Strategies for Traditional Garment Companies in Transition to E-commerce: A Case Study, Lecture notes of Business Research Methods for Managers

Download Strategies for Traditional Garment Companies in Transition to E-commerce: A Case Study and more Lecture notes Business Research Methods for Managers in PDF only on Docsity! Bachelor thesis A transformation of a garment company from offline to online - an analysis with solutions based on SWOT and Enterprise Modeling A case study on a small traditional enterprise Author: Shuting Wan Supervisor: Wei Song Examiner: Serena Barakat Subject/main field of study: Informatics Course code: GIK28T Credits: 15hp Date of examination: 2020-06-01 At Dalarna University it is possible to publish the student thesis in full text in DiVA. The publishing is open access, which means the work will be freely accessible to read and download on the internet. This will significantly increase the dissemination and visibility of the student thesis. Open access is becoming the standard route for spreading scientific and academic information on the internet. Dalarna University recommends that both researchers as well as students publish their work open access. I give my/we give our consent for full text publishing (freely accessible on the internet, open access): Yes ☒ No ☐ Dalarna University – SE-791 88 Falun – Phone +4623-77 80 00 Abstract: Chinese traditional garment enterprises not only have to face inventory and channel problems left over by history, but also encounter the influx of new online companies into the market, resulting in a significant decline in the turnover of the traditional garment industry. With the promotion of e-commerce, the economic development of the garment industry presents a new trend. In order to find new opportunities in the environment of increasingly fierce competition, traditional garment enterprises have embarked on the road of strategic transformation. This study takes a garment company DLD as the research subject and displays the primary information through the Business Model Canvas. A case study, therefore, is the research strategy applied in this study, and data are collected through interviews and questionnaires. The primary method of analyzing data is a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis. The purpose of this study is to provide a useful reference for the enterprise in the transformation of e-commerce. SWOT analysis is conducted under the background information based on the Business Model Canvas, which demonstrates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats encountered in the transformation process of its sales channel from offline to online. Combined with the Enterprise Modeling, this study summarizes the strategic transformation of the DLD company and proposes corresponding strategies and recommendations. Implementing the O2O e-commerce mode and the C2B business mode effectively reduces the product backlog and improves the company's competitiveness in the market. In the process of implementing these two modes, establishing a consumer database, unifying product prices, and establishing online and offline coordination teams are some practical methods for adjusting conflicts between sales channels and increasing product update rates. Besides, through the questionnaire, the recommendations proposed in this study are evaluated, two of which required further investigation and design. Keywords: e-commerce, traditional garment company, online, offline, Business Model Canvas (BMC), SWOT analysis, Enterprise Modeling (EM), O2O e-commerce mode, C2B business mode. List of figures FIGURE 1: BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS.....................................................................................4 FIGURE 2: THE O2O MODE TRANSACTION PROCESS..........................................................8 FIGURE 3: SWOT ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................15 FIGURE 4: BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS FOR THE DLD COMPANY...................................18 FIGURE 5: GOAL MODEL FOR THE DLD COMPANY.............................................................24 FIGURE 6: CONCEPTS MODEL FOR O2O AND C2B.............................................................26 FIGURE 7: WORKFLOW OF THE C2B BUSINESS MODE..................................................... 27 FIGURE 8: BUSINESS RULES MODEL FOR O2O AND C2B.................................................28 FIGURE 9: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 3....................................................................................52 FIGURE 10: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 4..................................................................................52 FIGURE 11: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 5..................................................................................53 FIGURE 12: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 6..................................................................................53 FIGURE 13: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 7..................................................................................53 FIGURE 14: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 8..................................................................................54 FIGURE 15: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 9..................................................................................54 FIGURE 16: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 10................................................................................54 FIGURE 17: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 11................................................................................55 FIGURE 18: ANSWERS TO QUESTION 12................................................................................55 List of tables TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF SIX MODELS IN 4EM (STIRNA & PERSSON, 2018).....................6 TABLE 2: THE RESULT OF SWOT ANALYSIS..........................................................................20 TABLE 3: STRENGTHS.................................................................................................................21 TABLE 4: WEAKNESSES..............................................................................................................21 TABLE 5: OPPORTUNITIES......................................................................................................... 22 TABLE 6: THREATS.......................................................................................................................23 TABLE 7: DETAILED INTRODUCTION OF THE GOAL MODEL.............................................24 TABLE 8: DETAILED INTRODUCTION OF THE BUSINESS RULES MODEL......................28 TABLE 9: INTEGRATION THE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS..............................................30 Definitions Abbreviation Expression Definition EM Enterprise Modeling A process of modeling various processes, infrastructures, asset groups, or other elements of a business or organization. DLD Dolandi Clothing Limited Company A small traditional garment company in China. O2O Offline to Online An e-commerce mode used for Internet promotion. C2B Customer to Business An emerging business mode in which consumers dominate the production of business under the background of the Internet. 1 1 Introduction This section describes the study’s background and motivation and explains the research questions and objectives. 1.1 Background With the rapid development of the Internet in China, e-commerce has become the mainstream channel of consumption. Through sorting and analyzing the data in the report released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Yuan (2019) states that as of June 30, 2018, the number of Internet users in China reached 802 million, and the Internet penetration rate was 57.7%. The proportion of online shopping and the use of mobile payment methods has reached 70% of the total citizens, which means that online shopping and online payment have become the behaviors that citizens are more willing to choose. The stable development of e-commerce has played an important role not only in coordinating supply-side structural reforms and stimulating employment but also in driving the enterprises' development and transformation. While the widespread application of e-commerce brings opportunities to all walks of life, it also makes the traditional industry suffer a huge blow, especially the traditional garment industry. The number and scale of the entire apparel industry tend to be saturated, and the traditional economic growth model of enterprises no longer adapts to the existing environment. Moreover, the e-commerce environment has enhanced the competitiveness of the market, which is mainly caused by the application of various channel marketing models and the reduction of industry