A Conceptual Framework for Investigating Suppliers’ Participation in Business-to-Government (B2G) Electronic Auction Markets in the Thai Context

Business-to-government (B2G) electronic auction (e-auction) markets are increasingly being used to create opportunities for suppliers to expand their market as well as trading activities. However, little has been done to understand the behaviour of suppliers participating in these markets. In this paper, we propose a framework to explain suppliers’ intention to participate, and the level of participation in B2G e-auction markets, which will be tested in the Thai B2G e-auction markets. Low supplier participation has been a major problem in the Thai e-auction markets. We posit that suppliers’ participation depends on organisational motivation, environmental uncertainty, and their capabilities. The conceptual framework draws from the Motivation-Ability Framework, Transaction Cost Theory, Institutional Theory, and Resource-Based Theory. It proposes that four key constructs - efficiency motive, legitimacy motive, environmental uncertainty, and organisational capabilities influence suppliers’ intention to participate as well as their participation level in B2G e-auction markets

A conceptual framework for the adoption and implementation of online reverse auctions in South Africa

Digital technologies enable a deep rationalisation in the purchase of supplies between organisations, with positive cost-reducing spin-offs on wise e-procurements adoptions with savings of up to an 8-12% average to the purchases total. To this effect, web-based systems, online reverse auctions (ORAs) emerge as the most cost-efficient options, from the goods and services supply chain, as well as administration and governance perspective. ORAs are beginning to replace traditional paper-based manual procurement transactions and face to face negotiations effectively. Problem and Purpose – The project undertook to explore the level of ORAs adoption and usage by local organisations. The aim was to understand and explain the status-quo, with a goal of devising a facilitative framework for improved adoptions and use of ORAs in the South African public and private business contexts. Design/methodology/approach – The main research question How can the adoption (including implementation and use) of Online Reverse Auctions (ORAs) be improved among the private and public business enterprises in South Africa? To address this, a mixed methods approach was adopted, using the survey and interviews on selected 100 procurement professionals, executives, project managers and procurement specialists and practitioners. Findings – The study has found that ORAs should be implemented in South Africa when all suppliers are empowered to participate – the basic reasons being that they would save costs, and technology advancement simplifies and standardise processes. Furthermore, the effect of perceptions on online reverse auctions on adoption, implementation and purpose of ORA and research findings provided possible ways to improve the tool to be effective in the context of developing countries like South Africa Furthermore, findings also call for improved implementation of ORAs in South Africa. Research limitations/implications – Regulations around the procurement and SCM function in both the private and the public sector (though the private sector regulations are not as stringent and the public sector) contributed significantly on the progress and the availability of information from participants. Originality/value –The current existing models, frameworks and online reverse auction tools are mainly supporting and designed for established, mature and developed markets. It is required that appropriate tools and processes to conduct and implement online reverse auctions are necessary. Hence the newly proposed online reverse auctions conceptual framework.Ubuchwepheshe