A Case Study Of Some Of The Challenges Facing E-Bay Company (Coursework Sample)

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Answer – questions
Case study of eBay
Question One
EBay as any other company had its challenges and problems that faced it. Some of the key issues faced included:
Periodic System Outages
EBay is an internet-based company, and as such, a lot of activities were carried on in their servers. The company had a multitude of users on a daily basis and this required powerful systems. Unfortunately, the company had not invested enough in this area. This led to occasional system outages. In fact, it was estimated that the company systems recorded over 50 million page views and over one million bids in April 1999 (Hill, Linda and Maria 7). Notwithstanding that, it lacked a chief information officer to coordinate these activities.
Community Safety Issues
The company experienced issues to do with community safety issues. People raised a lot of criticism on this matter. It was alleged that the company participated in the sale of illegal merchandise, fraud, shill bidding and deadbeat bidding. All these issues could lead to an erosion of trust among their customers. Of particular concern was the sale of pirated computer games.
Sale of Firearms
The company’s policy on the sale of firearms was also a critical issue. It was highly likely that the firm would have led to the auction of guns illegally. The company had to eliminate the sale of weapons from its site. Its sale had a negative implication on its reputation as a global platform.
Competitive Landscape
As the business grew, the challenge of competition grew. The company had to improve and maintain its market share to continue building its profile. A serious challenge from Amazon.com entry into this business was identified. Its entry in the business also had far-reaching implications on the e-commerce business future.
Question Two:
The company had a unique internal culture designed to mirror its external relations. The culture was described as being an open and low risk. All the company employees were allowed to give their views in the matters concerning the company. One remarkable way of this culture was tolerating mistakes by employees. However, employees were expected to learn from such errors. Senior managers acted with professionalism and respect. It was nonhierarchical and democratic to promote mutuality among employees and customers (Hill, Linda and Maria 2).
Question Three:
The organization faced several challenges in its culture as it grew. Some of these problems included.
Hiring of More Employees
The company increased its employees. This was a challenge since inducting these new employees to the culture of the business raised many technicalities. For instance, new people could come with different views and ideologies. These had to be aligned to company’s culture. The writer says that the company had to employ people who fitted with their culture. She further indicates that they could not allow the companies culture to slip (Hill, Linda and Maria 17).
Dealing w...