access standards (Yuan, 2019). The sales volume and sales growth rate of the traditional garment industry have declined significantly, one of which is the closing store tide. In order to survive and develop, garment enterprises have chosen to transform and adjust to create new vitality for themselves. In the context of e-commerce, the development of online and offline integration has become an inevitable choice for enterprises to achieve more enormous breakthroughs and market opportunities. It has become an industry consensus to promote overall sales through effective integration of online and offline (Xu, 2013). The Dolandi Clothing Limited Company (DLD) is a traditional garment company that integrates the design, production, and sales of men's trousers. The company has 18 years of brand garment production experience, and cooperation with many brands, relying on fashionable styles, exquisite technology, advanced equipment, strict control, and stable quality, has won the trust and praise of customers. The company has more than 200 employees and 16 specialized integrated production lines, with an annual output of 3 million pieces of men's sports casual pants. The company takes "good faith management, quality first" as the enterprise spirit, "high quality, fast fashion, fine workmanship" as the principle (DUOLANDI, 2018). However, since 2016, the customer flow of the offline physical stores of the DLD company has been decreasing year by year, and the offline transaction rate has dropped from the original 60% to 40% (refer to Appendix 8.2). Therefore, The Business Model Canvas co ey Parnes Key Actes Y Yitue Pepestions FH cusomerreicionsnps —custemer Segmens (OS teams a ost Sructro @ Figure 1: Business Model Canvas 5 2.2 Enterprise Modeling The paper “Enterprise Modeling: Facilitating the Process and the People” was published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG in 2018, written by Janis Stirna from Stockholm University and Anne Persson from the School of Informatics, University of Skövde. According to Stirna and Persson (2018), Enterprise modeling (EM) creates models for the enterprise's required aspects. It can provide a framework to ensure that the application systems closely match the enterprise's business processes. In this case, the enterprise can be a private company, a government department, an academic institution, another type of organization, or part of it. The relevant sub-models that make up the enterprise model are business rules, business processes, concepts, goals, actors, and technical components. Each sub-model focuses on specific aspects, allowing researchers to focus and accurately model the desired aspects of the enterprise. Through enterprise modeling, this study describes solutions to the problems encountered by the DLD company in the transition process from offline to online, which is introduced in Section 5 below. 2.2.1 4EM method for Enterprise Modeling Stirna and Persson (2018) state that the 4EM method is just another tool for capturing an enterprise or part of it in a model. The goal of the captured model is to enable the organization to make informed, purposeful decisions about its TO- BE situation. 4EM is a representative of the Scandinavian strand of EM methods. It has many underlying principles of the so-called multi-perspective approach, which recommends analyzing organizational problems from multiple perspectives. These multiple perspectives can be the vision (goals, objective), data (concepts, attributes), business processes (processes, tasks, activities), organizational structures (actors, roles, organizational units), et cetera. An organization can evaluate the six models that are featured within the 4EM method. These six models focus on specific aspects or perspectives of the enterprise - goals, business rules, concepts, business processes, actors and resources, as well as information systems (IS) technology components (Stirna & Persson, 2018). Table 1 shows a summary of the six models. 6 Table 1: Summary of six models in 4EM (Stirna & Persson, 2018) 9 2.4 C2B business mode The article "C2B Mode of Clothing Enterprises Working Capital Management-a Case Study of BAOXINIAO" was written by Lijun Zhou in 2018. It is about the application analysis of the C2B business mode and puts forward constructive suggestions for BAOXINIAO company in China to further improve working capital management performance. Zhou (2018) presents that that Chinese consumers' demand for fashionable and personalized clothing is increasing. With the support of big data and smart manufacturing technologies, the C2B personalized, custom business mode combined with the Internet trend has emerged. This emerging business mode will inevitably have a significant impact on the management and operation of apparel companies and is expected to improve the problems of high inventory and lagging sales in the apparel industry. Therefore, in this study, the mode is applied to improve the inventory backlog in DLD, which is introduced in Section 5. 2.4.1 Definition According to Zhou (2018), the C2B business mode (Consumer to Business) is the reverse e-commerce mode of B2C, which is an emerging business mode in which consumers dominate the production of business under the background of Internet. Contrary to the traditional B2C business mode, the C2B mode changes the original relationship between consumers and producers, in which consumers first put forward the demand. Then manufacturers produce what demanded of consumers. Throughout the process, consumers can actively participate in the design, production, and pricing of a product, and purchase the product they desire (Zhou, 2018). 2.4.2 Category Zhou (2018) writes that C2B is built on customer requirements and is classified according to customers’ needs and implementation methods. The current C2B business mode in China can be divided into the following two categories: 2.4.2.1 Group-buying customization Group-buying customization is also known as the clustering customization, which first gathers the needs of consumers through the network platform, and then the merchants conduct mass production. The unique part of this method is that consumers can pay a part of the payment in advance to occupy the quota of a favorable price. Merchants can understand the demand for the product through the amount of deposit paid by consumers during the warm-up phase. The benefit of this method for merchants is that they can predict the user base and demand, which effectively alleviates the resource waste caused by blind mass production under the traditional mode, being conducive to resource conservation and environmental protection (Zhou, 2018). 2.4.2.2 In-depth customization In-depth customization is also called personalized customization or participatory customization. In this way, consumers can participate in every process of designing, matching, selecting, and other customized patterns. The production of a 10 factory is wholly based on the customers' requirements, and the products designed and produced for each customer are independent units. At present, the industry with the most extensive application of personalized customization should be the garment industry and furniture customization industry (Zhou, 2018). 2.4.3 Application in the garment industry In the field of garment customization, Zhou (2018) states that the C2B business mode fully utilizes the advantages of the Internet and e-commerce platforms. In the whole process of transaction, consumers first put forward their demand for clothing, including cloth, style, color, price, and then the merchant produces the products according to the demand. Finally, both parties complete the process of payment and delivery. The above process realizes the direct contact between the producer and the consumer through the network, omitting the middle of various distributors, franchisees, and other sales channels. The C2B mode is a consumer- centered business model. In recent years, more and more independent studios or designers have emerged in the personalized design and customization industry. It is based on the C2B mode, which has become an essential role in fashion development and design. Therefore, with the enhancement of people's living standards and consumers' self-consciousness, the garment's personalized customization will have a broader future or prospective (Zhou, 2018). 11 3 Research methodology This section describes the research methodology of the study, which contains the literature review, research strategy, data generation, and data analysis. 