An Analysis of ICMB 2006

This paper analyzes the 44 papers included in the proceedings of the 5th ICMB conference in Copenhagen 2006. The purpose of the paper was to investigate to what extent the conference fulfilled its objectives which was to compare previous expectations with present realities along the following four areas: (1) business models, (2) the influence of m-business on private and work life, (3) the impact of regulation, and (4) the re-composition of the value network. In the analysis we apply the well-known framework by Lyytinen and Yoo for studying nomadic computing. In addition to this we also classify the papers in relation to type of artifact investigated, application area, and research methodology. The analysis show that the main focus lay on the use and adoption of mobile services – over 60% of the papers address. Few papers address the impact of service on any level of analysis. Business model is a recurring topic in 17 of the papers. There is lack in theorizing of the artifact, e.g. many just study mobile devices, but do not describe what type they study

e-Business challenges and directions: important themes from the first ICE-B workshop

A three-day asynchronous, interactive workshop was held at ICE-B’10 in Piraeus, Greece in July of 2010. This event captured conference themes for e-Business challenges and directions across four subject areas: a) e-Business applications and models, b) enterprise engineering, c) mobility, d) business collaboration and e-Services, and e) technology platforms. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methods were used to gather, organize and evaluate themes and their ratings. This paper summarizes the most important themes rated by participants: a) Since technology is becoming more economic and social in nature, more agile and context-based application develop methods are needed. b) Enterprise engineering approaches are needed to support the design of systems that can evolve with changing stakeholder needs. c) The digital native groundswell requires changes to business models, operations, and systems to support Prosumers. d) Intelligence and interoperability are needed to address Prosumer activity and their highly customized product purchases. e) Technology platforms must rapidly and correctly adapt, provide widespread offerings and scale appropriately, in the context of changing situational contexts

The suitability of wireless technologies for implementing an ebusiness infrastructure in Kenyan Micro and Small Enterprises.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.This thesis interrogates the suitability of wireless technologies to implement an eBusiness infrastructure in Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in developing countries, particularly in Kenya. A research model was developed based on literature and information obtained from a pilot study. The proposed model extended Task-Technology Fit with two core constructs from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. A preliminary study was conducted to refine the proposed model and inclusion of any variables limiting the suitability of wireless technologies as MSEs’ eBusiness infrastructure. The proposed model was empirically tested using data collected using a survey questionnaire and five descriptive case studies on MSEs in Kenya. A proportionate stratified random sampling method within well defined geographic clusters was used to collect data from 570 MSEs. The constructs were assessed for reliability, validity and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS and validated via a confirmatory factor analysis using Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS maximum likelihood method. Most Kenyans live in rural areas of the country with no access to mainstream technologies and a considerable digital divide exists, particularly between the urban and rural areas. This necessitated an intra-country comparison of access and use of wireless technologies in rural and urban MSEs in implementing an eBusiness infrastructure. The results of the intracountry comparisons indicate that while there are indisputable similarities in usage and perception of barriers and benefits of using wireless technologies to implement eBusiness infrastructure between the rural areas and urban centers in Kenya, there are also considerable differences. The relationships among the research model constructs were different depending on whether the sample was rural or urban. However, the differences between rural and urban MSEs’ ratings of the proposed research model constructs were not statistically significant. The study finds that there are evident positive performance impacts on MSEs that use wireless technologies for their eBusiness infrastructure and that the research model fit well with the data collected. The results also indicate that Task-Technology Fit and Usage directly and significantly affect organizational performance while Performance Expectance, Social Influence and Task-Technology Fit were significant determinants of Usage. Among the three proposed barriers of Security Risks, Affordability and Performance Risks, only Performance Risks had a significant negative effect on Usage. Finally, the study’s results, theoretical, managerial and policy implications are discussed and recommendations for future research given

Customer-Relationship-Management-Systeme unter Nutzung mobiler Endgeräte

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) und die Unterstützung von CRM durch stationäre und mobile Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik (IKT) haben in der einschlägigen Literatur eine hohe Relevanz. In der Arbeit werden CRM-Pro­jekte in Unternehmen des Business-to-Business-Bereichs empirisch untersucht. Es werden besonders die Ausprägungen der IKT und die Auswirkungen im Außendienst berücksichtigt. Basierend auf den Untersuchungsergebnissen werden Handlungsempfehlungen für Unternehmen abgeleitet

Modellierung ortsabhängiger Zugriffskontrolle für mobile Geschäftsprozesse

Der Einsatz mobiler Computer wie Smartphones für die Abarbeitung mobiler Geschäftsprozesse bringt neben großen Vorteilen auch spezifische Sicherheitsherausforderungen mit sich. Als ein Lösungsansatz hierfür wird "ortsabhängige Zugriffskontrolle" verfolgt. Die Grundidee dabei ist es, den aktuellen Aufenthaltsort des Nutzers für die Zugriffskontrollentscheidung auszuwerten. Zur Modellierung solcher Ortseinschränkungen wird eine auf UML-Aktivitätsdiagrammen aufbauende Notation eingeführt