ICT, the Changing Line of Visibility, and Customer Impressions of Organisational Competencies

This paper describes a study using mystery shoppers across multiple channels which investigated the traditional ‘line of visibility’ from service quality literature, and customer perceptions of organisational competencies “below the line”. We posited that in a multi-channel e-commerce environment, inconsistency or service breakdown above the line of visibility gives a negative impression of organisational competence below the line. We found that our multi-channel customers, using a mixture of face-to-face and ICT (information communication technology) channels, formed positive and negative impressions of a range of organisational competencies, and made comparisons between the service levels provided across different channels. We also found that ICT-mediated channels can create an emotional connection with customers; customers prefer to have a choice as to whether to use self-service channels or not; and that customers expect staff members to be empowered not restricted by ICTs

E-COMMERCE

Preface ................................................ 7 Introduction ........................................... Chapter 1. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PECULIARITIES IN E- 9 BUSINESS: ACTUALITY AND TENDENCIES ......... 12 Introduction............................................ 1.1. The importance of knowledge management to increase the 12 efficiency of the organisations activity in e-business ...... 15 1.2. Employee competency integrated assessment in e-business 1.2.1.Theoretical evaluation aspects of factors affecting em- 19 ployee competency .......................................... 1.2.2. The identification of the factors affecting the employee 21 competency ................................................ 1.2.3. Concept complex competency assessment model of e- 26 business organisation ........................................ 1.3. Analysis of factors motivating human resources in e-busi- 33 ness .................................................. 1.3.1. Theoretical evaluation aspects of factors affecting human 34 resources motivation ........................................ 1.3.2. Analysis of factors that influence the motivation of human 36 resources .................................................. 1.4. Evaluation system of factors affecting creativity in e-busi- 37 ness .................................................. 1.4.1. Theoretical evaluation aspects of factors affecting creativ- 41 ity ......................................................... 1.4.2. Identification of factors affecting creativity. Partial inte- 42 grated criterion (third stage) ................................ 48 1.4.3. Evaluation system of factors affecting creativity ........ 49 1.5. Knowledge appliance process in e-business organisation .. 1.5.1. The factors proceeding efficiency of knowledge appliance 53 process in e-business ........................................ 1.5.2. The selection of the method to evaluate efficiency of know- 56 ledge appliance process in e-business ......................... 59 Conclusions ........................................... 60 Self test questions ..................................... 63 References ............................................ Chapter 2. CONTENT MANAGEMENT IN VIRTUAL ORGANIZA 64 TIONS ............................................... 70 5 Table of Contents Introduction ........................................... 2.1. A systematical approach to automate content management 70 in a vitual ogranization ................................. 71 2.2. The concept of the content. Content Management ..... 73 2.3. The life cycle of the document ......................... 74 2.4. Document management in a virtual organization ........ 76 2.5. Content capture technology ............................ 77 2.6. Cloud technologies in business processes CMS .......... 83 Conclusion ............................................. 85 References ............................................ 86 Chapter 3. MARKETING COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL AGE ... 87 Introduction ........................................... 87 3.1. The growing potential of the market ................... 88 3.2. Previous studies in e-business and e-marketing areas .... 91 3.3. The specifics of Internet marketing in B2B communication 92 3.4. E-marketing tools ..................................... 94 3.5. Social networks in marketing ........................... 98 6 3.6. Effectiveness evaluation theories ........................ 100 3.7. Website quality and efficiency evaluation ................ 101 3.8. Cases: resent research results .......................... 106 3.8.1. Online advertisements efficiency research .............. 106 3.8.2. Evaluation of Lithuanian e-shops ...................... 109 Conclusions ........................................... 110 Self test questions ..................................... 111 References ............................................ 111 Chapter 4. IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF E-COMMERCE .. 116 Introduction ........................................... 116 4.1. Scientific research. E-commerce as the Internet technology 116 4.2. Promotion of e-business ............................... 120 4.3. A set of basic tools for e-business ...................... 121 4.4. Security in e-commerce ................................ 124 Conclusion ............................................ 133 Self-examination questions ............................. 133 References ............................................ 134 Chapter 5. ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS.................. 135 Introduction............................................ 135 5.1. The concept of electronic payments.National payment system in Russia ....................................... 136 5.2. Electronic payment systems based on «Client-Bank» and online banking ......................................... 143 5.3. Electronic payments via bank cards ..................... 151 Table of Contents 5 5.4. Electronic payments via digital cash .................... 160 5.5. Internet payment system based on virtual accounts ...... 164 Conclusion ............................................ 166 Self-examination questions ............................. 166 References ............................................ 167 Chapter 6. MANAGEMENT OF THE VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE .... 168 6.1. Virtual enterprise, electronic business, electronic commerce, model of management, manager .................... 168 6.2. Manager .............................................. 174 6.3. Channel ............................................... 175 6.4. Information environment. Knowledge ................... 175 6.5. Problem field .......................................... 176 Self-examination questions ............................. 178 References ............................................ 