3.1 Literature review In order to find relevant materials and literature as the basis of this study, the Google search engine was used, and the Google Scholar database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were used to search scientific articles. The reason for using Google as the primary way to find information for the study was because Google was considered to be the most widely used search engine on desktops and mobile devices, with an estimated 90 percent share of the global search market on all devices in 2017 (Odrozek, 2018). The reason for using CNKI as the literature search for this study was that CNKI covered all disciplines and met the needs of scientific research, and it was currently the most extensive Chinese database in the world (ADA, 2018). After choosing the subject of this study, the literature review on the theoretical background began. The thesis "Strategic Transformation from the Perspective of Internet + Research on Performance Evaluation" was chosen because it took the Septwolf garment company as the research object. Moreover, this thesis focused on transforming the business from traditional business management strategy to the Internet business model under the background of the rapid development of the Internet and the downturn of the apparel industry. The author of this thesis, Yuan (2019), proposed to use a SWOT analysis to explore the motivation and implementation of the strategic transformation of the company and summarized the strategic transformation and proposed countermeasures. This thesis was very similar to the main direction of this study since the focus of this study was to analyze the difficulties encountered in the transformation of a small garment company, DLD, from the traditional offline business model to the online business model under the Internet and to propose corresponding strategy recommendations. The research questions were raised after reviewing this paper, and the method of solving the first question was proposed in this study. Hence it had been cited many times in the statement and discussion of this study to enhance its effectiveness. Wang (2016) writes the paper, "The Research of O2O E-commerce Mode of S Clothing Company", was selected because it described the background information, risks, and improvement strategies of the O2O e-commerce mode. Since this study analyzed a small traditional garment company's transition from offline to online, the O2O mode was related information involved in this process, and this thesis, therefore, was relevant to this research. The academic article "C2B Mode of Garment Enterprises Working Capital Management-a Case Study of BAOXINIAO." written by Zhou (2018), was relevant to this study because of the background information about the C2B business mode and the information about constructive suggestions on the application of the C2B business mode. Therefore, the relevant reviews of these two papers were used to provide ideas and references for solving the second research problem raised in this study. 14 The interviewee voluntarily conducted the interview, and with his consent, information such as the interviewee ’s name and position appeared in the appendix of this study. 3.3.2 Questionnaires According to Oates (2006), a questionnaire is a research tool, consisting of a set of questions or other types of prompts. It is widely used in research because it provides an effective way to collect data from many people. Unstructured questionnaires were the type used in this study. According to QuestionPro (2020), unstructured questionnaires use questions that do not restrict respondents to collect qualitative data so that specific data can be collected from participants. Questionnaires can be used to obtain relatively short and non-controversial information from people and collect large amounts of data in a shorter period (QuestionPro, 2020). Therefore, the questionnaire was chosen to evaluate the recommendations proposed in the last part of this study. 3.3.2.1 Questionnaire execution The design of the problem was based on the corresponding strategic recommendations of this study. The purpose was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of these strategic recommendations through the answers of the respondents. The types of questions used in the questionnaire included open-ended questions and closed-ended questions, as shown in Appendix 8.5. The questionnaire was sent to ten people, including the manager of the DLD company, the operator of the offline store, the online store operator, and seven employees from other departments. Statistics of their answers were shown in Appendix 8.6. Anonymity is a way to conduct a questionnaire survey, which is to ensure the information security of the respondent. Therefore, no other personal information such as the respondent's name, age, etc. will appear in this study. 3.4 Data analysis 3.4.1 Qualitative data analysis Qualitative data is the primary type of data or evidence generated by case study, which is defined in Oates, B. J (2006) that: “Qualitative data includes all non-numeric data – words, images, sounds, and so on – found in such things as interview tapes, researchers’ diaries, company documents, websites, and developers’ models.” The purpose of qualitative analysis is to enable the researcher to organize and extract a large amount of data and then perform a SWOT analysis and modeling on 15 the primary data information. That is to say; qualitative analysis is the basis of the other three data analysis methods below. 3.4.2 Quantitative data analysis According to Oates (2006), quantitative data means data, or evidence, based on numbers. Quantitative analysis is a method to establish a mathematical model based on statistical information and use the mathematical model to calculate the indicators and numerical values of the analysis object. Qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis are often used simultaneously in research. It can be said that qualitative analysis is the basic premise of quantitative analysis, and quantitative analysis makes the qualitative analysis more scientific and accurate (Oates, 2006). The purpose of using quantitative analysis is to evaluate the proposed recommendations. A quantitative analysis of the questionnaire's answers can promote a broader and in-depth evaluation of the results collected from qualitative analysis. 3.4.3 SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique used to help an individual or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with a business competition or project planning, as shown in Figure 3 [Wikipedia]. Yuan (2019) states that this method can be used to conduct comprehensive, systematic, and accurate research on the transformation of a small traditional garment enterprise from offline to online. Figure 3: SWOT analysis 16 3.4.3.1 The elements of SWOT analysis Strengths Strengths are attributes or characteristics within an organization that is considered essential for the organization's execution and ultimate success. Strengths are the quality that enables managers to fulfill the mission of the organization. It can be tangible or intangible, including favorable competitive situations, sufficient financial resources, right corporate image, economies of scale, technical strength, product quality, market share, and cost advantage (Hashemi et al., 2017). Weaknesses Weaknesses are related to internal factors, which may affect and prevent the organization from achieving a successful outcome. Weaknesses in an organization may be aging equipment, poor management, lack of critical technologies, shoddy research and development, lack of funds, reduced operations, product backlog, and weak competitiveness (Hashemi et al., 2017). Opportunities Opportunities are external factors of an organization, including new products, new markets, new demands, foreign market barriers removed, and competitors' mistakes. Opportunities will help to achieve the institute's goals when it can use the conditions in its environment to plan and implement strategies that will make it more profitable. Organizations can gain a competitive advantage through opportunities, so organizations need to recognize and grasp opportunities when they arise (Hashemi et al., 2017). Threats Threats arise when conditions in the external environment threaten the reliability and profitability of the organization. Thus, threats are also external factors of the organization, and they will make the vulnerability affecting the organization more dangerous when another external factor of the weaknesses of the organization is related. Threats are uncontrollable, and they specifically include new competitors, the proliferation of alternative products, market tightening, changes in industry policy, economic recession, changing customer preferences, and emergencies (Hashemi et al., 2017). 3.4.3.2 The use of SWOT analysis According to Helms and Nixon (2010), managers typically first consider internal strengths and weaknesses (at the top of the 2×2 grid), including image, structure, access to natural resources, capacity and efficiency, and financial resources. At the bottom of the table are external opportunities and threats, including customers, competitors, market trends, partners and suppliers, social change and new technologies, and a variety of environmental economic, political, and regulatory issues (Helms & Nixon, 2010). Helms and Nixon (2010) indicate that countless practitioners and market researchers have used SWOT, and it is a common and popular tool for students of corporate marketing and strategy. Because the tool is used to evaluate alternatives and complex decision situations, its simplicity and catchy acronym perpetuate its usage in companies and other industries. In business areas, the grouping of internal and external issues is a common starting point for strategic planning. It can be built 19 with banks and apply for loans and other activities every year.