A Transferable Process Model for E-commerce in SMEs

Purpose: The overall objective to this study was the creation of a transferable strategic process model, designed to aid the implementation of e-commerce within UK SMEs. The proposed model seeks to identify and clarify the stages an SME should undertake in order to implement e-commerce more effectively and successfully within its business activities. It is further envisaged that the proposed model will allow the SME to take full advantage of the benefits to e-commerce whilst attempting to minimise or overcome the identified barriers to implementation. Design/Methodology/Approach: A total of 93 postal surveys returned from sample 500 firms; firms selected from Sunday Times Enterprise Network Business Directory and the British Chambers of Commerce Directory. In addition, 22 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted across the UK from this sample examining detailed strategic and implementation issues. Fifty respondents also replied commenting on the strategic process model developed from the research, with a significant majority identifying appropriateness and ease of use. Findings: The responses were selected into two categories; “successful” and “unsuccessful”, based upon a series of strategic e-commerce criteria. Reasons for using e-commerce in the interviews were split between; innovation, natural progression, competitive pressure, the exploitation of opportunity and to a lesser extent; customer service, natural fit and differentiation. Barriers to and benefits of implementation are examined in detail for each interviewee identifying prior research, considering future expansion, considering full integration and the need for thorough planning as key factors in the implementation process. Issues following implementation were also considered as part of the model development process. Implications: The development of a detailed transferable strategic process model for e-commerce implementation amongst SMEs. The model consists of nine phases, with clear and detailed advice for the SME in terms of knowledge acquisition, identification of purpose, competitor analysis, e-commerce strategy formulation, technical delivery, promotional strategy, launch and ongoing development and analysis. Originality/Value: The creation of a transferable strategic process model for e-commerce adoption amongst SMEs, evaluated by SMEs. The transferability analysis conducted here can be considered an indicator as regards the effective use of the model by other small firms within the UK. Key Words: SME, e-commerce, adoption, transferability, process, mode

From physical marketing to web marketing

Reviews the criticism of the 4P marketing mix framework as the basis of traditional and virtual marketing planning. Argues that the customary marketing management approach, based on the popular marketing mix 4Ps paradigm, is inadequate in the case of virtual marketing. Identifies two main limitations of the marketing mix when applied in online environments namely the role of the Ps in a virtual commercial setting and the lack of any strategic elements in the model. Identifies the critical factors of the Web marketing and argues that the basis for successful e-commerce is the full integration of virtual activities into the company's physical strategy, marketing plan and organisational processes. The 4S elements of the Web marketing mix framework offer the basis for developing and commercialising business to consumer online projects. The model was originally developed for educational purposes and has been tested and refined by means of three case studies

The 4s web-marketing mix model

This paper reviews the criticism on the 4Ps Marketing Mix framework, the most popular tool of traditional marketing management, and categorizes the main objections of using the model as the foundation of physical marketing. It argues that applying the traditional approach, based on the 4Ps paradigm, is also a poor choice in the case of virtual marketing and identifies two main limitations of the framework in online environments: the drastically diminished role of the Ps and the lack of any strategic elements in the model. Next to identifying the critical factors of the Web marketing, the paper argues that the basis for successful E-Commerce is the full integration of the virtual activities into the company’s physical strategy, marketing plan and organisational processes. The four S elements of the Web-Marketing Mix framework present a sound and functional conceptual basis for designing, developing and commercialising Business-to-Consumer online projects. The model was originally developed for educational purposes and has been tested and refined by means of field projects; two of them are presented as case studies in the paper.\ud \u

The role of organisational culture during the implementation of internal succession planning within Malaysian research universities

Succession planning is not new to academia and many institutions have supported these programs for years. Few, however, have adopted formal succession planning strategies that are both strategic and deliberate and encompass the full spectrum of succession planning activities. However, less is understood about the role of culture on succession planning within public universities in Malaysia. Nevertheless; there is an absence of a comprehensive conceptual model of the culture-succession relationship in the literature that includes the impact of moderators such as national culture. A mixed mode design was adopted by the study where qualitative data was first collected, analyzed and then used to develop a survey instrument for the quantitative phase of the study. The study surveyed 375 academic staff of the five research universities in Malaysia, and the results were analyzed using the IBM SPSS for Windows and PLS-SEM. A structural model was built to identify the relationship between the organisational culture and succession planning and the moderating effect of the national culture in public research universities. The study's findings showed that succession planning is still new to public universities in Malaysia and training and development are still unstructured. Although there was a positive and significant relationship between organisational culture and succession planning, whereas, findings suggested national culture showed a moderating effect on the relationship of organisational culture and succession planning. The model can help to analyze organisational culture in order to change the Malaysian public universities’ strategy to implement succession planning

