather than spending time contacting multiple suppliers. Many business-to-business intermediaries seek to offer a broader range of services including communication of price information and price adjustment. Centralized markets often reduce time costs by replacing bilateral negotiation with formal bidding mechanisms and information about transaction prices. B2B e-commerce companies cover a wide spectrum of industries. 企业间电子商务似乎将传统模式的中介转变为大大小小的方法。中介通过统一市场、提供市场信息和提供货物与服务的分类减少搜寻费用,以便买主获得一站式购物的成本效率,而不是花费时间联络多个供应商。许企业间中介寻求提供广泛的服务，包括沟通价格行情和价格调整。集中式市场常常通过用正式的投标机制与交易价格的信息代替双边谈判来减少时间成本。B2B电子商务公司覆盖很大范围的工业。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-18 Companies have been formed to trade items from advertising to almonds, from lighting fixtures to laboratory equipment, from cattle embryos to circuit boards. Online markets have been established (or at least announced) for aircraft parts, agriculture, apparel, automotive parts, chemicals, computers and electronics, energy, financial instruments, food and beverages, health care, intellectual property, freelance services, laboratory supplies, industrial machinery, advertising, metals, office supplies, plastics, paper, printing services, telecommunications, shipping, and travel services. One market receiving particular attention has been products for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) because materials like belts, pumps, and light fixtures are required by almost all firms in all industries, and therefore are seen as a large potential market. 公司已经形成同盟，交易项目覆盖从广告到杏仁、从照明设施到实验室设备、从家畜胚胎到电路板。飞机配件、农业、服饰、汽车配件、化学品、计算机与电子、能量、金融工具、食品与饮料、保健、知识产权、自由工作服务、实验室供给、工业机械、广告、金属、办公用品、塑料、证券、印刷服务、电信、装运和旅行服务等专门在线市场已经建立(或至少已经宣布)。受到特别关注的市场是产品维护、修理及运行(MRO)市场，因为几乎所有行业中所有公司都需要像皮带、泵和轻的灯具等原材料,因此被看作是一个大的潜在市场 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-19 Many business-to-business companies hope to create additional intermediation services. Many B2B companies propose to design innovative procurement transactions between a company and its many suppliers. Other firms are setting up markets that can provide novel types of transactions that aggregate supply and demand. 许多在线公司描述了野心勃勃的计划——提供过去常常是由老牌商人提供的增值服务：贸易信贷、供应链管理服务、估价、运输、储存和其他的大规模活动。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-20 1.2.3 The Second Wave of Electronic Commerce In the first wave, Internet technologies were integrated into B2B transactions and internal business processes by using bar codes and scanners to track parts, assemblies, inventories, and production status. These tracking technologies were not well integrated. Also, companies sent transaction information to each other using a patchwork of communication methods, including fax, e-mail, and EDI. In the second wave, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices and smart cards are being combined with biometric technologies, such as fingerprint readers and retina scanners, to control more items and people in a wider variety of situations. These technologies are increasingly integrated with each other and with communication systems that allow companies to communicate with each other and share transaction, inventory level, and customer demand information effectively. 在第一次浪潮中，互联网技术集成在企业间的交易和企业内部的业务流程主要是通过使用条形码和扫描设备来跟踪零部件、组装、库存和生产状态。这些跟踪技术并未很好地集成。而且，公司之间发送业务信息使用包括传真、电子邮件和EDI混合的通信方式。在第二次浪潮中，电子商务使用无线射频设备和智能卡连同诸如指纹识别和视网膜扫描等生物技术来管理更大范围的业务和人员。这些技术彼此集成并和通信系统进行整合，使得企业之间的通信和共享交易、库存水平及用户需求信息更加有效。 1.2 Electronic Commerce: The Second Wave Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-21 1.2.3 The Second Wave of Electronic Commerce The use of electronic mail (or e-mail) in the first wave was as a tool for relatively unstructured communication. In the second wave, sellers are using e-mail as an integral part of their marketing and customer contact strategies. 在第一次浪潮中，电子邮件（e-mail）是作为一种非结构化的通信工具来使用的。在第二次浪潮中，商家使用电子邮件作为整合他们销售和与客户联系策略的一部分。 1.2 Electronic Commerce: The Second Wave Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-22 Popular discussions often suggest that efficiencies in B2B e-commerce are obtained by disintermediation: that is, by “cutting out middlemen” and supplanting presumably costly intermediaries with direct transactions. However, less expensive intermediation and lower transactions costs do not necessarily mean fewer intermediaries. If B2B e-commerce encourages outsourcing to replace some transactions previously internal to the firm, or if firms can use intermediaries to outsource some of the their current external purchasing and sales efforts, or if firms can employ specialized intermediaries to avoid inefficient one-on-one direct meetings between companies and their suppliers, the end result would be a greater number of intermediaries. 大众讨论时常提到：在B2B电子商务中效率是通过脱媒获得的。也就是说,通过“削减中间人”和进行直接交易代替可能昂贵的中介。然而，较少中介费用和较低的交易费用并不是必然意谓着较少的中介。如果 B2B电子商务鼓励用外购代替先前公司内部交易,或者如果公司能够使用中介外购一些他们目前的外部采购与销售工作,或者公司能雇用专门的中介避免公司与供应商之间无效率的一对一直接会面,最终结果将会是更多的中介。