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Key activities: The key activity building block describes what an organization can do to provide its value proposition (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). According to the interviewee's answer, as shown below, the critical information was compiled and extracted. “It is to maintain the existing customer base and attract new customer groups: including brand companies, retailers, and wholesalers.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Key resources: The vital resources are the resources needed to support the enterprise’s activities, which means that this building block describes the most valuable assets needed to implement the business model (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). According to the interviewee's answer, as shown below, the critical information was compiled and extracted. “Because the company is a traditional garment company that has operated for many years, we have the brand effect and many existing customers. They are our main resources. Of course, the development of any company requires sufficient financial support, so this is also an important point.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Value propositions: The value proposition building block is the center of the canvas, describing the different products and services the organization provides to its customers. It seeks to solve customer problems and meet customer needs through the value proposition (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). According to the interviewee's answer, as shown below, the critical information was compiled and extracted. “Although the company is a small traditional company, our business covers every step from pants design, production to sales.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Customer segments: The customer segments building block defines different groups or organizations that an enterprise aims to attract and serve (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). According to the interviewee's answer, as shown below, the critical information was compiled and extracted. “There are mainly three types, brand companies, retailers, and wholesalers.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Customer relationships: The customer relationship building block describes the type of contact between the organization and the customer. Since the block is established and maintained with each customer segment (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). Keyword extraction in this block is the same as customer segments. “There are mainly three types, brand companies, retailers, and wholesalers.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) 20 Revenue streams: The revenue streams building block represents the cash generated by the company from the customer segment (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). Therefore, the critical information extracted here is also the same as customer segments. “There are mainly three types, brand companies, retailers, and wholesalers.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Channels: Channels describe how an organization keeps in touch with its customers and are customer touchpoints that play an essential role in the customer experience (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). According to the interviewee's answer, as shown below, the critical information was compiled and extracted. “Since our company is mainly engaged in offline transactions, we communicate with customers face to face. Of course, we also contact customers by WeChat and phone.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) Cost structure: The cost structure building block describes all costs incurred by operating the business model and is a financial view of the means employed by the organization (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). According to the interviewee's answer, as shown below, the critical information was compiled and extracted. “The main cost is, of course, the purchase of raw materials and the maintenance of equipment. Since our company adopts traditional sales channels, the rent of shops and the salary of employees are also a large part of the expenses. Other items such as marketing, corporate finance, and so on are also major cost.” (refer to Appendix 8.2) 4.2 Results of SWOT analysis Based on the necessary information of BMC, the questions of the second interview were designed (shown in Appendix 8.3). Similarly, with the interviewer’s consent, the researchers recorded the second interview and transcribed it (shown in Appendix 8.4). By the qualitative analysis of the transcribed interview information and performing the steps described in the SWOT analysis section, the following four different categories are summarized, as shown in Table 2. They are described in detail in the following subsections. Table 2: The result of SWOT analysis Helpful Harmful Internal Strengths: 1. Brand recognition 2. Financial support 3. Combine online and offline sales, O2O Weaknesses: 1. Conflict in sales channels 2. The lack of Internet talents 3. Product update 4. Inventory backlog External Opportunities: 1. Internet environment 2. The development of e- commerce Threats: 1. The impact of Internet garment enterprises 2. Cultural conflict 21 3. The rise of personalized customization, C2B 4.2.1 Strengths Table 3: Strengths S1 Brand recognition S2 Financial support S3 Combine online and offline sales, O2O S1: Brand recognition The traditional garment enterprise has been engaged in production, operation, and sales for many years. It has a strong market brand recognition ability and can quickly realize its brand promotion and shorten its cumulative time and online time. There is no doubt that before the traditional garment enterprise enters the field of e-commerce, they already have a high quality of brand value identity, with a strong market competitive advantage and consumer base. Through the company's market brand recognition, online stores on Taobao can quickly achieve brand promotion, forming a definite competitive advantage and consumer base (refer to Appendix 8.4 S1). S2: Financial support The traditional garment enterprise has been deeply engaged in the market for many years and has a complete capital operation system that can provide sufficient financial support for its e-commerce business (refer to Appendix 8.4 S2). The company gives its substantial financial support, which can guarantee the successful transformation and upgrading of the enterprise Internet. S3: Combine online and offline sales, O2O Since the market share of physical stores is continuously shrinking and the costs of rents and wages of physical stores are increasing, the development of online and offline dual sales channels is the best development strategy for the DLD company. Through the transformation of e-commerce, to create an "online + offline" interactive sales experience, on the one hand, it can maintain its traditional garment market consumer groups and market shares. On the other hand, it can avoid the disadvantage of the poor online shopping experience, and hence rapidly expand new consumer groups and consumer markets with the help of the rapid transmission ability of the network (refer to Appendix 8.4 S3). 4.2.2 Weaknesses Table 4: Weaknesses W1 Conflict in sales channels W2 The lack of Internet talents W3 Product update W4 Inventory backlog W1: Conflict in sales channels The traditional garment company has established its own strict offline marketing channels. Once the transformation of e-commerce, the company needs to 24 5 Discussion and Recommendations This section describes the problems, solutions, the integration of them, and evaluation, which answers the second research question of this study. 5.1 Problems By combining the results of the SWOT analysis and implementing the focus, components, and the issues to be modeled (mentioned in Section 2.2.1), the Goal Model is established, as shown in Figure 5, and the detailed explanation is shown in Table 7. The purpose of establishing the Goal Model is to connect SWOT analysis and enterprise modeling. Through investigating the relationship between the goals and problems in Figure 5, a direct reference can be found for the recommendations proposed in Section 5.2. Figure 5: Goal model for the DLD company Table 7: Detailed introduction of the Goal Model Goal Problems Description Relationship with SWOT analysis G1: To achieve the transformation from offline to online G1 is the overall goal or the central goal of GM. All the following goals are the sub-goals of G1. This research uses SWOT analysis to study the transformation process of DLD from offline to online, so there is no doubt that the company's overall goal is to achieve the transformation from offline to online successfully. 