bedijithali buvumela ukulinganisa okujulile, ekuthengeni izinto phakathi kwezinhlangano, ngemiphumela emihle enciphisa izindleko ekutholweni kokuthengwa okuku-inthanethi okuhlakaniphile; ikakhulukazi, ekongeni okungaba khona okulinganiselwa ku-8% kuya ku-12% kwenani eliphelele lokuthenga. Njengezinhlelo ezisekelwe kusizindalwazi, ukuqhudelana kwabahlinzeki ku-inthanethi (ama-ORA) kuvela njengokunike amandla okonga imali, kokubili kusukela kuchungechunge lokuhlinzeka, imibono yokuphatha neyokubusa. Ngenxa yalesi sizathu, ama-ORA aseqalile ukufaka esikhundleni sezingxoxo zokuthengwa kwempahla ezisekelwe ephepheni lendabuko kanye nobuso nobuso emisebenzini yesimanjemanje yochungechunge lokuhlinzeka ngempahla kunqubo yokucabanga phambili yeNguqoko Yezimboni yesine (4IR) esekelwe ohlelweni lokuhlinzeka ngempahla emhlabeni wokuncintisana. Akumangalisi-ke ukuthi abamukeli balobu buchwepheshe obusha babonakala bebambe iqhaza ekuqhudelaneni nabangebona abamukeli emnothweni womhlaba wonke, nokuncintisana ngokwandayo. Inkinga nenjongo - Ngokusebenzisa inzuzo yokwengeza inani lezinhlelo ezizenzakalelayo ezinqubeni zokuthengwa kwempahla, umbhali wale phrojekthi wayefuna ukuqonda izinga lokwamukelwa nokusetshenziswa kwama-ORA yizinhlangano zendawo eNingizimu Afrika. Inhloso bekuwukuchaza isimo sezwe samanje. Umgomo ekugcineni kwaba ukusungula uhlaka olusizayo lokuthuthukiswa kokutholwa kanye nokusetshenziswa kwama-ORA ezimeni zamabhizinisi zikahulumeni nezizimele eNingizimu Afrika. Ukwenza/indlela yokwenza/indlela yokusebenza – Kule nqubo, kwaphakanyiswa umbuzo wocwaningo olandelayo: “Kungathuthukiswa kanjani ukwamukelwa (okuhlanganisa nokusebenza kanye nokusetshenziswa) kokuqhudelana kwabahlinzeki ku-inthanethi (ama-ORA) phakathi kwamabhizinisi azimele kanye namabhizinisi kahulumeni eNingizimu Afrika?” Ekufuneni izimpendulo, kwasetshenziswa izindlela ezixubile. Izinhlelo ze-ORA ziyingxenye yobuchwepheshe obusha lapho ukuhlaziya kwawo kungenziwa kangcono ngemibono yokwamukela ubuchwepheshe. Isifanekiso sokwamukela sobuchwepheshe (i-TAM) kanye nemibono ehlobene ngaleyo ndlela yasetshenziswa yomibili njengezingalizi zokuqoqo ukukhanya komqondo nokuhlaziya ophenyweni. Ngokwenqubo, inhlolovo kanye namasu okuxoxisana asetshenziswa ukuqoqa imininingwane yochwepheshe abakhethiwe abayi-100 bokuthenga, abaphathi, abaphathi bamaphrojekthi kanye nochwepheshe bokuthengwa kwempahla kanye nabasebenzi ezimbonini ezahlukahlukene zonkana zikahulumeni nezizimele. Okutholakele kukhomba igebe mayelana nokuqwashisa kanye nokusebenza kwezinhlaka zokwamukela nokusebenzisa ngempumelelo ama-ORA ezimbonini zikahulumeni nezizimele eNingizimu Afrika. Ukunika amandla bonke ababambiqhaza mayelana nokuqwashisa nekhono, ngakho-ke kuyaphakanyiswa kulo mbhalo wobuhlakani wokuthola iziqu. Ukuphuthuma kokuthuthukisa ubuchwepheshe be-ORA kubabambiqhaza abanenselelo yokuncintisana esimeni sezwe elisathuthuka kuyaphakanyiswa. Njengendlela yenzuzo eqenjini lephrojekthi ekuqaleni kokuthuthuka kwayo locwaningo, uhlaka oluvumayo lokusiza ukubamba iqhaza okunjalo (ukwamukelwa kanye nokusetshenziswa) kuma-ORAs ngaleyo ndlela kuhlongoziwe kokutholakele. Imikhawulo yocwaningo/imithelela - Imininingwane kulolu phenyo itholwe kusampula esikhundleni sesibalo sabantu esiphelele semikhakha kahulumeni nezimele, okusho ukuthi imibono ehlukile evela ezimeni eziyinqaba ihlala ingaqondakali, okunikeza ithuba lokucwaninga okwengeziwe ngesihloko. Okwangempela/ukubaluleka - Izifanekiso ezikhona, izinhlaka namathuluzi kubonakala kuvumelana nezimo zezimakethe ezimisiwe, ezivuthiwe nezithuthukile. Ngakho-ke amathuluzi nezinqubo ezifanele kufanele kuthuthukiswe njengokuphuthumayo ukuze kuqhutshwe futhi kusetshenziswe ukuqhudelana kwabahlinzeki ku-inthanethi ukuze kunikezwe izixazululo ezikhona kuzo zonke izindawo zokuthuthukiswa komnotho. Kungale ndlela ephusile lapho kuphakanyiswa uhlaka lomqondo olusha oluhlongozwayo