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-23 E-commerce intermediaries can be classified into four main categories: brokers, auctioneers, dealers, and exchanges. These categories depend on the intermediary's pricing mechanism and whether or not the intermediary takes ownership of the goods and services. 电子商务中介可以分为四大类：经纪人、拍卖商、交易商和交易所。这些类目取决于中介的定价机制而且中介是否对货物及服务具有所有权。 Brokers match buyers and sellers for a fee. Some brokers offer referral services that resemble yellow-page directories, but with more comprehensive information and search facilities. Buyers generally do not pay for access, using the directories to contract sellers who in turn pay listing fees. 经纪人通过协调配买主和卖主赚取费用。一些经纪人提供类似电话黄页目录的介绍服务、但是具有更全面的信息和搜寻设施。买主使用目录联络卖方，通常不用支付访问费用，卖方反过来支付登记费用。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-24 Auctioneers take a more active role in transactions by setting up a mechanism to determine prices. Internet technology significantly reduces the cost of running an auction relative to using posted prices, and auctions are useful in situations where there is enough uncertainty about market-clearing prices. Some auctioneers hold auctions of surplus inventory for sellers. Other auctioneers hold reverse auctions for buyers, in which sellers compete against each other for a procurement contract. 通过设立定价机制，拍卖商在交易中扮演一个更积极的角色。相对于标价，因特网技术大大地减少了运行拍卖的成本；而且当市场结算价格存在很多不确定性的情况下，拍卖是有益的。一些拍卖商为卖方主持多余存货的拍卖。其他拍卖商为买方主持反向拍卖,其中卖方为了采购合同彼此竞争。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-25 Dealers take ownership of goods provided by suppliers and resell them to buyers. Dealers post ask prices for buyers and bid prices for sellers. They earn returns from the bid ask spread, adjusting prices to changes in market conditions. In the early stage of development of B2B e-commerce, few of the new online companies attempted to become dealers. Instead of building the physical infrastructure required for inventory and shipping, most chose to focus on building the electronic infrastructure of markets (broker, auction, or exchange). 交易商取得由供应商提供的货物所有权然后再将它们转售给买主。交易商为买主提出询价并为卖主提出标价。他们根据市场情况调整价格，从标价与询价之间的价差赚取利润。在B2B电子商务发展的早期,很少有在线公司试图成为交易商。不是建立存货和运输必需的物质基础设施,大部分把重点集中在建立市场的电子基础设施(经纪人、拍卖或交易所)。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-26 4.4 Market Structure and Ownership of B2B Intermediaries New Words & Phrases marginal cost 边际成本 interoperability n.互用性, 协同工作能力 materialize v.物化 lifespan n.寿命, 预期使用期限 vaporware n. 朦胧件 stake out v.立桩标出, 置于警察监视下 equity n. 权益,公平,股票,股权 antitrust adj.反托拉斯的 collusion n.共谋, 勾结 foreclose vt.排除在外, 妨碍, 自称, 阻止 allege vt.宣称, 断言 foreclosure n. 排斥 incentive n.动机;adj.激励的 venture capital n.<美>风险资本 market power 市场权力, 市场势力 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-27 在B2B电子商务形成阶段，中介市场的划分似乎是高度竞争性的。成百竞争者具有成千上万的规划。快速的初始进入暗示进入成本相对于预期收入是低廉的。进入成本看起来低还因为公司可以租用通信和计算机设施,而不至于引起不可逆资产成本。而且,市场进入者可以向专门的服务提供商外购其网站的运行，即所谓的电子商务平台。比如，Ariba和CommerceOne运行电子商务市场开发了软件平台，而且他们为许多公司提供软件。许多软件应用成为可利用的。因此，对于许多B2B公司，其进入成本主要集中在为吸引买主和卖主的电子商务服务设计和营销与销售支出 . At the formative stage of B2B e-commerce, segments of the intermediary marketplace appeared to be highly competitive. There were hundreds of entrants with projections of thousands more. Rapid initial entry suggests that entry costs were low relative to expected returns. Entry costs also appeared to be low because companies could rent communications and computer facilities without incurring irreversible capital costs. Moreover, market entrants could outsource operation of their website to specialized service providers, the so-called e-commerce platforms. For example, Ariba and CommerceOne developed software platforms for running e-commerce marketplaces (either via fixed-price catalogs or via bidding to determine prices), and they provided the software to a number of companies. A wide variety of software applications became available. Thus, for many B2B companies entry costs were primarily focused on the design of e-commerce services and on marketing and sales expenditures to attract buyers and sellers. Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-28 Returns to scale and the importance of liquidity suggest that eventually only one or two markets will operate in each product or service category. Economies of scale result from the fact that creating an Internet-based market involves large fixed costs, while the marginal costs of providing transaction information to market participants appear to be near zero. Moreover, as the number of participants at a site increases, buyers and sellers both find it easier to realize transactions in a market, so that a greater number of sellers attracts more buyers and conversely a greater number of buyer s attracts more sellers. Accordingly, buyers and sellers have an incentive to trade on the highest- volume exchange. These scale and liquidity effects would be reduced if industries managed to settle on open standards for the exchange of information about products because then a smaller exchange could easily gather information and trading partners from a larger exchange, but it is unclear whether such interoperability between markets will materialize. 对规模的回报和流动的重要性暗示：每个产品和服务类目最终只会有一个或两个市场运作。