25 G2: To increase produce sales P3: Inventory backlog P4: The impact of Internet garment enterprises P5: Its product updates are slow The goal contributes to G1 and is achieved by G3 and G4. In this case, there are three issues (P3, P4, P5) that will affect this goal. W4, T1, and W3 in the results of SWOT analysis correspond to P3, P4, and P5 in the goal model, respectively. G3: To establish the entity and network parallel dual- channel sales mode (O2O) P1: Conflict in sales channels P2: The lack of Internet talents The goal is one of the sub-goals to achieve G2 and is affected by P1 and P2. This goal is based on S3 in SWOT analysis's results, and P1 and P2 that affect it correspond to W1 and W2 in the SWOT analysis results. G4: To implement the C2B business mode P2: The lack of Internet talents The goal is another of the sub-goals to achieve G2 and is also affected by P2. The goal is based on O3 in the results of the SWOT analysis. G5: To build up a positive brand image P6: Cultural conflicts The goal contributes to G1 and is supported by G5.1 (To create a corporate brand strategy). Besides, P6 affects the achievement of this goal. The goal is based on S1 in the results of SWOT analysis, and P6 affects it corresponds to T2 in the SWOT analysis results. G6: To achieve adequate economic support in the process of enterprise transformation The goal is the last sub-goal that contributes to G1. The goal is related to S2 in the results of the SWOT analysis. 5.2 Solutions By constructing the next three models, solutions to P1, P3, and P5 can be proposed. 5.2.1 Concepts Model The Concepts Model (CM) is used to strictly define the "things" and "phenomena" mentioned in the other models (Stirna & Persson, 2018). The realization of each goal requires the definition in the Concepts Model of concepts: Online, Offline, 26 and et cetera, the construction of the Concepts Model, therefore, is shown in Figure 6. Important concepts used in the O2O mode and the C2B mode must be defined here to avoid misunderstandings about the establishment of this mode. DLD currently opens both offline stores and online stores. Online stores mainly provide product descriptions and payment platforms, which is conducive to customers' selection of products. Moreover, offline stores mainly provide services for customers, such as trying clothes and matching consultation. Figure 6: Concepts Model for O2O and C2B 5.2.2 Business Process Model The specific process of the C2B mode implemented by DLD is described by using the workflow in the Business Process Model. In this process, Zhou (2018) writes that the C2B mode reduces inventory hoarding (P3), which is conducive to shortening the working capital turnover period of the apparel enterprise's operating process and promoting the improvement of the company's working capital management level. The workflow diagram provides a graphical overview of the business process, so it used for business process modeling. A workflow is also useful to help employees understand the roles and order of completion of work and build greater unity between different departments (Lucidchart, 2020). By using standardized symbols and shapes, the workflow is built, as shown in Figure 7. The purpose of constructing the workflow is to deeply describe the process of the C2B business mode to analyze the application of the mode to DLD. Under this model, the position of the entire consumption and supply chain has undergone a fundamental change. Consumers log in to the online platform first, browse and freely match garment styles, materials, colors, et cetera, and submit orders and then complete payment after satisfaction. After receiving the order, the manufacturer will customize the production according to the needs of consumers 29 departments, the staff of various departments, especially shopping guides, will be informed that their interests will not be dispersed. Besides, the team's functions include receiving complaints from online and offline channels, mediating various conflicts and frictions between channels, thereby maintaining fairness and reasonableness between online and offline channels. Based on offline business sharing, the commission of the consumer guided by the shopping guide to registering as an online member also belongs to himself, so that the shopping guide will not work passively (Wang, 2016). As a result, in addition to consistent product prices, the DLD company needs to set up an online and offline coordination team to regulate the market conflict and friction between online and offline sales channels. Rule 3: Establish a consumer database to provide better services Wang (2016) states that the establishment of a consumer database can enable enterprises to understand the behavior characteristics of consumer groups and adjust products more precisely, to provide better quality services. Moreover, he writes that the establishment of the consumer database is divided into the following two steps:  Consumer information integration. According to the data, enterprises can know the standard information of consumers, such as their consumption levels, consumption preferences, and sensitivity to different forms of promotion, to provide more targeted personalized services to consumers (Wang, 2016).  Consumer information analysis. After collecting consumer information into a database, enterprises can find out the general rule through the analysis of these data and then send it to the design department, marketing department, after- sales department, and other departments to adjust product updates and product backlog problems (Wang, 2016). Therefore, the establishment of the consumer database is conducive for the DLD company to design more targeted products, reducing the company's backlog of products and promoting the speed of product updates. For example, when the customer does not have time to choose to clothe, DLD can help the customer to select products through the customer's preference information in the 30 consumer database and notify the customer of the selected products through WeChat, email, et cetera. 5.3 Integration P1, P3, and P5 can be adjusted to a certain extent according to the implementation of O2O and C2B described above. P2, P4, and P6 are challenging to alleviate through the modeling process of the enterprise model, so this study solves these three problems by citing suitable solutions in other studies. In Table 9, the problems encountered by the DLD company and the corresponding solutions are described one by one, which makes the overall framework clear and unambiguous. Table 9: Integration the problems and solutions Problems Solutions P1: Conflict in sales channels Through the unification of product prices and the establishment of online and offline coordination teams (rule 1, rule 2 in BRM), the issue of price and market conflicts in sales channels can be adjusted (see Section 5.2.3). P2: The lack of Internet talents Yuan (2019) states that Internet talent is the first element of an enterprise, and any step in the transformation is inseparable from its personnel. In the strategic transformation of enterprises, the investment of talent capital needs to increase year by year. At the same time, enterprises develop talents by carrying out activities such as "training camps," "large lecture halls," and "junior internal trainers" to ensure the real-time learning of talents. It can not only improve the learning ability of personnel but also improve the working ability of personnel. P3: Inventory backlog The C2B mode is helpful for businesses to understand the product demand in advance and the style design of products that customers prefer, which effectively reduces the waste of resources caused by blind mass production under the traditional model. The type of the C2B mode and its application in the apparel industry are introduced in Section 2.4. Moreover, the specific steps for implementing the mode are described in Section 5.2.2 using a workflow. Therefore, this problem can be adjusted by establishing a consumer database and implementing a customer- centric C2B mode (see Section 5.2.2 and Section 5.2.3). P4: The impact of Internet garment enterprises The influence of Internet garment companies on traditional garment companies is inevitable. Only by transforming to online sales can traditional garment companies enhance their competitiveness in the market (Yuan, 2019). The two modes (O2O 31 and C2B) proposed in this paper further provide a reference for DLD to transform, to weaken the influence of Internet garment companies. P5: Its product updates are slow By establishing a consumer database, the DLD company can increase the speed of product updates (see Section 5.2.3). P6: Cultural conflicts The transformation of traditional garment companies in the development of e-commerce will inevitably face the dilemma of corporate culture adherence and innovation. In the face of conflicts in corporate culture, high-level corporate leaders need to reach a consensus of concepts, which will be relevant to the future corporate development strategy. Once there is a conflict in the corporate culture on the management level, it will adversely affect the stability and passion of the company's operating team (Yuan, 2019). 