Marketing management of a successful e-business

Marketing management occupies an increasingly important position in the business world, as well as in the sphere of electronic commerce. Some participants, however, underestimate the importance of this marketing support, which may be one of the major causes of the failure and inability of some companies operating on the Internet to grow. The aim of this paper is to develop an effective marketing management process model, which can significantly contribute to the increased competitiveness of companies operating on the Internet. The validity of this model is then applied on a Czech e-shop, which has long been one of the leaders of the Czech Internet market. To achieve the objective of this paper the current situation will be analysed, and synthesis of the findings from research literature as well as modelling using the methods of abstraction and specification will be performed. This article is focused on Czech Internet market. Results of the survey (case study) will be used for further research in the field of e-business

The Future of Retail Operations

Retailing consists of all the activities associated with the selling of goods to the final consumer. In this article, we review the research on retail operations published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Research (M&SOM) since 1999. We then discuss the current retail landscape and the new research directions it offers, in which M&SOM can play a prominent role

Carving out new business models in a small company through contextual ambidexterity: the case of a sustainable company

Business model innovation (BMI) and organizational ambidexterity have been pointed out as mechanisms for companies achieving sustainability. However, especially considering small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there is a lack of studies demonstrating how to combine these mechanisms. Tackling such a gap, this study seeks to understand how SMEs can ambidextrously manage BMI. Our aim is to provide a practical artifact, accessible to SMEs, to operationalize BMI through organizational ambidexterity. To this end, we conducted our study under the design science research to, first, build an artifact for operationalizing contextual ambidexterity for business model innovation. Then, we used an in-depth case study with a vegan fashion small e-commerce to evaluate the practical outcomes of the artifact. Our findings show that the company improves its business model while, at the same time, designs a new business model and monetizes it. Thus, our approach was able to take the first steps in the direction of operationalizing contextual ambidexterity for business model innovation in small and medium enterprises, democratizing the concept. We contribute to theory by connecting different literature strands and to practice by creating an artifact to assist managemen

An Autoethnographic Approach to Examining Electronic Retail Development

Autoethnographic approaches to doing research in retailing are rare. Through the researcher reflecting on and analysing her own personal experiences as a fashion retail store proprietor, this study reconstructed the process of her strategic decision making with regard to moving from selling fashion goods via an independent high street store to selling online. The study is concerned with the issues surrounding the adoption of e-commerce. In doing so, the study reviewed the various development models that exist within e-commerce literature, and in particular, examined the extent to which a retailer adoptions an evolutionary and linear approach to developing a web site. Hence the study’s contribution to advances in retailing is in the field of strategic decisions pertaining to electronic retailing. Specifically the aim of the study was to either confirm or adjust the models within e-commerce literature that describe the internet adoption process. Through the adoption of an autoethnographical approach, the study acknowledges that there is a complex interdependency between the researcher and the researched and thereby utilizes subjective experience as an intrinsic part of the research process. This is achieved through offering the retail proprietor’s ‘insider’ perspective based upon both self narratives and self observations. Whilst the author’s acknowledge that the subject of the study needs to be examined in a broader sense, beyond the self generated data presented in the study, they argue that such self introspections can be considered as a basis of useful, albeit non-scientific, knowledge in itself. In this study the intention is to use the data as a means of generating hypotheses which will be tested in a future study by a more traditional research technique. This study is a work in progress

In search of the drivers of high growth in manufacturing SMEs

Though considerable attention in the extant literature has been devoted to growth and performance of firms, there is a dearth of research on high growth firms. Furthermore, the majority of literature in this area focuses on large firms while research on high growth small firms is underdeveloped. This paper investigates the drivers of high growth in manufacturing SMEs. Following a number of focus group interviews with six managing directors of manufacturing firms, a number of drivers of high growth were identified and investigated in a sample of 207 manufacturing SMEs. The results of this study indicate that high growth firms place a greater emphasis on external drivers such as strategic orientation, their operating environment and the use of e-commerce compared with firms having static or declining sales. The analysis shows that high growth firms compete largely on the basis of price. While high growth firms have increased their sales by over 30% during the past three years or longer, it is questionable if manufacturing firms can sustain their competitive advantage without recourse to greater research and development, and innovation in the longer term