The Customer-Centered B2C Literature through the Lens of Activity Theory: A Review and Research Agenda

A multitude of published research studies investigate the B2C phenomenon from the customer point of view. At this point, making sense of such a large number of studies is a difficult task. The aim of this paper is to organize the literature to provide a clear depiction of what we know and what we don\u27t know about it in order to identify specific areas where future research efforts are needed. A review of the B2C literature of the past seven years yielded 115 papers investigating the phenomenon from the user/customer perspective, 74 of these were empirical. This literature is organized according to the Activity Theory framework, allowing for an enhanced understanding of the phenomenon through a social context perspective. Future research directions are identified and discussed

Influence of the Web Vendor\u27s Interventions on Privacy-related Behaviors in E-commerce

Concern about information privacy is considered one of the most important issues in e-commerce. To deal with this concern in the context of self-regulation, e-commerce web sites have implemented measures such as posting privacy policies and displaying third party seals. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the level at which a web site addresses privacy has on the users\u27 perceptions and behavioral intentions during the initial interaction with the web site. A research model is presented and empirically tested by means of an experiment. The study showed that web vendors\u27 interventions had an overall effect on the user perceptions of information privacy in the site. However, having more privacy elements in the web site did not increase the favorable perceptions of the web site. The research model also incorporated other privacy related constructs such as general concern about online privacy and type of information

Research Models in Information Systems

The use of research models in driving scholarly investigation is of great importance in any field, including information systems (IS). As such, a taxonomy of IS research models should be of substantial value to the discipline. Such a taxonomy is developed in this article based on the IS research literature. Eleven model types are examined in detail in order to investigate how they are used by researchers, in articles published in seven leading IS journals during a recent six year period. Interesting results emerge in the use of models overall, as well as trends over time and relationships with specific methodologies and IS journals. Multi-tier influence diagram is the most used research model in IS research, while the no model, listing of variables, mathematical model, and simple influence diagram also find significant usage among the IS research community. Patterns of model use were also identified based on top journals and prevalent research methodologies

Online Payment Gateways Used to Facilitate E-Commerce Transactions and Improve Risk Management

As online transactions continue to increase and become a significant part of the global economy, the ability to accept payments online becomes more important for businesses. This paper evaluates the literature and provides current information for IS researchers and instructors focusing on electronic commerce. In this paper, we explore the components of e-credit providers (conventional, person-to-person, and third-party) and explain how each system processes a single transaction. We then analyze several market leaders in each segment and summarize the strengths and weaknesses of each company. We provide guidelines for selecting an e-credit provider and highlight the options that apply best to online businesses. Finally, we outline potential areas of future research and provide a simple tutorial on creating a business account with PayPal website Payments Standard as an example of an online payment provider

E-Government and Democracy in Russia

Against the backdrop of creeping authoritarianism by the Putin administration, this paper examines whether or not Russian efforts to enact e-government are enhancing, inhibiting, or neutral towards the establishment of preconditions for democracy in Russia. Eighty official regional governmental websites in 2003 and 85 in 2004 are examined to benchmark their contents according to a set of measures related to Information, Communications / Participation, Action / Transaction, and Integration. This paper also considers the contributions of the Electronic Russia (E-Russia) program launched in 2002 as a nine-year, $2.57B effort to bring e-government to Russia. It is concluded that the main thrust of the websites was on the Information category, with some increases in the Communications / Participation from 2003 to 2004. Almost no services were enacted. Using a detailed analysis of the E-Russia expenditures, it is concluded that this program was focused more on building infrastructure than on building up e-government websites or increasing Internet access. Most support is found for the proposition that Russian e-government efforts so far have done little to enhance the preconditions for democracy, but at the same time should not be viewed as a Potemkin village, i.e. as a means to conceal moves away from democracy

The Virtual Organization: Evidence of Academic Structuration in Business Programs and Implications for Information Science