大规模济起因于一下事实：创造一个以英特网为基础的市场包括大量的固定成本,而为市场参与者提供处理信息的临界成本几乎为零。而且,随着在一个网站的参与者数目增加,买卖双方发现在一个市场中实现交易更为容易,所以很多卖主吸引了更多的买主和相反地很多买主吸引了更多卖主。因此，买主和卖主具有在最高交易量交换的动机。如果工业能为产品的信息交换决定开放的标准，这些规模和流动性效果将会减小，因为一个较小的交换可以容易地从一个较大交换收集信息和商业合伙人，但是这种市场间的互用性是否能实现还不明显。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-29 The rate at which concentration takes place in B2B e-commerce will depend on the speed at which buying and selling migrates to the Internet, what sorts of intercompany transaction mechanisms prove popular, and what methods evolve for standardizing transactions of goods that come in many closely related varieties. Some concentration appears to be occurring globally in equities exchanges. 在B2B电子商务中发生的集中速度将取决于买和卖移动到因特网上的速度、哪类公司间交易机制证明是受欢迎的和哪种方法为货物的标准化交易而进化。一些集中似乎在全球产权交易所中发生。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-30 许多稍早的B2B电子商务公司是由风险资本资助的独立开始者。其中的一些，像 VerticalNet t，成了公开交易的公司。到2000中,至少有600家由风险资本公司资助的在线交易所。 Many early B2B e-commerce companies were independent startups financed by venture capital. Some, like VerticalNet, became publicly traded companies. By mid- 2000, there were at least 600 online trading exchanges funded by venture-capital firms). There are several different forms of ownership of B2B e-commerce companies: independent firms that operate a web site, traditional dealers who also operate online markets, and industry-operated exchanges. It is not clear whether one type of ownership structure will be more successful than others. B2B电子商务公司的所有权有几种不同的形式：运作一个网站的独立公司、也操纵在线市场的传统经销商和行业运作的交易所。一种所有权体制是否会比其他形式更成功还不清楚。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-31 The establishment of B2B exchanges has raised several critical antitrust issues. Antitrust policy makers are concerned that B2B web sites will allow competitors to exchange price information thus facilitating collusion to fix prices. Also, antitrust authorities worry that B2B web sites will foreclose participation by competitors, leading to their exclusion from segments of the market. The FTC negotiated with the automakers regarding the independence of the industry-sponsored parts exchange Covisint. These concerns recall antitrust scrutiny of airline computer reservation systems that alleged collusion, exclusion and biased listings. Buyer- or seller- dominated web sites allegedly could become mechanisms for the exercise of market power. B2B交易所的建立已经引起了几个严重的反托拉斯纠纷。反托拉斯决策制定者关心B2B网站将允许竞争者交换价格信息，从而推进定价共谋。同样，反托拉斯机构也担心B2B网站将阻碍竞争者的参与,导致排除市场划分。联邦贸易委员会与汽车制造商就行业发起的零件交易所Covisint的独立性进行了谈判。这些关心引起了对航空公司计算机预定系统涉嫌共谋、排外和有偏向的列表。买主或卖主支配的网站涉嫌可能成为实施市场支配力的机构。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-32 4.5 Economic Forces and Electronic Commerce Ronald H. Coase的经典作品介绍了交易成本的概念。Coase解释说，使用市场的成本是公司能否在其组织内完成经济活动或依赖从其他公司购买的一个重要的决定因素。当使用市场相对于管理成本是昂贵的,公司有垂直整合的动机。然而,外购是由买主对灵活性和焦点的需要、供应商经济的规模与范围和供应商的专门知识迫使的。就电子商务技术降低公司间交易成本的程度来说,它应该打破平衡使天平向更多使用外部市场倾斜。 Ronald H. Coase's classic article introduced the concept of transactions costs. Coase explained that the costs of using the market were an important determinant of whether firms would carry out an economic activity within their organization or rely on purchases from other firms. When using the market is costly relative to management costs, companies have an incentive to vertically integrate. Yet, outsourcing is compelled by the buyer's need for flexibility and focus, supplier economies of scale and scope, and supplier expertise. To the extent that e-commerce technology lowers the costs of intercompany transactions, it should tip the balance toward greater use of external markets. Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-33 B2B电子商务的潜在效果超过了在现有公司间的交易时节省金钱的范围。电子商务中的成本和分配效率暗示企业组织方式更基本的改变。垂直整合的公司从事大量的内部销售和采购活动。使用B2B电子商务,这种垂直整合的公司可能重新组织，以外购那些先前内部生产的货物与服务产品，以及外购这些交易的经营。对于采用外部购买的公司，B2B电子商务中介将取代公司的采购、销售、营销甚至会计等部门的许多活动。当市场交易成本随着企业间电子商务成熟而下跌时，将会发生外购和纵向瓦解，导致沿着供应链产生更多的独立实体。 The potential effects of B2B e-commerce extend beyond saving money on transactions between existing firms. Cost and allocative efficiencies in e-commerce suggest a more fundamental change in the way that businesses are organized. Vertically integrated firms engage in substantial internal sales and procurement activities. With B2B e-commerce, such vertically integrated companies might reorganize to outsource production of goods and services that were previously produced internally, as well as outsourcing of the management of these transactions. For companies that purchase externally, B2B e-commerce intermediaries would substitute for many of the activities of company purchasing, sales, marketing, and even accounting departments. As market transaction costs fall with the maturation of business-to-business e-commerce, outsourcing and vertical disintegration will occur, resulting in more independent entities along the supply chain. Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-34 4.6 Conclusion 计算机和通信技术的进步毫无疑问承诺减少企业之间交易费用。