ekuqhudelaneni kwabahlinzeki ku-inthanethi kulokho okutholwe yile phrojekthi yocwaningo.Didiriswa tsa theknolotsi di nolofatsa lebaka le legolo la thekisetsano ya dithoto magareng ga dikgwebo, ka dikhamphani tseo di fokotsago ditshenyagelo ka go somisa kgwebisano ye bohlale ya inthaneteng; kudukudu, ka dipolokelo tseo di akanyetswago go fihla go 8% go ya go 12% ya palomoka ya ditheko. Go swana le mananeo a inthaneteng, difantisi tsa ribese tsa inthaneteng (diORA) (mo barekisi ba phenkgisanela go reka go morekisi o tee) di laeditse go fokotsa ditshenyagalelo, go tswa go dikgopolo tsa tshepediso ya kabo, taolo le puso. Ka lebaka le, diORA di thomile go soma legatong la tsela ya tlwaelo ya ditherisano le dithekisetsano ka sebele, ka go somisa mokgwa wa sebjalebjale wo o nago le ponelopele wo o theilwego godimo ga tshepediso ya kabo mo nakong ya Rebolusene ya bo4 ya Intasteri (4IR) lefaseng la kgwebo la diphadisano. Ka gona ga go makatse ge basomisi ba theknolotsi ye e mpsha ba bonala ba le maemong a kaone go fetisa dikgwebo tseo di sa somisego mokgwa wo go kgwebisano ya lefase, le ikonoming yeo e golago ka lebelo. Bothata le morero – Ka go somisa tshedimoso ya tlaleletso ya boleng ka go somisa mananeo a khomphutha go mekgwa ya kgwebisano, mongwadi wa protseke ye o be a nyaka go lekola maemo le tshomiso ya diORA ka mekgatlo ya ka Afrika Borwa. Maikemisetso e be e le go hlalosa maemo a bjale. Tebanyo mafelelong e be e le go hlama foreimeweke ya nolofatso ya tshomiso le tiriso ye e kaonafaditswego ya diORA ka maemong a dikgwebo tsa setshaba le tsa phoraebete ka Afrika Borwa. Tlhamo/mokgwa wa nyakisiso/mokgwa – Mo go tshepediso ye, go botsisitswe potsiso ya nyakisiso ye e latelago: “Naa tiriso (go akaretswa phethagatso le tshomiso) ya difantisi tsa ribese ya inthaneteng (ORA) di ka kaonafatswa bjang go dikgwebo tsa phoraebete le tsa mmuso ka Afrika Borwa?” Ka go fihlelela dikarabo, go somisitswe mokgwa wo o kopantswego. Mananeo a ORA ke karolo ya mananeo a maswa gomme a ka sekasekwa ga bonolo ka go somisa diteori tsa mananeo a theknolotsi. Mmotlolo wa tiriso ya theknolotsi (TAM) le diteori tse di amanago le wona di somisitswe bjalo ka dilentshe tsa kgopolo le tsa tshekatsheko ya nyakisiso. Go somisitswe mokgwa wa nyakisiso ya tekolonyakisiso le dipoledisano go kgoboketsa datha go tswa go batseakarolo bao ba kgethilwego ba ditsebi tse 100, bareki ba thoto, bahlankediphethisi, balaodi ba diprotseke le ditsebi tsa theko le basomi ka diintastering tsa go fapana go ralala le mafapha a mmuso le a phoraebete. Dikutollo di laetsa tlhaelelo ya temogo le ka diforeimeweke tsa phethagatso go somisa le go phethagatsa diORA ka mafapheng a mmuso le a phoraebete ka Afrika Borwa. Go fa batseakarolo ka moka tsebo le bokgoni, go sisintswe ka thesising ye. Boitlhaganelo bja go kaonafatsa theknolotsi ya ORA go batseakarolo bao ba hlokago bokgoni go naga ye e hlabologago go a sisinywa. Bjalo ka tsela ya go tseakarolo go nyakisiso ya thuto e, dikutollo tsa nyakisiso ye di sisinya foreimeweke ye e kgontshago go nolofatsa tshomiso (tiriso le tshomiso) ya diORA. Dikiletso/Diphihlelelo tsa nyakisiso – Datha ya nyakisiso ye e fihleletswe ka mokgwa wa go sampola e sego ka go somisa basomi ba mafapha a mmuso le a phoraebete ka botlalo, se se hlalosa gore tshedimoso ya moswananosi ga se e fihlelelwe, gomme se se laetsa hlokego ya dinyakisiso tse dingwe thutong ye. Boithomelo/boleng – Mmotlolo ye e lego gona, diforeimeweke le didiriswa di laetsa di soma gabotse go maemo ao a theilwego dikgwebong tseo tse kgolo. Didiriswa le mekgwa ya ditshepetso e swanetse go kaonafatswa ka boitlhaganelo go laola le go phethagatsa difantisi tsa ribese tsa inthaneteng go tlisa ditharollo go tlhabollo ya ekonomi lefase ka bophara. Ka go realo diphihlelelo tsa protseke ya nyakisiso ye di sisinya foreimeweke ye mpsha ya difantisi tsa ribese tsa inthaneteng.Graduate School of Business LeadershipD.B.L