Virtual forms of organization, including outsourcing, are expected to bring broad, structural transformations to American business. Yet, little is known about the formal response of U.S. Business Schools to the boundary-spanning challenges that virtual organization presents. In this study, key elements of Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) are utilized as a means to investigate the effects of virtual organization on academic disciplines. Results of a survey of 471 Business School faculty members, including 63 Information Systems faculty, on the role of virtual organization in academic curricula are analyzed in the terms defined by the AST framework. Results indicate significant variation by discipline, concept area, and appropriation of the concepts related to virtual organization. Implications for Information Science include the need for establishing academic leadership as well as attending to perceived limitations in virtual organization tools and technologies. In addition, the results have implications for the ongoing dialogue on the role of Information Science and related academic disciplines

Spreadsheets and Sarbanes-Oxley: Regulations, Risks, and Control Frameworks

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) forced corporations to examine their spreadsheet use in financial reporting. Corporations do not like what they are seeing. Surveys conducted in response to SOX show that spreadsheets are used widely in corporate financial reporting. Spreadsheet error research, in turn, shows that nearly all large spreadsheets contain multiple errors and that errors of material size are quite common. The first round of Sarbanes-Oxley assessments confirmed concerns about spreadsheet accuracy. Another concern is spreadsheet fraud, which also exists in practice and is easy to perpetrate. Unfortunately, few organizations maintain effective controls to deal with either errors or fraud. This paper examines spreadsheet risks for Sarbanes-Oxley (and other regulations) and discusses how general and IT-specific control frameworks can be used to address the control risks created by spreadsheets

Research Models in Information Systems

The use of research models in driving scholarly investigation is of great importance in any field, including information systems (IS). As such, a taxonomy of IS research models should be of substantial value to the discipline. Such a taxonomy is developed in this article based on the IS research literature. Eleven model types are examined in detail in order to investigate how they are used by researchers, in articles published in seven leading IS journals during a recent six year period. Interesting results emerge in the use of models overall, as well as trends over time and relationships with specific methodologies and IS journals. Multi-tier influence diagram is the most used research model in IS research, while the no model, listing of variables, mathematical model, and simple influence diagram also find significant usage among the IS research community. Patterns of model use were also identified based on top journals and prevalent research methodologies

Measuring E-Government: A Case Study Using Russia

Numerous studies of global electronic government adoption use the presence or absence of website functions to measure development levels and create rankings. This paper investigates whether these ratings really reflect the overall status of e-government by using a case study of the 89 regional governments in Russia. It provides the results of two waves of evaluating these websites using measures derived from prior e-government studies. These website levels are correlated to available data reflecting the status of e-government in many of these regions. It is concluded that website levels are only loosely coupled to the overall state of e-government in these regions. It is therefore hazardous to draw too many conclusions about the development of e-government in various countries using relative rankings that are only based on websites. As a case study, this paper illustrates what can and cannot be done when highly limited data are available

Data Synchronization Technology: Standards, Business Values and Implications

The Internet-enabled connectivity has created opportunities for businesses to conduct various forms of collaborative activities. However, the findings of several surveys indicate that the deficiencies in data quality might compromise the potential benefits of joint efforts. Global data synchronization (GDS), the process of timely updating product data to maintain the data consistency among business partners, is viewed as the key to materialize the benefits of e-collaboration in the global supply chain setting. In the paper, we present the need for data synchronization, discuss the evolution of technical standards of data identification schemes, and introduce the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), the platform on which global data synchronization is substantiated. We detail the structure of GDSN and the protocols for the process of GDS. Furthermore, we discuss business and management implications of GDS, different approaches to implementing GDS, and challenges to the implementation of GDS. The emergence of GDS and GDSN presents research opportunities on issues relating to the implementation of GDS, the relationship between GDSN and EPCglobal Network, the impact of GDS on inter-organizational relationships, the network effect of global standards, and evolution of complementary standards. We discuss these research opportunities. In brief, the article covers the history, present status, and future of GDS and GDSN, as well as their potentials, benefits, and implementation issues