生产力增益可以导致交易自动化、中介的潜在经济优势，集中交换的组织和公司的改组 Advances in computers and communications clearly hold great promise for reducing transaction costs between businesses. Productivity gains may result from the automation of transactions, the potential economic advantages of intermediation, the organization of centralized exchanges, and the reorganization of firms. Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-35 一个重要研究问题是这些经济效率增益的测量。然而,在服务中如在B2B电子商务中生产力增长的估计呈现一些困难。 An important research question is the measurement of these economic efficiency gains. Yet, estimation of productivity growth in services such as B2B e-commerce presents some difficulties. Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-36 One of the challenges faced by companies in B2B e-commerce is the development of software and communications standards. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is being applied to develop data descriptions and protocols to describe practically all aspects of a transaction, including product features, transportation, prices, and credit terms. If standards are generally adopted, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors will be able to exchange commercial information using generally-recognized formats. Such standardization enables the computers of both parties to a transaction to understand precisely what is being traded, so that each party can automatically update its internal records, such as billing and inventory. Developing such protocols will require extensive cooperation of buyers and sellers within industries. An important question for economic observers is what types of goods and services can be standardized and what types of transaction protocols will emerge Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-37 在B2B电子商务中公司面对的挑战之一是软件和通信标准的发展。可扩展标示语言(XML)正被应用到开发数据描述与协议中，来实际描述一个交易的所有方面，包括产品特性、运输、价格和信贷条件。如果标准被普遍采用, 制造商、供应商和分销商将能够使用广泛公认的格式交换商业信息。这种标准化使交易双方的计算机能够精确地理解什么正在交易,因此各方能够自动地更新其内部记录,如营业额和库存。发展这种协议将需要买方和卖方在行业中广泛合作。对经济观察家来说，一个重要的问题是哪种类型的货物与服务能够标准化和将出现什么类型的交易协议。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-38 Business-to-business e-commerce seems likely to engender a significant reorganization of industry, with a certain amount of vertical disintegration and new roles for intermediaries and market makers. The extent to which e-commerce will change the organization of firms has empirical significance for the theory of the firm. Another important issue is what types of market mechanisms will be favored by e-commerce and the relative importance of different types of intermediaries. Will B2B exchanges be owned by industry consortia or will they tend toward independence? The plethora of entrants and business models, and the significant returns to market consolidation, suggest that substantial entry and exit of firms will take place before the benefits of B2B e-commerce are obtained. The economic significance of intercompany transactions suggest that even small enhancements in the efficiency of transactions will eventually produce extremely large overall savings in the economy. Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-39 企业间电子商务有可能造成工业的重大改组,出现一定数量的纵向分解和中介与造市商的新角色。电子商务改变公司组织的程度对于公司理论具有实验意义。另一个重要议题是电子商务喜欢哪种类型的市场机制和不同类型中介的相对重要性。B2B交易所将由行业协会拥有吗，或者他们将趋于独立吗? 进入者与企业模型的过多和市场合并的重大利润暗示：在获得B2B电子商务利益之前，公司的大量进入和退出（市场）将会发生。公司间交易的经济意义暗示：甚至交易效率的小增长将最终在经济中产生极大的全面节约。 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-40 常用英汉互译技巧 一、增译法 二、省译法 三、转换法 四、拆句法 五、合并法 六、正译法 七、反译法 八、倒置法 九、包孕法 十、插入法 十一、重组法和综合法等 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-41 1.4.5 Using Electronic Commerce to Create Network Effects Your e-mail account, which gives you access to a network of other people with e-mail accounts, is an example of a network effect. If your e-mail account were part of a small network, it would be less valuable than it is. Most people today have e-mail accounts that are part of the Internet. In the early days of e-mail, most e-mail accounts only connected people in the same company or organization to each other. Internet e-mail accounts are far more valuable than single-organization e-mail accounts because of the network effect. 你的电子邮件账户可以让你和网络上的其他人的电子邮件账户进行联系，这是网络效应的一个例子。如果你的电子邮件账户属于一个小型网络，它的价值就比较小。今天大多数人的电子邮件账户都属于互联网。早期的电子邮件账号只能和同一个公司或组织内部的员工之间进行联系。由于网络效应，互联网电子邮件帐户却比单个组织的电子邮件账户有着更大的价值。 1.4 Economic Forces and Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-42 New Words & Expressions: shareholder n. 股东 industry n. 行业 value chains 价值链 primary activities基本活动 supporting activities辅助活动 consultants n. 顾问 life cycle生命周期 formulate vt. 构想出, 规划 capitalized on充分利用某事物 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Abbreviations: SWOT(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) 态势分析法(优势、劣势、机会、威胁) Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-43 Internet technologies can be used to improve so many business processes that it can be difficult for managers to decide where and how to use them. One way to focus on specific business processes as candidates for electronic commerce is to break the business down into a series of value-adding activities that combine to generate profits and meet other goals of the firm. 互联网技术可以改善如此多的业务流程以致于管理者很难决定何处以及如何来使用这些技术。