178 Chapter 7. INTERNET MARKETING ............................ 180 Introduction ........................................... 180 7.1. The concept and structure of the Internet Marketing .... 180 7.2. Market research on the Internet ........................ 182 7.3. Internet advertizing .................................... 187 7.3.1. The concept of Internet advertising .................... 187 7.3.2. Announcement of the search engines and search engine optimization. The concept and purpose of search engine optimization ................................................... 189 7.3.3. Search Engine Advertising ............................ 209 7.3.4. Participation in the rankings and registration in catalogs 215 7.3.5. Banner advertising ................................... 219 7.3.6. Link Exchange ....................................... 236 7.3.7. Profiling and personalization in online advertising........ 239 7.3.8. E-mail-advertising. Basic concepts and advantages e-mailadvertising ................................................. 242 7.3.9. Discussion lists ....................................... 248 7.3.10. Virus marketing. Concept and principles of virus marketing ........................................................ 251 7.3.11. Other methods of advertizing ........................ 258 7.3.12. Analysis of efficiency of Internet advertizing ........... 259 7.3.13. Methods of the collection of information, used for the analysis .................................................... 263 7.4. Marketing in social networks and blogs ................. 282 7.5. Partner programs ...................................... 287 7.6. The problem of return visitors and create a captive audience 292 7.6.1. Statement of the problem of creating a virtual community 292 7.6.2. Methods for creating a virtual community .............. 294 9 Table of Contents 7.7. Off-line support for online projects ...................... 297 Self-examination questions.............................. 298 References ............................................ 299 Chapter 8. REACHING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS THROUGH E-GOVERNMENT IN THE POST-2015 AGENDA ............................................. 301 Introduction ........................................... 310 8.1. E-government: definition, functions and stages .......... 302 8.2. E-government: global tendencies ....................... 304 8.3. Formation and development of e-government in Uzbekistan 308 Self-examination questions ............................. 314 References ............................................ 314The development of the universities’ ability to quickly respond to new demands of the labor market and to adapt, update, develop and introduce new areas of study to ensure demand for the graduates provides the participation in the international projects of the European program improving higher education «TEMPUS». The project TEMPUS — ECOMMIS («double-level training programs of e-commerce developing the information society in Russia, Ukraine and Israel») was launched in October 2011, and belongs to a class of joint projects to develop new courses and courses for bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The project consortium involves 12 universities from Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Israel, Russia and Ukraine. The main objective of the project is to develop and implement new academic courses and areas of study, taking into account the current status and trends of economic development and the specific requirements of the labor market on the basis of cooperation between universities in different countries. The main feature and complexity of the project academic content of is that e-commerce as an academic concept is absolute new and it appeared just only in the last decade. It is a new interdisciplinary field of knowledge, which is located at the intersection of economics and computer science and it is not covered by the classical training courses in economics and computer science technology. The aspects of national and international law in connection with the growth of international trade, economic cooperation and the development of new Internet based technologies should be taken into account. For the project’s period of three years on the basis of international cooperation the following results were obtained: 11 Preface 1) The analysis and modernization of existing curricula in the field of e-commerce were carried out; 2) new training modules with the introduction of the European creditmodular system of accumulation and transfer transcripts units ( ECTS ) were developed; new modules and courses: e-commerce, electronic payment systems; Internet trading in the financial markets and the stockmarket systems; Information systems for financial analysis and investment; Information systems for business process modeling; corporate information systems and portals; Customer-oriented systems; Internet Marketing; electronic systems for document management; legal aspects of e-commerce; advanced course security for e-commerce were introduced; 3) two international online games to enhance practical skills in the field with online marketing and online trading were developed and conducted among university students; 4) skills training courses e-commerce for various social groups (students, housewives, pensioners, unemployed) were developed and tested; 5) business offices, e-commerce were established to strengthen cooperation between the universities in the labor market and to create the conditions of commercialization of the project results after the end of financial support from the TEMPUS Program. 6) textbooks on the topic of the project were developed and published. In May — July 2013. 62 teachers targeted universities in Israel, Russia and Ukraine received intensive training in the field of e-commerce in three European universities: FONTYS (NL), TU Berlin (DE), VGTU ( LT ). From October 2013 in target universities of Israel, Russia and Ukraine students’ training began on the courses developed in the framework of the new training courses and modules with using computer classes, equipped in accordance with the project plan with new hardware and software tools. The final stage of the project was intended to develop a five-year detailed plan for sustainable development of the results. Such plan that includes coordinated action to disseminate best practices, development of new joint courses for graduate and post-graduate students, scientificmethodical conferences, joint publications will support the further dynamics of the activities involved universities. Joint work on the implementation of the project ECOMMIS led to the emergence of sustainable professional relationships between organizations in the consortium as the training of new qualified professionals, as well as in the field of scientific and methodological developments. This is confirmed by the present collective monograph E-commerc