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

A study of e-commerce adoption using TOE framework in Saudi retailers: firm motivations, implementation and benefits

There are many companies in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, that are yet to adopt e-commerce and those that have, are mostly at the very basic levels of implementation. The objective of this study is to explore the factors that influence the process of adoption and effective utilisation of e-commerce at different stages of implementation, with a particular emphasis on large companies in the retail industry in Saudi Arabia. Four multiple qualitative case studies involving mainly in-depth interviews were used for the data collection and analysis. The four companies in this study were chosen based on different levels of e-commerce usage. The study identifies a number of factors as important motivations for the adoption and implementation of e-commerce. Firstly, it identifies improved operational efficiency and the enhancement of marketing as motivators for e-commerce adoption and implementation. Ultimately, the objective was to expand market reach, reduce the cost of physical infrastructure while increasing sales. Secondly, Saudi retailers were interested in providing an easier and culturally compatible shopping environment for women. Considering the socio-cultural restrictions placed upon women in their public movement, e-commerce, particularly at the retained was considered a way of breaking this restriction thus allowing more women to undertake shopping more frequently. Thirdly, e-commerce generally seems to be a business response to the growing tech-savvy young population in Saudi Arabia. The study however shows that although retailers are willing to adopt e-commerce, and that most organisations have a good management approach to handling the internal constraints and challenges of the process of change associated with e-commerce implementation. However, the progress of implementation in the country is slow and only at a very early stage. This is mostly based on contextual impediments. A number of inhibiting environmental factors, including the lack of government initiatives, legal frameworks, inadequate external ICT infrastructure, low e-readiness among local trading partners, poor physical infrastructure, and lack of e-payment methods were identified. Furthermore, the socio-cultural belief systems were found to constitute a major influence on the slow progress towards the implementation of the technology. Moreover, the study found that family affiliations and the tribal system in the country has a significant influence on organisational structure and culture. This research contributes to our understanding of the nature of the Saudi business environment, and constitutes an important theoretical contribution to the development and application of the TOE framework to understand e-commerce adoption in order to assist with and the reasons for the observed successes and failures. It is envisaged that this understanding maybe drawn upon to explain similar observations in like economies in the region and the developing world at large

Malaysian bilateral trade relations and economic growth

This paper examines the structure and trends of Malaysian bilateral exports and imports and then investigates whether these bilateral exports and imports have caused Malaysian economic growth. Although the structure of Malaysia’s trade has changed quite significantly over the last three decades, the direction of Malaysia’s trade remains generally the same. Broadly, ASEAN, the EU, East Asia, the US and Japan continue to be the Malaysia’s major trading partners. The Granger causality tests have shown that it is the bilateral imports that have caused economic growth in Malaysia rather than the bilateral exports