5.4 Evaluation The questions of the questionnaire are related to strategic recommendations put forward in this study. Hence the feasibility of the proposals is evaluated through a quantitative analysis of the answers to ten respondents. The respondents to the questionnaire include the manager of DLD, the operator of the physical store, and the online store operator. For DLD's transformation strategy, these three people are the primary decision-makers, so their answer is significant and increases the feasibility of the recommendations made in this study. Also, there are seven employees from other departments in the respondents. The main reason for choosing these people is to understand the attitudes of ordinary employees in the company's various departments, which will help the following in- depth analysis. Two open-ended questions and ten closed-ended questions are included in the questionnaire. Among them, five levels of options for the eight closed questions are designed, as shown in Appendix 8.5. The answers to the questionnaire are shown in Appendix 8.6. By using histograms, pie charts, and doughnut charts to count the answers of ten respondents, the results are visualized, which is conducive to the subsequent evaluation and discussion. 5.4.1 Analysis of the open-ended questions The identity of respondents can be obtained through question 1. The result is that the positions of these ten people in the DLD company are respectively the manager, the operator of the offline store, the operator of the online store, the two employees in the design department, three employees in the physical store and two employees in the marketing department as well. “Question 1: What is your position in the DLD company?” (refer to Appendix 8.5) 34 conflict of corporate culture, it is necessary to unify the consciousness among high-level corporate leaders in DLD. “Question 10: Do you think the unity of consciousness among the leaders of high- level enterprises is helpful to adjust the conflict of corporate culture?” (refer to Appendix 8.5) 35 6 Conclusions and future work This section describes the conclusions of this study and future work after evaluating the recommendations. 6.1 Conclusions and limitations When traditional garment companies transform into e-commerce and seek more significant market share, they will soon encounter opportunities, but they also face many problems. Therefore, this study analyzes the transition process of the DLD company from offline to online and proposes solutions to the problems encountered by the company. Through SWOT analysis, the transition process of DLD from offline to online is analyzed from four aspects (see section 4). So the first research question is answered. By combining the results of the SWOT analysis with enterprise modeling, strategic recommendations (see Section 5) are proposed, so the second research question is answered. Research question 1: What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats did the traditional clothing company face in transitioning from offline to online? This study presents the three strengths of DLD's conversion process from offline to online: brand cognition, financial support and combine online and offline sales; four weakness: conflict in sales channels, the lack of Internet talents, its slow product updates and inventory backlog; three opportunities: Internet environment, the development of e-commerce and the rise for personalized customization; two threats: the impact of Internet garment companies and cultural conflict (see Section 4.2). Research question 2: What are the difficulties and the corresponding development strategies and countermeasures in the transformation process? The six problems are described in the Concepts Model of EM as: conflict in sales channels, the lack of Internet talents, inventory backlog, the impact of Internet garment enterprises, its product updates are slow and cultural conflicts (see Section 5.1). Besides, corresponding development strategies and countermeasures to these problems are: adjusting the market conflicts of price conflicts between channels by unifying product prices and establishing online and offline coordination teams; increasing investment in talent capital year by year and conducting "training camps," "large lecture halls" and "junior internal trainers" to regulate the lack of Internet talents of the DLD company; building a consumer database and implementing the customer-centric C2B mode to alleviate products backlog; implementing two modes (O2O and C2B) to improve the company's competitiveness in the market; establishing a consumer database to improve the product update rate; unifying the awareness of high-level corporate leaders in the DLD company (see Section 5.3). The limitations of this study are mainly language issues. The research subject is a company in China, so when the researchers show how to draw the problems and propose the corresponding solutions, they need to be translated into Chinese. There may be some deviations in the transmission of information because researchers 36 cannot translate the full text into Chinese and can only select essential paragraphs of the paper. 6.2 Future work After evaluating the strategic recommendations proposed in this study, the feasibility of these recommendations and some follow-up work that can be performed are described. It is controversial for the DLD company to set up a unified price system to regulate price conflicts between channels, which requires continued in-depth investigation and analysis. For the two suggestions of setting up training activities to alleviate the lack of Internet talents and accelerating product updates through the establishment of a consumer database, DLD employees expressed uncertainty about its effects. Thus, future work is needed to propose more specific steps to enhance its implementation. 39 8 Appendix 8.1 Questions for the first interview 1. What is your position in the company? a. What department do you work in? b. How many employees are there in this department? 2. What kind of clothing do you sell? 3. Who is the company's customer base? 4. What is the main business of your company? 5. Can you tell me the size of the company? 6. What is the main business of the three branches? a. How are the three branches connected? 7. Who are the company’s key partners? 8. What the company needs to do to provide its value proposition? that is, what needs to do to improve the business? 9. What resources does the company need to grow its business? 10. For your company’s customer base, how many can this be divided into? 11. What is the main cost of the company? 12. How the company gets in touch with your customers? 13. What are the difficulties or challenges your company is facing now? 14. Have you tried to change your company's sales channels? a. Are your company planning a change? 40 8.2 Transcription of the first interview Interviewer: Shuting (S) Interviewee: The manager of the DLD company (M) Interview duration: 25 minutes Date: 2020.4.5 S: Hi, Yibing. I'm very happy to have this interview with you and I prepared some questions about your company and also sent them to you a few days ago. Are you ready for this interview? Hahaha M: Nice to meeting you, Shuting! Your questions are pretty good and very comprehensive, and I kind of look forward to this interview with you. S: Thank you for your recognition. Ok so let’s start with the first question! What is your position in the company? M: You know, Dolandi is not a big company and I'm the manager of the private company. S: Based on my previous understanding, your company is a small traditional clothing company. And I want to know what is your main business? What clothes do you sell? M: Actually, we sell men's pants, mainly for men aged 40 to 50. Of course, we also have men's pants of other ages, but the sales are not big. Although the company is a small traditional company, our business covers everything from pants design, production to sales. S: So, your company is responsible for the design, production and sales of pants. Can you tell me more about the size of your company? M: Sure. Our company is divided into three parts, design, production and sales, so corresponds to the three branches. The branch in Guangzhou has two departments, the design department and the marketing department, of course, design department is responsible for design the style of pants, the marketing department is mainly responsible for looking for customers. The customer groups here are some brand companies, such as some domestic second and third-tier brands, regional brands and chain supermarkets and so on. Then there is a processing plant, which is located in Fujian province. This is our headquarters, where there are five main departments, purchasing department, production department, business department, finance department and human resources department. The purchasing department is responsible for buying some raw materials, fabrics, zippers, etc. The business department here needs to contact the marketing department in Guangzhou, and the customers in the marketing department in Guangzhou will place orders, so we need to mass produce the pants they choose. Then there is a branch company in Nanchang, which is mainly responsible for selling pants. That's the size of our business. S: So, these three branches are closely related to each other, right? M: Yes, the branch in Guangzhou contacts the customers and designs the styles of pants, and then sends the orders to the factory in Fujian for mass production. For Nanchang branch is actually independent, it can be regarded as a customer of Guangzhou branch, because in Nanchang branch it has an independent business model. S: Well, what is the business model of Nanchang branch? 