关注专门的业务流程是否适合使用电子商务的一种办法是，将业务分解成一系列的增值活动，这些活动联合起来共同实现公司的利润和其它目标。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-44 Commerce is conducted by firms of all sizes. Smaller firms can focus on one product, distribution channel, or type of customer. Larger firms often sell many different products and services through a variety of distribution channels to several types of customers. In these larger firms, managers organize their work around the activities of strategic business units. Multiple business units owned by a common set of shareholders make up a firm, or company, and multiple firms that sell similar products to similar customers make up an industry. 任何规模的公司都可以进行商务活动。小型公司关注一种产品、一条分销渠道或一类顾客。大型的公司通常通过多种分销渠道去向不同类型的顾客销售不同的产品和服务。在这些大型公司里，管理者围绕策略性业务单位来组织工作。相同股东拥有的多个业务单位构成公司，向相似的客户销售相似产品的多个公司构成行业。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-45 1.5.1 Strategic Business Unit Value Chains In his 1985 book, Competitive Advantage, Michael Porter introduced the idea of value chains. A value chain is a way of organizing the activities that each strategic business unit undertakes to design, produce, promote, market, deliver, and support the products or services it sells. In addition to these primary activities, Porter also includes supporting activities, such as human resource management and purchasing, in the value chain model. 迈克尔·波特在1985年的《竞争优势》一书中提出了价值链的思想。价值链是一种组织活动的方法，这些活动是策略性业务单位承担他所销售的产品或服务的设计、生产、促销、销售、运输和售后服务的活动。除了这些基本活动，波特认为价值链模型还包括辅助活动，比如人力资源管理和采购。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-46 1.5.2 Industry Value Chains Porter’s book also identifies the importance of examining where the strategic business unit fits within its industry. Porter uses the term value system to describe the larger stream of activities into which a particular business unit’s value chain is embedded. However, many subsequent researchers and business consultants have used the term industry value chain when referring to value systems. When a business unit delivers a product to its customer, that customer may, for example, use the product as purchased materials in its value chain. By becoming aware of how other business units in the industry value chain conduct their activities, managers can identify new opportunities for cost reduction, product improvement, or channel reconfiguration. 波特的书中也强调了审查策略性业务单位在行业内所处地位的重要性。波特使用术语价值系统来描述某个业务单位的价值链所嵌入的更大的业务活动流。然而，许多后来的研究者和企业咨询人员使用术语行业价值链来指代价值系统。当某个业务单位交付一种产品给客户时，客户可能在其价值链中将这种产品作为其购买的原料。通过了解行业价值链中的其他业务单位是如何开展业务的，管理者可以找到降低成本、改进产品或重组渠道的新机会。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-47 1.5.2 Industry Value Chains As they examine their industry value chains, many managers are finding that they can use electronic commerce and Internet technologies to reduce costs, improve product quality, reach new customers or suppliers, and create new ways of selling existing products. For example, a software developer who releases annual updates to programs might consider removing the software retailer from the distribution channel for software updates by offering to send the updates through the Internet directly to the consumer. This change would modify the software developer’s industry value chain and would provide an opportunity for increasing sales revenue (the software developer could retain the margin a retailer would have added to the price of the update), but it would not appear as part of the software developer business unit value chain. By examining elements of the value chain outside the individual business unit, managers can identify many business opportunities, including those that can be exploited using electronic commerce. 当管理者考察他们的行业价值链后，他们会发现可以使用电子商务和互联网技术来降低成本、改进产品质量、寻找新客户或供应商，并产生销售现有产品的的新方法。例如，每年都升级程序的软件开发商可能会考虑从分销渠道中去除软件零售商，转向通过互联网直接向用户提供软件升级。这种变化改变了软件开发商的行业价值链，提供了增加销售收入（软件开发商获得了零售商的利润）的机会。但这并不会出现在软件开发商业务单位价值链中。通过分析单个业务单位之外的价值链，管理者就能识别出许多业务机会，包括那些可以使用电子商务的机会。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-48 1.5.2 Industry Value Chains The value chain concept is a useful way to think about business strategy in general. When firms are considering electronic commerce, the value chain can be an excellent way to organize the examination of business processes within their business units and in other parts of the product’s life cycle. Using the value chain reinforces the idea that electronic commerce should be a business solution, not a technology implemented for its own sake. 价值链的概念是从整体上考虑业务策略的有效途径。当企业准备实施电子商务时，价值链将会是一种考察业务单位内部流程和产品生命周期其余部分的业务流程的好办法。使用价值链增强了一种理念，即电子商务是一种业务解决方案，而不是为了实施而实施的技术。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-49 1.5.3 SWOT Analysis: Evaluating Business Unit Opportunities Now that you have learned how to identify industry value chains and break each value chain down into strategic business units, you can learn one popular technique for analyzing and evaluating business opportunities. Most electronic commerce initiatives add value by either reducing transaction costs, creating some type of network effect, or a combination of both. In SWOT analysis (the acronym is short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), the analyst first looks into the business unit to identify its strengths and weaknesses. The analyst then reviews the environment in which the business unit operates and identifies opportunities presented by that environment and the threats posed by that environment. Figure 1-1 shows questions that an analyst would ask in conducting a SWOT analysis. 