The First 25 Years of the Bled eConference: Themes and Impacts

The Bled eConference is the longest-running themed conference associated with the Information Systems discipline. The focus throughout its first quarter-century has been the application of electronic tools, migrating progressively from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) via Inter-Organisational Systems (IOS) and eCommerce to encompass all aspects of the use of networking facilities in industry and government, and more recently by individuals, groups and society as a whole. This paper reports on an examination of the conference titles and of the titles and abstracts of the 773 refereed papers published in the Proceedings since 1995. This identified a long and strong focus on categories of electronic business and corporate perspectives, which has broadened in recent years to encompass the democratic, the social and the personal. The conference\u27s extend well beyond the papers and their thousands of citations and tens of thousands of downloads. Other impacts have included innovative forms of support for the development of large numbers of graduate students, and the many international research collaborations that have been conceived and developed in a beautiful lake-side setting in Slovenia

How to run an experimental auction: A review of recent advances

In this paper, we review the recent advances in the literature of experimental auctions and provide practical advice and guidelines for researchers. We focus on issues related to randomization to treatment and causal identification of treatment effects, on design issues such as selection between different elicitation formats, multiple auction groups in a single session, and house money effects. We also discuss sample size issues related to recent trends about pre-registration and pre-analysis plans. We then present the pros and cons of moving auction studies from the lab to the field and review the recent literature on behavioral factors that have been identified as important for auction outcomes

Information Architecture and Electronic Market Performance

Electronic markets are one of the most prominent business applications of the Internet, so determining the factors that drive their performance is of great value. This thesis shows that an important driver of electronic market performance is the information architecture of the market, which describes what type of information is available to whom during the market process. Two studies of electronic market initiatives at a large Dutch flower auction highlight how information and communication technology (ICT) affects the information architecture of the market and the consequences for market behavior. ICT not only affects existing markets, but also offers opportunities to design innovative new market mechanisms. One of these is a multidimensional auction, in which bidders bid not only on price, but also on dimensions such as quality and delivery time. The effects of different information architectures of multidimensional auctions are explored in laboratory experiments. The findings of the three studies are synthesized into a theory of electronic markets that has important implications for market designers, traders and researchers.Otto Koppius studied Applied Mathematics at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, with a major in graph theory. During his studies, he spent several months at the University of South Australia, working on a project involving the optimal layout of mineshafts. In June 1997, he received his M.Sc. degree for a thesis on the novel graph-theoretic problem of finding degree-preserving spanning trees, which arose from an application in water distribution networks. In September 1997, he took up a position as Ph.D. student at the department of Decision and Information Sciences at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. In 1998, he was one of the recipients of a grant from the Carnegie Bosch Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University, for a project on electronic sourcing strategy. The same year, his dissertation proposal on electronic multidimensional auctions was runner-up in the contest for "Best E-Commerce Thesis Proposal", organized by IBM Research's Institute for Advanced Commerce. The following year, he spent three months as a visiting researcher at the University of Michigan, as well as three months at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. He was invited to the doctoral consortia of the International Conference on Information Systems in 1999 and the Academy of Management in 2000 and he has presented his work at various other conferences, including INFORMS, the Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences, the European Conference on Information Systems, the Sunbelt Social Network Analysis conference and the Strategic Management Society. He is currently an assistant professor at the department of Decision and Information Sciences at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. As a result of his research on electronic markets, his research interests branch out into areas within strategic management, entrepreneurship, behavioral decision theory and social network analysis

The role of e-procurement in purchasing management

This exposition summarises research published in several academic articles, in order to meet the requirements of PhD by publication. The focus of the work is on the role of electronic procurement in management of the purchasing function. From the late 1990s a number of independent e-procurement mechanisms were launched which offered potential benefits such as increased order accuracy, transaction efficiency and greater integration between trading partners. At the outset of this programme of research, e-procurement was therefore an emerging phenomenon with little academic research and presented an opportunity to investigate a largely unexplored area. Edmondson and McManus (2007) suggest that for nascent, as opposed to mature areas of research, where few formal constructs or measures exist, an exploratory, qualitative approach is required. This research followed such an approach through the use of case studies, involving observation, participation and interviews with key organisational actors. Each paper makes use of several cases in order to compare and contrast results from different organisations and to draw conclusions from multi-case analysis. The published articles focus on the impact of core applications within e-procurement, including online reverse auctions, electronic marketplaces, online catalogue sites, and buying systems covering the ‘requisition to pay’ cycle. The findings from the papers address a number of core themes in purchasing management. In considering buyer-supplier relationships, it was observed that such dyads are driven by traditional buyer negotiation factors such as segmentation, power and price and that use of eprocurement applications tended to enforce such traditional behaviours. In relation to the potential for integration, the study found that integration between firms was barely affected, as the concept of integration was neither an objective nor a business case driver for e-procurement adoption. This situation reflects the finding that procurement managers pursue functional targets rather than supply chain-level objectives. However, other significant effects from e-procurement adoption were noted such as the tendency by buyers to reduce supplier numbers and a move to re-engineer the procurement function in buying firms, through automating transactional processes. The research finds that e-procurement does not have a deterministic impact on purchasing management, and that it acts as an enabler to more effective management of the function though the way its different mechanisms are deployed. The exposition establishes that e-procurement is used in relation to supply conditions which are characterised by both ‘markets’ and ‘hierarchies’, but that it is the predefined purchasing strategy of the firm, rather than available technology solutions, which determines when markets and hierarchies are used. Additionally, an original model is introduced, focusing on developing an e-procurement policy which can support strategic purchasing goals. This model extrapolates findings from stages in the research, and marries together elements from various papers and frameworks therein, to produce some guidelines for adoption of this technology

