SPECIAL TOPICS OF E-COMMERCE
What is E-Commerce?
Utilize telecommunications technology and networks for:
– Conducting business transactions
– Sharing business information
– Maintaining business relationships
– Developing business strategies
A Framework to Identify E-Commerce Applications
Two main dimensions for characterizing e-commerce (Riggins & Rhee, 1998):
1. Location of application user relative to system firewall
a. Internal
b. External
2. Type of relationship affected
a. Technology enhanced
b. Technology facilitated
E-Commerce Domain Matrix
A Unified View of E-Commerce
Inhibitors of E-Commerce
10 Dimensions:
1. Difficulties in organizational change
2. Problems in project management
3. Unresolved technical issues
4. Unresolved legal issues
5. Lack of top management support
6. Lack of e-commerce strategy
7. Lack of IT expertise and infrastructure
8. Fear and uncertainty
9. Lack of interoperability
10. Difficulties in costbenefit assessment
Difficulties in Organizational Change
*Organizational context
– Difficulties in making organizational and management changes
– Difficulties in making changes to current corporate culture
– Difficulties in making changes to existing organizational structure
– Difficulties in redesigning the business processes for e-commerce
– Lack of support from functional managers
– Lack of champion
– Difficulties in gaining cross-functional cooperation
– Inadequate support from other departments
Problems in Project Management
*Organizational context
– Lack of appropriate methodology
– Inadequate training on e-commerce for organizational staff
– Not enough time to develop new skills
– Lack of external consultant support
– Lack of dedicated team or decision maker for e-commerce
– Difficulties in keeping IT staff adequately trained on up-to-date e-commerce technologies
Unresolved Technical Issues
*Technological context
– Unresolved security, encryption and authentication issues
– Inadequate mechanisms for protecting data & information in e-commerce transactions
– Lack of adequate payment systems for conducting financial transactions with business customers & suppliers
– Lack of robust and stable infrastructure
Unresolved Legal Issues
*Environmental context
– Complex legal issues involved in conducting electronic transactions w/ business partners
– Lack of international access and trade barriers to do e-commerce across national borders
– Inconsistent taxation laws related to ecommerce
– Lack of clear legal environment for conducting e-commerce
Lack of Top Management Support
*Organizational context
– Lack of top management support
– Lack of top management leadership
– Lack of top management understanding about potential benefits and issues related to e- commerce
Lack of E-Commerce Strategy
*Organizational context
– Lack of strategic vision for e-commerce
– Lack of strategic plan for e-commerce
– Lack of alignment of e-commerce plans and corporate plans
Lack of IT Expertise & Infrastructure
*Technological context
– Lack of adequate IT/e-commerce expertise in the organization
– Lack of adequate IT infrastructure in the organization
– Limitations posed by existing database infrastructure in the organization
– Limitations posed by current telecommunication infrastructure in the organization
Fear & Uncertainty
*Environmental context
– Internal fear of opening corporate systems to suppliers and customers
– Uncertain response of customers
– Uncertain response of suppliers
– Uncertain response of business partners
Lack of Interoperability
*Technological context
– Lack of interoperability between new ecommerce applications and legacy systems
– Difficulties in integrating e-commerce applications with existing applications and systems
– Lack of interoperability between ecommerce applications and those of business partners (suppliers, customers, etc.)
Difficulties in Cost-Benefit Assessment
*Organizational Context
– Difficulties in financially justifying ecommerce investments and benefits
– Problems in measuring benefits of ecommerce efforts
E-COMMERCE 