41 M: Actually, the main task here is to sell pants, which were ordered from the branch in Guangzhou. Then the Nanchang branch needs to find its own customers, such as some chain stores, supermarkets and self-employed households. Of course, the branch in Nanchang also supports retail. S: Let's go in for more detailed questions, who are your key partners? M: As I mentioned before, each branch of the company has partners. The main partners of the plant in Fujian are raw materials companies, and the partners of the branch in Guangzhou are Chain supermarket, domestic second and third-tier brand companies, and for the Nanchang branch, the key partner is self-employed households. Of course, we will also cooperate with banks and apply for loans and other activities every year. S: Mem, what the company needs to do to provide its value proposition? that is, what needs to do to improve the business? M: I think for our company, of course, it is to maintain the existing customer base and attract new customer groups: including brand companies, retailers, wholesalers and so on. S: Okay, what resources does the company need to grow its business? M: Because our company is a traditional clothing company that has operated for many years, we have the brand effect and many existing customers. They are our main resources. Of course, the development of any company requires sufficient financial support, so this is also the important point. S: So, for your company’s customer base, how many can this be divided into? M: There are mainly three types, brand companies, retailers and wholesalers. S: And next question, what are the main costs of the company? M: The main cost is of course the purchase of raw materials and the maintenance of equipment. Since our company adopts traditional sales channels, the rent of shops and the salary of employees are also a large part of the expenses. Other items such as marketing, corporate finance and so on are also major cost. S: Well, thanks for your answer. It’s very clear so far. Let’s move to the next question, since your company is a traditional clothing enterprise, how the company gets in touch with your customers? M: Since our company is mainly engaged in offline transactions, we basically communicate with customers face to face. Of course, we also contact customers by WeChat and phone. S: What are the difficulties or challenges your company is facing now? M: The output of our company is decreasing year by year. That’s the main problem of our company. You know, it has been difficult to survive with a single traditional sales channel, and most of channels are now online sales. Another problem is that the product's market share is reduced, that is, the customer's demand is decreased. Since 2016, the customer flow of the offline physical stores has been decreasing year by year, and the offline transaction rate has dropped from the original 60% to 40%. S: Well, in this case, have you tried to change your company's sales channels? Or are you planning a change? M: In fact, change is not that simple. In 2015, our company opened an online store on Taobao, but at that time I didn’t understand online operations and there was no right partner, so I gave up the store and continued to focus on traditional sales channel. Until February this year, I found a suitable partner, and now we are preparing for the store on Taobao. You know, we should start with Taobao shop for online sales channels, because this cost is relatively low. 44 a. Is there a backlog of inventory when developing new sales channels? b. What caused this situation? c. What is the impact on the company's transformation? 8. What is the current Internet environment for the clothing industry? a. Are there any advantages and opportunities for the company's transformation? 9. What advantages or opportunities does the country strongly support the development of e-commerce? 10. What changes have taken place in the traditional clothing production system with the development of e-commerce? a. Does this affect the development ideas of the company? 11. What opportunities does the rise of personalized customization bring to enterprises? a. How does this model establish the relationship between consumers and traditional clothing companies? 12. Is there a conflict between offline and online sales channels when establishing new marketing channels? 13. How did Internet clothing enterprises influence traditional clothing enterprises? 14. What caused the price difference between Internet clothing companies and traditional clothing companies? a. What is the impact on the company's transformation? 15. In the process of transformation, does the company face the dilemma of corporate culture shock? a. (if no) What is the corporate culture? b. (if yes) What is the original corporate culture? c. (if yes) What new culture ideas does the transformation bring to the company? 45 8.4 Transcription of the second interview Interviewer: Shuting (S) Interviewee: The manager of the DLD company (M) Interview duration: 60 minutes Date: 2020.4.21 S: Today I will make inquiries about your company's transformation from offline to online in several ways. So, let's get started! The first question is, for the company's transformation from offline to online, is it only developing online or a combination of online and offline? M: Our company's original traditional business is still proceeding normally, and it is impossible for us to completely abandon the traditional business in the early stage of developing online business.We intend to develop a combination of online and offline channels to achieve online drainage and offline experience (S3). The company needs to integrate online and offline resources to meet consumers' demand for purchases at any time, any place, and in any way, and provide consistent and closed-loop products and services. We can also use the broad influence of e-commerce channels such as Taobao and JD.com to promote brands and attract consumers, and then guide them into physical stores for consumption. S: What prompted your company to make such a transformation? M: This can be answered in many ways. The first is the impact of e-commerce on the traditional clothing industry. Due to the rapid development of e-commerce, the physical market is facing great challenges. On the one hand, the market share of physical stores is constantly shrinking, and the operators are in a weak position. On the other hand, in the face of the increasing costs of rents and wages of physical stores, the market size of traditional clothing industry is rapidly decreasing, and the transformation of traditional clothing industry is imperative. So, in order to cope with the market competition, our company expands the traditional offline sales channels to the online. S: What impact does this model bring to the company's operations? M: The development of online and offline dual channels is actually the best development strategy for our company (S3).With the advent of the Internet era, people get used to choosing and shopping goods on PC or mobile terminals, which naturally leads to the decrease of customers and orders in offline physical stores. Therefore, in the transformation of offline physical stores, the first step is to improve the sales channels and establish an online mall, so as to meet the needs of online users and bring back the lost users. Online and offline joint development is the layout of the omni-channel sales model. On the one hand, it can maintain its traditional apparel market consumer groups and market share; on the other hand, it can avoid the shortcomings of poor online shopping experience and use the rapid network spread the ability to rapidly expand new consumer groups and consumer markets (S3). S: With the development of online sales channel, is