Bidder support in iterative, multiple-unit combinatorial auctions

This thesis is about supporting the bidders' decision making in iterative combinatorial auctions. A combinatorial auction refers to an auction with multiple (heterogeneous) items, in which bidders can submit bids on packages. Combinatorial auctions are challenging decision making environments for bidders, which hinders the adoption of combinatorial mechanisms into practice. Bidding is especially challenging in sealed-bid auctions. Bidders do not know the contents of other bidders' bids and hence cannot place bids that would team up with existing bids to become winners. The objective of this study is to develop and test support tools for bidders in semi-sealed-bid, iterative combinatorial auctions. The tools are designed for reverse auctions, but can easily be applied to a forward setting. The Quantity Support Mechanism (QSM) is a support tool, which provides the bidders with a list of bid suggestions. The bid suggestions are such that if submitted, they would become provisional winners. The QSM benefits both bidders and the buyer, because it chooses suggestions that are most profitable for the bidders while decreasing the total cost to the buyer. The QSM is based on a mixed integer programming problem. The QSM was tested in two simulation studies. The results of the studies indicated that the QSM works well - it is much better to use the QSM than no support - but that it does not necessarily guide the auctions to the efficient allocation. The QSM was also integrated into an online auctions system, and tested with human subjects. The results of the laboratory experiment showed that the performance of the QSM is dependent on the bidders' behavior and the kind of bids they place in the auction. The user interface of the auction was good. I also observed bidders' strategies, and could identify different bidder types corresponding to those reported in earlier studies. The experiment also showed the importance of experience in complex bidding environments. The simulation studies and the laboratory experiment showed that the QSM is too dependent on the existing bids in the bid stream, which causes the auctions to end in inefficient allocations. In order to overcome this problem we designed another support tool, the Group Support Mechanism (GSM). The main logic in the GSM is similar to the QSM. The main difference is that instead of solving for one bid that complements existing bids to become a winner, the GSM can suggest several bids for different bidders. Together this set of bids would then become provisionally winning. The preliminary tests show significant improvement in the efficiency of the auction outcomes when the GSM was used instead of the QSM. Future research includes the further development of the GSM and its testing with simulations and human subjects. Also, bidder behavior, bidder strategies and the effect of learning and experience in combinatorial auctions should be further studied. This is important because bidders' behavior in the auctions affects the auction design and the requirements for the user interface

Taxation of non-resident digital companies providing services in South Africa

The role played by electronic commerce has increased in recent years and continues to increase. Due to this increase in the buying and selling of digital goods and services, revenue authorities have had to recognise that the existing taxation laws do not adequately tax the digital economy. The goal of this research was to establish how South Africa could amend its fiscal legislation in order to adequately tax the digital economy. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has been the leader in addressing the challenges posed by the digital economy. The thesis therefore focused on the recommendations by the OECD on how to tax the digital economy and relevant recommendations for South were adopted in this thesis, based on the work of the OECD. The main focus of these recommendations was on implementing the International VAT/GST Guidelines that were drafted by the OECD. The thesis also focused on the progress made by New Zealand with regard to taxing of the digital economy. New Zealand has a similar taxation system to South Africa so that the progress made there was relevant in the South African context. Recommendations were also made, based on the proposals by the New Zealand revenue authority that South Africa could adopt in taxing the digital economy. The main focus of these recommendations was lowering the Value-Added Tax (VAT) registration threshold for non-resident suppliers of electronic services and enacting legislation to provide for registration of an electronic marketplace for VAT purposes, instead of an individual supplier

Spectrum auctions: designing markets to benefit the public, industry and the economy

Access to the radio spectrum is vital for modern digital communication. It is an essential component for smartphone capabilities, the Cloud, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, and multiple other new technologies. Governments use spectrum auctions to decide which companies should use what parts of the radio spectrum. Successful auctions can fuel rapid innovation in products and services, unlock substantial economic benefits, build comparative advantage across all regions, and create billions of dollars of government revenues. Poor auction strategies can leave bandwidth unsold and delay innovation, sell national assets to firms too cheaply, or create uncompetitive markets with high mobile prices and patchy coverage that stifles economic growth. Corporate bidders regularly complain that auctions raise their costs, while government critics argue that insufficient revenues are raised. The cross-national record shows many examples of both highly successful auctions and miserable failures. Drawing on experience from the UK and other countries, senior regulator Geoffrey Myers explains how to optimise the regulatory design of auctions, from initial planning to final implementation. Spectrum Auctions offers unrivalled expertise for regulators and economists engaged in practical auction design or company executives planning bidding strategies. For applied economists, teachers, and advanced students this book provides unrivalled insights in market design and public management. Providing clear analytical frameworks, case studies of auctions, and stage-by-stage advice, it is essential reading for anyone interested in designing public-interested and successful spectrum auctions

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