Exchange rate misalignments in ASEAN-5 countries

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the exchange rate misalignments for Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand before the currency crisis. By employing the sticky-price monetary exchange rate model in the environment of vector error-correction, the results indicate that the Indonesia rupiah, Malaysian ringgit, Philippines peso and Singapore dollar were overvalued before the currency crisis while Thai baht was undervalued on the eve of the crisis. However, they suffered modest misalignment. Therefore, little evidence of exchange misalignment is found to exist in 1997:2. In particular, Indonesia rupiah, Malaysia ringgit, Philippines peso and Singapore dollar were only overvalued about 1 to 4 percent against US dollar while the Thai baht was only 2 percent undervalued against US dollar

Manager’s and citizen’s perspective of positive and negative risks for small probabilities

So far „risk‟ has been mostly defined as the expected value of a loss, mathematically PL, being P the probability of an adverse event and L the loss incurred as a consequence of the event. The so called risk matrix is based on this definition. Also for favorable events one usually refers to the expected gain PG, being G the gain incurred as a consequence of the positive event. These “measures” are generally violated in practice. The case of insurances (on the side of losses, negative risk) and the case of lotteries (on the side of gains, positive risk) are the most obvious. In these cases a single person is available to pay a higher price than that stated by the mathematical expected value, according to (more or less theoretically justified) measures. The higher the risk, the higher the unfair accepted price. The definition of risk as expected value is justified in a long term “manager‟s” perspective, in which it is conceivable to distribute the effects of an adverse event on a large number of subjects or a large number of recurrences. In other words, this definition is mostly justified on frequentist terms. Moreover, according to this definition, in two extreme situations (high-probability/low-consequence and low-probability/high-consequence), the estimated risk is low. This logic is against the principles of sustainability and continuous improvement, which should impose instead both a continuous search for lower probabilities of adverse events (higher and higher reliability) and a continuous search for lower impact of adverse events (in accordance with the fail-safe principle). In this work a different definition of risk is proposed, which stems from the idea of safeguard: (1Risk)=(1P)(1L). According to this definition, the risk levels can be considered low only when both the probability of the adverse event and the loss are small. Such perspective, in which the calculation of safeguard is privileged to the calculation of risk, would possibly avoid exposing the Society to catastrophic consequences, sometimes due to wrong or oversimplified use of probabilistic models. Therefore, it can be seen as the citizen‟s perspective to the definition of risk

Purchasers’ perception of online business ethics: A case of (B2B) (SMEs) IT Firms in the North West, UK

The purpose of this study was to produce empirical research to examine the ethical concerns related to B2B (IT) in North West, UK. the Internet has fundamentally transformed the nature and the related businesses and customers maintain; while online purchasing Has experienced significant growth recently, customers worry frequently about the ethical issues of online increasingly. For retailers, internet usage has been a cause for concern and posed to be a challenge. Concerns of virtuous behaviour and security can derail customers from actively online purchasers’. To foster further growth, marketers must realize these critical ethical challenges in the online retailing environment and be cautious not to create dissatisfaction or distrust Most of the research was conceptual and limited in scope. In an online context, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that will discover the relationships between online providers’ websites and ethical factors (e.g. privacy, security, fulfilment, non-deception, information quality, website credibility, and customer support) and customer satisfaction. It also explores the mediating role of trust and commitment on the link between PPSE and purchasers’ satisfaction. An empirical study was conducted to validate a proposed conceptual framework and test the research hypotheses. A quantitative methodology was applied using a hand delivered self-administered questionnaire as the data collection technique. Two hundred twenty-three (223) completed questionnaires were distributed randomly, a total of 193 questionnaires were returned. In this context based on the analysis of 180 valid questionnaires, targeting key businesses in information technology to SMEs (B2B) IT in North west, UK. Currently, there is no recorded contribution that focuses on the relationship between the purchaser’s perceptions of the seller’s ethics (PPSE) of the purchaser’s satisfaction Trust and commitment mediate. This gap in the literature is the main of the current thesis. Therefore, this thesis makes a novel contribution to the literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the potential impact of purchasers’ perception of sellers’ ethics and their satisfaction. To achieve this aim, the author has developed a conceptual framework that helps in the empirical examination of the relationship between these two concepts. This is considered significant due to the present contradictions in the literature regarding the incorporation of the purchasers’ perception of the seller’s ethics and its impact on their satisfaction Commitment and trust mediate the relationship between PPSE and satisfaction. A multivariate analysis was undertaken using the variance-based statistical technique known as Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications show significant support for the proposed conceptual framework. As predicted, purchase perceptions of seller’s ethics is a second-order construct with seven dimensions (i.e., privacy, non-deception, security, reliability, information quality, website credibility, and customer support) commitment and trust mediate the relationship between PPSE and satisfaction