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Growth strategies in mature destinations: Linking spatial planning with product development

To rejuvenate a destination means to develop growth strategies whilst in a phase of maturation or stagnation. Stagnation tendencies have been prevalent in Alpine tourism since the 1980’s. In recent years, mature destinations in the Alps have attempted to maintain their appeal by defining and inventing new products and promotions rather than by further market penetration. The rapid (spatial) growth of tourism enterprises in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the Alpine destination South Tyrol led to restrictive spatial legislation and as a result, greatly limited the quantitative and qualitative development capacities of hotel businesses in these mature destinations. Consequently, the entrepreneurs in South Tyrol and the surrounding region often perceive spatial planning as a restrictive instrument limiting the growth and strategic planning and development of their enterprises. In 2007, after a period of stagnation, the South Tyrolean legislature opened up possibilities of quantitative growth for tourism enterprises, but connected it with an obligatory spatial planning and strategy concept for the entire municipality. Consequently, the municipality has to justify the declaration of new tourism zones by demonstrating the potential for growth in tourism. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, by way of the three South Tyrolean municipalities, that spatial planning and strategic tourism development are not necessarily conflictive but that spatial planning, in combination with tourism planning and product development, can be a pro-active and creative tool with an important role in developing and implementing growth in mature destinations. As such, the scope of both spatial planning and product development have been jointly defined and tested in a case study

Growth strategies in mature destinations: Linking spatial planning with product development

To rejuvenate a destination means to develop growth strategies whilst in a phase of maturation or stagnation. Stagnation tendencies have been prevalent in Alpine tourism since the 1980’s. In recent years, mature destinations in the Alps have attempted to maintain their appeal by defining and inventing new products and promotions rather than by further market penetration. The rapid (spatial) growth of tourism enterprises in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the Alpine destination South Tyrol led to restrictive spatial legislation and as a result, greatly limited the quantitative and qualitative development capacities of hotel businesses in these mature destinations. Consequently, the entrepreneurs in South Tyrol and the surrounding region often perceive spatial planning as a restrictive instrument limiting the growth and strategic planning and development of their enterprises. In 2007, after a period of stagnation, the South Tyrolean legislature opened up possibilities of quantitative growth for tourism enterprises, but connected it with an obligatory spatial planning and strategy concept for the entire municipality. Consequently, the municipality has to justify the declaration of new tourism zones by demonstrating the potential for growth in tourism. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, by way of the three South Tyrolean municipalities, that spatial planning and strategic tourism development are not necessarily conflictive but that spatial planning, in combination with tourism planning and product development, can be a pro-active and creative tool with an important role in developing and implementing growth in mature destinations. As such, the scope of both spatial planning and product development have been jointly defined and tested in a case study

A grounded theory of affiliate marketing performance measurement in the tourism and hospitality context

