Electronic Commerce and Strategic Change within Organizations

This article reviews and contrasts the experiences of two major companies in attempting significant change projects incorporating information and communication technologies. It does so by utilizing and critiquing the MIT “Management in the 1990s” model and by reflecting on socio-technical approaches to organizational change. It makes the point that while much of current attention is on electronic commerce as it pertains to industry transformation and inter-organizational relations, it is nonetheless a phenomenon that can impact complex internal relations and communication in addition. Additionally, conclusions are drawn with respect to the process of change and the need for further longitudinal studies when researching change projects of this kind.

A Web Usability Assessment Model and Automated Toolset

Many organizations are taking advantage of World Wide Web market opportunities through the development of electronic commerce (E-Commerce) web sites. The implementation of an E-Commerce web site, however, doesn’t guarantee marketing and financial success. In fact, it could adversely impact the organization when the site is viewed as consumer “unfriendly” or “unusable.” An E-Commerce site will be most successful when consumer usability attributes (e.g., performance, design layout, navigation) drive its development. This chapter describes a web usability assessment tool that is being developed to provide usability feedback on a particular web site. The tool incorporates a set of usability attributes with user profile data and organizational goals for ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of a web site.

The Cost of Email within Organizations

A pilot exercise on the cost-benefit analysis of the use of internal email was performed at the Danwood Group. This forms part of a larger exercise to evaluate computer communication to help enhance performance throughout the organisation. The chapter has resulted in the creation of an internal email costing process showing when it starts to become a more efficient means of communication. In this study, the times taken to read, write and perform other functions with email were measured for a sample of employees. The email content was also monitored to determine which emails were business related. It was found that nearly two thirds of all emails were non-business related at the start of the research, but this decreased to a consistent 43% towards the end.

Impacts of Software Agents in eCommerce Systems on Customer's Loyalty and on Behavior of Potential Customers

Most of the software agents only perform simple product price comparisons; some support the purchase of products or the negotiation over multiple terms of a transaction, such as, e. g., warranties, return policies, delivery times and loan options. Auctions help to find an effective pricing mechanism in electronic commerce. The active technologies enabling customers to purchase efficiently force the merchants to offer high personalized, value-added and complementary services. The techniques such as rule-based matching or collaborative filtering provide contents that are appropriate to the customer’s preferences or analyze past purchases of other clients. The one-to-one marketing may be especially useful for sophisticated products demanding explanation or to enable cross-selling of other products. The merchants might achieve additional reduction of transaction costs (especially transport, storage and safety measures) using electronic money systems.

Internal Audit of Internet-Based Electronic Commerce Transactions

The introduction of Internet-based electronic commerce (EC) has brought new risks to internal controls. Increased interdependencies among various parties in an EC transaction shifting organizational focus from an audit-risk to a business-risk exposure. This chapter addresses the nature of EC transactions and control considerations associated with them. The chapter also provides internal auditors with a Total Quality Management (TQM) framework for services performed within EC environment. The framework is developed and based on five principles: activity analysis, control analysis, evaluation analysis, risk assessment, and continuous improvement. This approach provides appropriate continuous monitoring of business practices and internal controls to ensure audit effectiveness and efficiency.

Customer Loyalty and Electronic Banking

In this paper, we present a conceptual framework that helps to better understand and assess the impacts of information technology on customer loyalty in retail banking. To do so, we define the concept of customer loyalty and identify its antecedents. A conceptual framework describing the impacts of information technology on loyalty is developed based on the literature in marketing, social psychology, and communication. The framework suggests that electronic banking might have different effects on loyalty depending on the type of customer. Research in social psychology indicates that customers can be either communally-oriented or exchange-oriented. Loyalty is thus likely to be generated differently in each case: for communally-oriented customer loyalty is likely to be generated based on social and personal interactions, whereas for exchange-oriented customers, loyalty is enhanced by service efficiency and reliability. Because it reduces the amount of face-to-face interactions customers have with bank personnel, electronic banking is likely to lead to lower levels of loyalty for communally-oriented customers and to higher levels of loyalty for exchange-oriented customers.

Electronic Commerce

The web site is a central component of B2C Electronic Commerce. However, there are few guidelines on how to design and develop an effective web site. Most discussions address technical issues of building WebPages. The requirement stage of web site design is poorly understood. This chapter discusses requirements for web site functions from the point of view of both the firm and the customer. Firm’s business strategies and customer decision support needs are mapped into web site functionalities. Two existing web sites of firms in the building industry are analyzed for illustrative purposes.

Evaluation of Electronic Commerce Adoption within SMEs

The exponential growth that has recently characterized the diffusion of electronic commerce (EC) applications could lead companies of any size to plan new investments, in order to compete in an increasingly dynamic market. The first business experiences show that EC should be considered a competitive instrument not simply affecting economic transactions, but significantly influencing the business organizational structure and strategic objectives. Although this issue has recently been object of considerable attention, the research on the evaluation of EC adoption for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is still relatively new. This chapter aims at supporting SMEs in choosing the most suitable EC approach according to their peculiarities and strategic goals. First, it identifies five EC approaches supporting different business activities. Then, it describes the business variables involved in any EC project and identifies four SME profiles characterized by different values of these variables. Finally, a cross analysis between EC approaches and SME profiles allows developing a framework suggesting the most suitable EC solution for each business profile.

Mobile Agents, Mobile Computing and Mobile Users in Global E-Commerce

Mobile agents may reside in a host or client computer, and can also roam other computers, networks or the Internet to execute their tasks. In this chapter, we will examine the implications of mobility in three aspects: mobile code, mobile hardware and mobile users. The impact of mobility on electronic commerce in the areas of security issues; export controls, legal jurisdiction, taxation and international issues is also analyzed. Mobile agent technologies and mobile computers will play an important role in the new cyberspace economy, however many issues need to be addressed before the technology can be fully implemented.

Multi-Dimensional B2B Auctions for Electronic Commerce

Since the early days of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), many business-to-business (B2B) models of electronic commerce have been developed. Currently, the fastest growing segment of e-commerce is the B2B Web-based marketplace (Wilder, 2000). The dynamic nature of this business environment is driving major changes in business strategies and models, marketing, and information systems development. In order for new companies to compete in this extremely competitive environment, they must understand the nature of the market, and the vast commitment of resources necessary to establish a presence in that market.