Students’ perceptions of and loyalty towards internet banking: the case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The contribution of this study based on the development of a cross-cultural universal framework, which is moderated by the culture dimension (uncertainty avoidance) and examines the factors influencing the individuals’ attitudes and behaviour and, ultimately, the individuals’ loyalty towards Internet banking across different countries (KSA and the UK). The study will contribute towards filling the gap in Internet banking literature by: 1) examining customers’ loyalty as a dependent variable of intention; 2) invariant acceptance of customers across the UK and KSA cultures; 3) and integration of the cultural dimension (i.e. uncertainty avoidance) and demographics (i.e. gender and experience) as factors of invariance across the groups. The framework is based on a number of constructs adopted from the validated theories in information systems (IS), psychology and marketing literature perspectives. Specifically from a psychology perspective, using Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs, Attitude, Intention, Subjective Norms, Self-efficacy and Actual Behaviour (i.e. intention towards loyalty) were integrated. From a technological perspective, using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use were integrated. Besides these constructs, the model also integrates constructs of privacy, security, communication, customers’ experience, Internet banking reputation, trust and loyalty from IS, as well as a marketing perspective. To examine the hypothetical relationships within the conceptual model, this study applied the positivist philosophical approach with quantitative methodology. Out of 1000 questionnaires distributed amongst undergraduate students in UK and KSA, 532 were useable, i.e. 53%. Due to the multilevel stages of the conceptual model, structural equation modelling (SEM), based on analysis of moment structure (AMOS), was applied to analyse the data. In addition, invariance analyses were applied to see the differences across the groups (i.e. moderation effect). Initially, sixteen hypotheses were developed in the model but due to the merger of three constructs (i.e. trust, security and privacy ) into one construct (i.e. trust), and the deletion of three constructs (i.e. communication, customers’ experience and Internet banking reputation) at the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) process, eleven hypotheses were finally retained for examination. The modification indices (MI) suggested three new paths, and hence, the addition of these new hypotheses brought the number up in total to fourteen hypotheses. The results suggest that the conceptualised model was able to fit with the data in both UK and KSA sample. Within the KSA sample, the model explained 45% variance in customer loyalty, but 60% in UK sample. From the path relationships perspectives, out of fourteen hypotheses ten were supported in the KSA and nine were supported in the UK. The results confirm the study’s argument that customer loyalty is the main construct of individuals’ behavioural intention to accept Internet banking. Within specific countries’ context, after behavioural intention, perceived ease of use was a more important predictor of loyalty in the KSA (i.e. b= 0.28); whereas perceived usefulness was a more important predictor of loyalty (i.e. b= 0.27) in the UK. Furthermore, it was noticed that subjective norm towards behavioural intention, perceived usefulness and ease of use was only significant in the KSA sample. The invariance analysis across the countries revealed significant differences between the KSA and the UK for nine hypotheses. Furthermore, invariance analysis also revealed significant differences across the cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance (i.e. high and low), and the demographical variable of gender (i.e. male and female). Contrary to this, no difference was found for the demographic variable of experience (i.e. high and low). Based on these results, theoretical and practical implications are advised.King Khalid Universit