Although the measurement of offline and online marketing is extensively researched, the area of online performance measurement still presents a number of unaddressed gaps, such as fragmented research and predominance of practitioner-driven measurement approaches. With a focus on affiliate marketing in tourism and hospitality, this thesis addressed these gaps and evaluates the effectiveness of practitioner-led online performance assessment. More precisely, the study explores a potential shift in affiliate marketing measurement practices, and develops a theory of affiliate marketing performances measurement in tourism and hospitality. Relying on a grounded theory research strategy, the work undertakes qualitative analysis of 72 online forum discussions, 37 interviews and 40 questionnaires with the major affiliate marketing stakeholder groups from the tourism and hospitality industry - merchants, affiliates, affiliate networks and affiliate agencies. The findings of the thesis add value to both theory and practice. The theoretical contribution of the research is twofold. First, the work furthers the broader marketing theory and in particular the distribution and promotion literature by exploring an under-researched online marketing channel - affiliate marketing - that can be employed for both promotion and distribution purposes. The study provides a detailed description of an affiliate marketing ecosystem and defines the key affiliate marketing constructs. Second, the work contributes to the performance measurement research by developing a substantiative theory of affiliate marketing performance measurement in tourism and hospitality. From the practitioner perspective, the work brings value by proposing a change in existing performance measurement practices and offering a process-oriented model of performance measurement in affiliate marketing, which details the phases and steps that managers can undertake in assessing performance. To further the findings, future research can explore the applicability of the proposed model to other industry sectors and online channels, and can develop the proposed substantive theory to a formal theory by employing other research methods, for example case studies and action research

Evolving marketing strategies for Swiss ICT SMEs : a marketing strategy canvas in the light of digital transformation

It is crucial that small and medium sized businesses in the ICT sector adopt strategies to enable them to exploit, capitalise upon, and respond to the digital transformation. SMEs will need to undergo profound and continuous changes, developing more strategic focused marketing thinking and business models to enable or find new markets while attaining and retaining competitive advantage. SMEs have to fulfil the same marketing tasks as large companies, but under conditions characterised by smaller sales volumes and small market niches. The major difference for SMEs relates to the lower availability of resources, especially financial and human resources. This constraint makes it even more important to define an appropriate marketing strategy. SMEs need to adopt marketing strategies that build on their main advantages such as close proximity to customers, operational flexibility, flat hierarchies, short decision-making paths and rapid reaction times. The researcher addresses the research question: ‘How should Swiss SMEs in the ICT sector define their marketing strategy to benefit from digitalisation?’ by adopting a constructivist philosophy utilising a qualitative approach. Although this has been generally researched for large enterprises, SMEs with their specific characteristics should also be accounted for. A conceptual framework was formulated to inform the development of a marketing strategy for SMEs in the digital context. The research employed a mono methodological research design involving 14 case studies, conducted across businesses that have successfully transformed for the digital age. One marketing expert and two marketing agencies were additionally considered to strengthen the credibility and plausibility of the case studies. The findings indicate that changes in the market situation and the rapid evolution of various modern media channels require new levels of personalisation and targeted campaigns that drive engagement and brand loyalty. The study contributes to the existing theoretical body by arguing that the current view of marketing strategy in the digital era needs to be reformed to emphasise on the customer journey and to add data-driven elements to the mix using key digital marketing metrics. Further, the study suggests that ICT SMEs can improve customer experience and gain competitive advantage by designing new customer touchpoints through content. The study makes a practical contribution by proposing a marketing strategy canvas with eleven dimensions as a tool to help SMEs strategise digitisation and marketing strategy

U.dream goes to market - strategic recommendations for the implementation of u.purpose-s business activities and empirical roadmap for the future

U.Dream is a social enterprise targeted at developing social leadership skills. It recently launched U.Purpose (service) and Crescer com Consciência (product) aiming to ensure future financial sustainability. However, these were launched without conducting a market research and clear guiding strategy. The focus of this project is to assess the attractiveness of the CSR and children’s book markets and U.Dream’s current strategy, providing a strategic revision. As far as U.Purpose is concerned, the analysis highlighted the attractiveness of the market. In Portugal, the CSR consulting market is considerably underdeveloped and is expected to grow on the foreseeable future, which gives U.Dream the opportunity to earn a first mover advantage. Nevertheless, it was underlined that U.Purpose has significant improvements to implement before launching, namely, to develop an extensive marketing strategy and a dedicated U.Purpose team