既然你已经知道了如何识别行业价值链并将每个价值链都分解成策略性业务单位，那么你就应该学会分析和评估业务机会的的一种常用的技术。大多数的电子商务要么通过降低交易成本，创造某种网络效应，要么通过综合这两种方法来增加价值。在SWOT（优势、劣势、机会和威胁的首字母缩写）分析中，分析家首先识别业务单位的优势和劣势。然后，考查业务单位开展业务的环境，并识别该环境所带来的机会和威胁。图1-1展示了分析家在使用SWOT分析时可能会提出的问题。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-50 1.5.3 SWOT Analysis: Evaluating Business Unit Opportunities By considering all of the issues that it faces in a systematic way, a business unit can formulate strategies to take advantage of its opportunities by building on its strengths, avoiding any threats, and compensating for its weaknesses. In the mid-1990s, Dell Computer used a SWOT analysis to create a business strategy that helped it become a strong competitor in its industry value chain. Dell identified its strengths in selling directly to customers and in designing its computers and other products to reduce manufacturing costs. It acknowledged the weakness of having no relationships with local computer dealers. Dell faced threats from competitors such as Compaq (now a part of Hewlett-Packard) and IBM, both of which had much stronger brand names and reputations for quality at that time. Dell identified an opportunity by noting that its customers were becoming more knowledgeable about computers and could specify exactly what they wanted without having Dell salespeople answer questions or develop configurations for them. It also saw the Internet as a potential marketing tool. The results of Dell’s SWOT analysis appear in Figure 1-2. 业务单位通过考查他在战略方向所面临的问题，就可以利用其优势并以加强自身优势，规避威胁，弥补劣势为原则来规划出自身的发展战略。在20世纪90年代中期，戴尔电脑公司使用SWOT分析制定了一个业务战略，帮助公司称为其行业价值链中的一个强大的竞争者。戴尔公司识别出其优势是向终端用户直销电脑，以及低生产成本设计电脑和其他产品。劣势则是与各地经销商的关系薄弱。戴尔公司面临着康柏（Compaq）公司和IBM着两大公司的威胁，在当时，这两大公司在品牌和质量声誉上有强大的优势。戴尔发现了自己的机会：客户的电脑知识越来越丰富，在没有戴尔销售人员帮助下就能够确切地指出他们所需要的电脑。同时，戴尔公司也看到互联网这种潜在的营销工具。图1-2展示了戴尔公司的SWOT分析。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-51 1.5.3 SWOT Analysis: Evaluating Business Unit Opportunities The strategy that Dell followed after doing the analysis took all four of the SWOT elements into consideration. Dell decided to offer customized computers built to order and sold over the phone, and eventually, over the Internet. Dell’s strategy capitalized on its strengths and avoided relying on a dealer network. The brand and quality threats posed by Compaq and IBM were lessened by Dell’s ability to deliver higher perceived quality because each computer was custom made for each buyer. Ten years later, Dell observed that the environment of personal computer sales had changed and did start selling computers through dealers. 戴尔公司在做了SWOT分析后，制定了战略：按照订单生产电脑，先通过电话直销，，最终实现互联网直销。戴尔公司的战略充分利用了他的优势，避免了对经销商网络的依赖。由于公司提供的电脑可以为消费者量身定做，从而提供了客户感知的质量，因而减少了来自于康柏和IBM公司的威胁。10年后，戴尔观察到个人电脑销售环境的变化，也开始通过经销商销售电脑。 1.5 Identifying Electronic Commerce Opportunities Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-52 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce New Words & Expressions: anonymity n. 匿名，作者不明(或不详) multinational adj. 多国的，跨国的 commensurate adj. 相称的，相当的 anticipate vt. 预感，期望 dispute n. 辩论，争端，争执 stem from来自，起源于，由…造成 unfettered adj. 无拘无束的 at odds with与…不和，与…争吵 flat-rate access 固定费率访问 Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-53 Because the Internet connects computers all over the world, any business that engages in electronic commerce instantly becomes an international business. When companies use the Web to improve a business process, they are automatically operating in a global environment. The key issues that any company faces when it conducts international commerce include trust and culture, language, and infrastructure. The related issues of international law and currency are covered in subsequent chapters. 由于互联网连接了全世界的计算机，所以从事电子商务的任何公司都立刻成为了国际化的公司。当公司利用WWW改进业务流程时，他们的活动自然是在全球化得环境中开展的。开展国际商务的公司所面临的主要问题包括信任和文化，语言、基础设施。相关的国际法和货币问题将在后续章节中介绍。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-54 1.6.1 Trust Issues on the Web It is important for all businesses to establish trusting relationships with their customers. Companies with established reputations in the physical world often create trust by ensuring that customers know who they are. These businesses can rely on their established brand names to create trust on the Web. New companies that want to establish online businesses face a more difficult challenge because a kind of anonymity exists for companies trying to establish a Web presence. 对所有企业而言，建立与客户之间的信任关系显得非常重要。在现实环境中已经建立起声誉的公司是通过让客户了解自己来建立信任的。这些公司依靠他们的知名品牌在网上建立信任。想在网上开展业务的新公司面临着非常大的困难挑战，因为公司在网上存在匿名问题。