there a conflict between offline and online sales channels when establishing new marketing channels? M: That is the problem that we cannot avoid.When our company establishes a new marketing channel, it may cause many conflicts of interest among agents at all levels (W1). For example, the price system of online goods is difficult to adjust. Online and offline products are the same, but the prices are different. If the 46 online and offline prices are the same, consumers who already have the consensus that online shopping is cheap will definitely not agree, so online marketing is not competitive. About how to be competitive for online goods, the price must be lower than offline, so it will affect the product price adjustment of agent of all levels. S: Are there any regular customers buying products through your online channels? M: Yeah, you know, our company only started to promote online sales channels in February this year, and we started a shop on Taobao. Since we are just beginning to develop our online business, most of the customers who buy products in Taobao shop have spent in our physical store before. They have more confidence in the quality of our goods, and they are willing to purchase our products again. S: So, for your company there is a brand cognition here. what advantages do you think this brings to your company's transformation? M: Our company has been operating for more than 20 years up to now and has been focusing on the production and development of men's pants. Actually, over the years, we have accumulated some customers and gained some brand influence. I think this is a great help for our transformation, because in the early stage of the transformation, there are few people pay attention to our online store, but if there is a certain brand cognition , it is a huge advantage for the development of online business in the early stage (S1). S: Okay. Next question, will your company have sufficient financial support when developing online business? M: In fact, this Taobao shop is our only online sales channel, because the opening of Taobao shop is relatively low consumption and the company has the complete capital operation system, so we can provide full economic support (S2).We plan to run the Taobao store first, and we have no plan for other online sales channels for the time being. S: What advantages will this situation bring to the company's transformation? M: This is a long-term process.Maybe we can't see the benefits in the early or even the middle of the development of online business, which requires financial support, otherwise it cannot be sustained (S2). S: and you mentioned that it cost relatively low when running a Taobao shop. Can you tell more details about this? And compared with the economic investment of opening an online store and operating a physical store, which method invests less? M: Of course, the consumption of running a Taobao shop is much lower. In terms of investment cost, online stores have obvious advantages. As we all know, if you want to open a physical store, you need to invest a lot of money, such as: shop rent, decoration cost, employee salary and so on, just these three requires will take tens of thousands of start-up capital. But it is different for opening an online store. There is no need to rent a store. As for the decoration of the store, if you have good skills, you can find materials online and decorate the network by yourself, which means there is no need to spend money on the Taobao shop. If you don’t have the skills, it doesn’t matter. The shop decoration market on Taobao is dozens of yuan a month. And but this way, the decoration is already very beautiful. So, the cost between running an online store and a physical store is very different. S: Because of these reasons, the Internet company has a great influence on traditional clothing companies, right? M: Yes, the competition between the traditional clothing company and the Internet company is fierce. The barriers for online stores are lower than physical store, since the operating costs of physical stores are relatively high, 49 8.5 Questions of the questionnaire 1. What is your position in the DLD company? 2. Is it necessary for a traditional garment company to run (even partly) an online selling point? 3. Do you think it would be appropriate to set a unified price system for products online to regulate the price conflict between sales channels? (Unified price system: Online businesses can reach consumers directly and only need to consider that their interests can be guaranteed. Offline is more complicated since its marketing system generally has multi-layer agents, which means that the interests of agents need to be taken into account. In this way, it is easy to cause the different operating costs between online and offline, which in turn leads to contradictions in the pricing of online and offline products. In this case, the solution to avoid the price conflict between online and offline sales channels is to completely unify the pricing.) A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 4. Would you consider setting up an online and offline coordination team to regulate the sale/market conflict between sales channels? (Through this coordination group's training of new businesses in various departments, the staff of various departments, especially shopping guides, will be informed that their interests will not be dispersed. In addition, the team’s functions also include receiving complaints from online and offline channels, mediating various conflicts and frictions between channels, thereby maintaining fairness and reasonableness between online and offline channels. On the basis of offline business sharing, the commission of the consumer guided by the shopping guide to register as an online member also belongs to himself, so that the shopping guide will not work passively.) A. Definitely will B. Probably will C. Might or might not D. Probably will not E. Definitely will not 5. Do you think the company’s investment in the introduction of Internet talents needs to increase year by year to alleviate the company’s lack of Internet talent? A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 6. Is it appropriate to carry out activities such as “training camps”, “large lecture halls” and “junior internal trainers” within the company to train Internet talents? 50 A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 7. Is it possible to build a consumer database to understand the behavioral characteristics of consumer groups and adjust company products to ease the backlog of goods? A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 8. Do you think that by establishing a consumer database for a traditional company, its products will be renewed more quickly? A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 9. Do you think that building a customer database and implementing a customer centric C2B mode can effectively solve the problem of backlog of goods? (Since the C2B mode is helpful for businesses to understand the product demand in advance and the style design of products that customers prefer, which effectively reduces the waste of resources caused by blind mass production under the traditional model.) A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 10. Do you think the unity of consciousness among the leaders of high-level enterprises is helpful to adjust the conflict of corporate culture? (The transformation of traditional clothing companies in the development of e- commerce will inevitably face the dilemma of corporate culture adherence and innovation. In the face of conflicts in corporate culture, high-level corporate leaders need to reach a consensus of concepts, which will be relevant to the future corporate development strategy. Once there is a conflict in the corporate culture on the management level, it will adversely affect the stability and passion of the company's operating team.) A. Agree strongly B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree D. Disagree E. Disagree strongly 51 11. Are you positive about the development of the O2O e-commerce mode in the company? A. Very positive B. Positive C. Neutral D. Negative E. Very negative 12. Are you positive about the development of the C2B business mode in the company? A. Very positive B. Positive C. Neutral D. Negative E. Very negative 54 Figure 14: Answers to question 8 Question 9: Do you think that building a customer database and implementing a customer centric C2B mode can effectively solve the problem of backlog of goods? Figure 15: Answers to question 9 Question 10: Do you think the unity of consciousness among the leaders of high- level enterprises is helpful to adjust the conflict of corporate culture? Figure 16: Answers to question 10 Question 11: Are you positive about the development of the O2O e-commerce mode in the company? 55 Figure 17: Answers to question 11 Question 12: Are you positive about the development of the C2B business mode in the company? Figure 18: Answers to question 12