End-user Empowerment in the Digital Age

End-user empowerment (or human empowerment) may be seen as an important aspect of a human-centric approach towards the digital economy. Despite the role of end-users has been recognized as a key element in information systems and end-user computing, empowering end-users may be seen as a next evolutionary step. This minitrack aims at advancing the understanding of what end-user empowerment really is, what the main challenges to develop end-user empowering systems are, and how end-user empowerment may be achieved in specific domains

Elektronische Marktplätze : Formen, Beteiligte, Zutrittsbarrieren

Elektronische Marktplätze sind aktuell die wichtigste Form einer neuen Intermediation im elektronischen Wirtschaftsgefüge. Sie entwickeln sich dementsprechend sehr schnell zu den zentralen Handelsplattformen in vielen Bereichen und Branchen. Elektronische Marktplätze stellen eine konkret abgrenzbare, durch Informations- und Kommunikationssysteme geschaffene und durch einen Betreiber initiierte Infrastruktur für das Zusammentreffen von Angebot und Nachfrage dar und unterstützen eine oder mehrere Phasen der Marktransaktion sowie die Bildung eines Marktpreises. Der Geschäftsverkehr auf elektronischen Marktplätzen lässt sich anhand dreier Dimensionen charakterisieren: Den Teilnehmerbeziehungen in Form von B2B-, B2C- oder C2C-Marktplätzen, der sachlichen Gliederung nach branchenbezogenen oder thematischen Marktplätzen sowie dem spezifischen Preisbildungsmechanismus in einem Spektrum zwischen statischer Katalogaggregation, dynamischen Auktionen durch die Marktteilnehmer oder intermediierter Preisbildung bei Börsen. Elektronische Marktplätze können durch Anbieter, Nachfrager oder neutrale Intermediäre betrieben werden, was in der Regel von der Konzentration und relativen Marktmacht der einzelnen Parteien abhängt. Elektronische Marktplätze haben relativ geringe technische und finanzielle Zutrittsbarrieren, doch können rechtliche Fragen, Eigenschaften der angebotenen Güter und insbesondere das Verhalten marktbeherrschender Marktplatzbetreiber oder traditioneller Partner den Zutritt zu den Marktplätzen erheblich behindern

Auctioning Bulk Mobile Messages

The search for enablers of continued growth of SMS traffic, as well asthe take-off of the more diversified MMS message contents, open up forenterprises the potential of bulk use of mobile messaging , instead ofessentially one-by-one use. In parallel, such enterprises or valueadded services needing mobile messaging in bulk - for spot use or foruse over a prescribed period of time - want to minimize totalacquisition costs, from a set of technically approved providers ofmessaging capacity.This leads naturally to the evaluation of auctioning for bulk SMS orMMS messaging capacity, with the intrinsic advantages therein such asreduction in acquisition costs, allocation efficiency, and optimality.The paper shows, with extensive results as evidence from simulationscarried out in the Rotterdam School of Management e-Auction room, howmulti-attribute reverse auctions perform for the enterprise-buyer, aswell as for the messaging capacity-sellers. We compare 1- and 5-roundauctions, to show the learning effect and the benefits thereof to thevarious parties. The sensitivity will be reported to changes in theenterprise's and the capacity providers utilities and prioritiesbetween message attributes (such as price, size, security, anddelivery delay). At the organizational level, the paper also considersalternate organizational deployment schemes and properties for anoff-line or spot bulk messaging capacity market, subject to technicaland regulatory constraints.MMS;EMS;Mobile commerce;SMS;multi-attribute auctions

Electronic Marketplaces: A Cross-Industry Comparison

This research addresses the question of the potential growth of electronic marketplaces as an e-entrepreneurship model. We will examine how electronic marketplaces are different among industry sectors from two major perspectives: the level of electronic marketplace usage and the level of e-readiness.  The results of an empirical study conducted in the United States show that a wide range of industry sectors are currently prepared to use electronic marketplaces, and will use them in the future. These findings indicate a better chance for the growth of e-entrepreneurship as a solution for entrepreneurs in our current troubled economy

Global Logistics System Asia Co., Ltd.

Most people concur that electronic markets constitute a significant innovation that will radically alter markets in the future. However two key questions remain. Who will stand to benefit from electronic markets? How should various existing market players position themselves in regard to initiatives to establish such markets? This case discusses these two questions by studying the air cargo industry in Hong Kong, where an electronic trading network has recently been launched with considerable success. It analyzes how and why this electronic network became an instant success and it also addresses whether the network will evolve into an electronic market. Furthermore, what stakeholders are in favor of such a move and who will seek to resist it

The Determinants of Network Default and Consolidation

Many industries whose products and services are based on information technology are being swept by asset buyouts, mergers and consolidations, a trend that promises to bring increased competition and cooperation, and lower prices for consumers. We have seen this happen in the world of packaged software products, including database management products, CASE tools, LAN software and software suites. The recent news of the merger of IBM and Lotus, and Microsoft\u27s attempted purchase of Intuit are cases in point. In a similar vein, the cellular communications industryalready has experienced a number of consolidations, with the result that the big players have gotten dramatically bigger. The market for services delivered by retail electronic payment networks also has experienced a deal of change in the last decade. Electronic banking networks have been merging with and acquiring one another in their fight for market share. The result is that the average network has increased in size, and although automated teller machine (ATM) usage has expanded even more dramatically,today fewer and fewer electronic banking networks exist (O\u27Keefe, 1994). Each of these industry scenarios shares an important feature: installed base appears to give rise to network externalities that create value for users who adopt common solutions and buy into shared technological standards. This, in turn, creates value for the acquirers or for the owners of the merged network. Why do some network technologies consolidate with competing technologies or networks to remain competitive, while others evolve to become dominant? How can these outcomes be explained? Although much has been written on the adoption of technologies and networks in the presence of beneficial externalities by economists (e.g., Farrell and Saloner, 1985; Katz and Shapiro, 1985; Oren and Smith, 1981) and IS researchers (e.g., Bakos, 1991; Chismar and Meier, 1992; Clemons and Kleindorfer, 1992; Gurbaxani and Whang, 1991; Seidmann and Wang, 1994), little is known about why network mergers occur under these circumstances. This research examines the determinants ofnetwork default(when a network goes out of business by its own choice) and network consolidationin electronic banking networks, and suggests a general evaluative framework that applies more broadly, to a spectrum of informationtechnologies and competitive interorganization information systems that offer network externalities

Determinants of Market Strategies in Electronic Markets

Electronic markets have opened a new type of market for customers and organizations, and have become a serious alternative to traditional, non-electronic markets. There has been little comparative analysis of these two market types, and the market strategies that are adopted in each. This paper explores the differences between traditional and electronic markets, identifies possible market strategies related to electronic markets, and investigates factors associated with the adoption of these strategies. Our empirical analysis will provide an insight to reasons for adopting different market strategies