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-55 1.6.1 Trust Issues on the Web Customers’ inherent lack of trust in “strangers” on the Web is logical and to be expected; after all, people have been doing business with their neighbors—not strangers—for thousands of years. When a company grows to become a large corporation with multinational operations, its reputation grows commensurately. Before a company can do business in dozens of countries, it must prove its trustworthiness by satisfying customers for many years as it grows. Businesses on the Web must find ways to overcome this well-founded tradition of distrusting strangers, because today a company can incorporate one day and, through the Web, be doing business the next day with people all over the world. For businesses to succeed on the Web, they must find ways to quickly generate the trust that traditional businesses take years to develop. 顾客对网上的陌生人缺乏信任是有情可原的，毕竟，千百年来，人们都是和自己的邻居而不是陌生人做生意。当企业发展成大型的跨国企业时，他的声誉也在相应的提升。一个公司想要在各国开展业务，必须通过多年来使客户满意来证明自己是值得信赖的。网上的公司必须想办法克服人们不信任陌生人的传统，因为当前的公司可能今天开业，第二天就通过网络和全世界的人做生意。为了在网络上成功，企业必须想办法快速获取传统企业花费多年才能建立起来的信任。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-56 1.6.2 Language Issues Most companies realize that the only way to do business effectively in other cultures is to adapt to those cultures. The phrase “think globally, act locally” is often used to describe this approach. The first step that a Web business usually takes to reach potential customers in other countries, and thus in other cultures, is to provide local language versions of its Web site. This may mean translating the Web site into another language or regional dialect. Researchers have found that customers are far more likely to buy products and services from Web sites in their own language, even if they can read English well. Only about 400 million of the world’s 6 billion people learned English as their native language. 许多公司意识到在不同文化中开展业务的有效途径是适应那些文化。“思维全球化，行动本地化”就是用来描述这种途径的。网上企业接触他国或其他文化的潜在顾客的第一步就是提供本地语言版本的网站。这就意味着将网站翻译成另一种语言或当地的方言。研究者发现顾客即使精通英语，也还是更愿意在那些母语网站上购买产品和服务。全球60亿人中只有大约4亿人的母语是英语 。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-57 1.6.2 Language Issues The translation services and software manufacturers that work with electronic commerce sites do not generally use the term “translation” to describe what they do. They prefer the term localization, which means a translation that considers multiple elements of the local environment, such as business and cultural practices, in addition to local dialect variations in the language. The cultural element is very important because it can affect—and sometimes completely change—the user’s interpretation of text. 为电子商务网站提供翻译的公司和软件公司通常不愿意用“翻译”来描述他们的工作。他们更愿意使用本地化，即除了考虑本地语言的方言外，还要考虑当地环境的多种因素，比如商业和文化。文化因素非常重要，因为它可能影响、有时甚至是完全改变原文所表达的意思。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-58 1.6.3 Cultural Issues An important element of business trust is anticipating how the other party to a transaction will act in specific circumstances. A company’s brand conveys expectations about how the company will behave, therefore companies with established brands can build online businesses more quickly and easily than a new company without a reputation. For example, a potential buyer might like to know how the seller would react to a claim by the buyer that the seller misrepresented the quality of the goods sold. Part of this knowledge derives from the buyer and seller sharing a common language and common customs. Business partners ideally have a common legal structure for resolving disputes. The combination of language and customs is often called culture. Most researchers agree that culture varies across national boundaries and, in many cases, varies across regions within nations. All companies must be aware of the differences in language and customs that make up the culture of any region in which they intend to do business. 企业信誉的一个重要因素是交易的另一方在特定的环境下的行为方式。品牌传达了对公司行为的期望，因而有知名度品牌的公司比无名的新公司可以更快、更容易地在网上开展业务。例如，潜在的客户可能很想知道当他们对卖家所销售的产品质量不满意，要求索赔时，卖家会如何反应。这种知识来自于买卖双方共有的语言和习惯。业务伙伴有解决争端的共同的法律结构。语言和习惯的组合称为文化。大多数研究人员认为，不同国家的文化存在差异，在很多情况下，即使在同一个国家，不同地区的文化也有差异。所有的公司必须认识到在他们想要开展业务的地区中构成文化的语言和习惯的差异。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-59 1.6.3 Cultural Issues Some errors stemming from subtle language and cultural standards have become classic examples that are regularly cited in international business courses and training sessions. For example, General Motors’ choice of name for its Chevrolet Nova automobile amused people in Latin America—no va means “it will not go” in Spanish. Pepsi’s “Come Alive” advertising campaign fizzled in China because its message came across as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from their graves.” 一些由于细微的语言和文化的差异所造成的错误已经成为了国际商务课程和培训中的经典例子。例如，通用汽车公司雪弗莱牌汽车的Nova车型的名字使拉丁美洲的你们感到可笑，因为在西班牙语中“no va”是“开不动”的意思。百事可乐“come alive”广告活动在中国也失败了，因为它被翻译成“百事让你的祖先走出坟墓”。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-60 1.6.4 Culture and Government Some parts of the world have cultural environments that are extremely inhospitable to the type of online discussion that occurs on the Internet. These cultural conditions, in some cases, lead to government controls that can limit electronic commerce development. The Internet is a very open form of communication. This type of unfettered communication is not desired or even considered acceptable in some cultures. For example, a Human Rights Watch report stated that many countries in the Middle East and North Africa do not allow their citizens unrestricted access to the Internet. The report notes that many governments in this part of the world regularly prevent free expression by their citizens and have taken specific steps to prevent the exchange of information outside of state controls. For instance, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates all filter the Web content that is available in their countries. 世界上有些地区的文化环境对于互联网上的在线讨论方式有着强烈的敌视态度。在某些情况下，这些文化会导致政府对电子商务发展的控制。互联网的沟通非常开放。这种无拘无束的沟通是某些文化无法接受的。例如，《人权观察》的一份报告指出，中东和北非的许多国家不允许国民自由地上网。这份报告提到，这些地区的许多政府常常阻止国民自由发表言论，并采取措施阻止国家无法控制的信息交流。例如，沙特阿拉伯，也门和阿联酋都过滤网上的内容。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-61 1.6.4 Culture and Government In most North African and Middle Eastern countries, officials have publicly denounced the Internet for carrying materials that are sexually explicit, anti-Islam, or that cast doubts on the traditional role of women in their societies. In many of these countries, uncontrolled use of Internet technologies is so at odds with existing traditions, cultures, and laws that electronic commerce is unlikely to exist locally at any significant level in the near future. In contrast, other Islamic countries in that part of the world, including Algeria, Morocco, and the Palestinian Authority, do not limit online access or content. 北非和中东的大多数国家官员公开指责互联网传播色情和反伊斯兰教内容，并称这些内容给其社会中妇女的传统角色投上了阴影。在这些国家中，互联网的自由使用和现存的传统、文化和法律冲突很大，以致于电子商务在近期内不可能有太大发展。相反，在其他一些伊斯兰国家，如阿尔及利亚、摩洛哥和巴基斯坦政权，都不限制上网，也不过滤内容。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-62 1.6.5 Infrastructure Issues Businesses that successfully meet the challenges posed by trust, language, and culture issues still face the challenges posed by variations and inadequacies in the infrastructure that supports the Internet throughout the world. Internet infrastructure includes the computers and software connected to the Internet and the communications networks over which the message packets travel. In many countries other than the United States, the telecommunications industry is either government owned or heavily regulated by the government. In many cases, regulations in these countries have inhibited the development of the telecommunications infrastructure or limited the expansion of that infrastructure to a size that cannot reliably support Internet data packet traffic. 成功驾驭了信任、语言和文化问题所带来的挑战的企业，还必须面对互联网基础设施的差异和不足所带来的问题。互联网基础设施包括计算机、连接互联网的软件和传递信息包的通信网络。除了美国，世界上的许多国家，通信行业要么是政府所有的，要么是由政府严重控制的。很多情况下，这些国家的控制阻碍了电信基础设施的发展，或限制了基础设施的扩展，使其无法满足互联网数据的可靠通信。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-63 1.6.5 Infrastructure Issues Local connection costs through the existing telephone networks in many developing countries are very high compared to U.S. costs for similar access. This can have a profound effect on the behavior of electronic commerce participants. For example, in countries where Internet connection costs are high, few businesspeople would spend time surfing the Web to shop for a product. They would use a Web browser only to navigate to a specific site that they know offers the product they want to buy. Thus, to be successful in selling to businesses in such countries, a company would need to advertise its Web presence in traditional media instead of relying on Web search engines to deliver customers to their Web sites. 许多国家通过现有的电话网络接入互联网的成本比美国高得多。这对电子商务参与者有着的行为有很大的影响。例如，在互联网接入费用很高的国家，很少有商人花时间在网上冲浪来购买产品。他们只会使用浏览器来访问他们所知道的提供他们所需要的产品的网站。因而，如果要在这些国家成功地开展业务，企业就需要使用传统的媒介来宣传他的网站，而不能依靠搜索引擎把客户带到自己的网站。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce 电子商务专业英语 4-64 1.6.5 Infrastructure Issues Until the late 1990s, most Europeans paid for the amount of time they used the telephone line, including time for local calls. In the United States, telecommunications companies have long sold local telephone service as a flat-rate access system, in which the consumer or business pays one monthly fee for unlimited telephone line usage. Activists in European countries argued that flat-rate access was a key to the success of electronic commerce in the United States. Although many factors contributed to the rapid rise of U.S. electronic commerce, many industry analysts agree that flat-rate access was one of the most important. As more European telecommunications providers began to offer flat-rate access, electronic commerce in those countries increased dramatically. 直到20世纪90年代后期，大部分的欧洲人还是按照他们使用电话线路的时间来付费，其中也包括本地电话。在美国，电信公司以固定费率访问模式销售本地电话服务。在这种模式中，消费者或企业只需支付月租费就可以不限时使用电话线。欧洲的活动家认为固定费率访问时美国电子商务成功的关键。虽然，美国电子商务的成功因素很多，但行业分析家认为，固定费率访问是最重要的因素之一。随着欧洲的电信公司开始提供固定费率访问，这些国家的电子商务也飞速地发展起来了。 1.6 International Nature of Electronic Commerce Chapter 4 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce $$