Leveraging Offshore IT Outsourcing by SMEs through Online Marketplaces

Following their larger counterparts, an increasing number of small firms outsource their IT tasks to lower cost offshore destinations. For small firms, however, offshore outsourcing is a difficult undertaking as it involves high transaction costs. Online marketplaces for IT services, which have recently become available to small firms, make offshore IT outsourcing more accessible and manageable, although differences in the marketplace design result in varying outcomes across the marketplaces. This has consequences for SME’s decision as to which online marketplace to use, because different markets may have different types of benefits and costs. This paper sets to analyze some of the similarities and differences between online marketplaces for IT services and their effects for small firms. First, we analyze if and how online marketplaces reduce small firms’ transaction costs in offshore IT outsourcing. Second, we examine the effects of market entry barriers on outcomes of online marketplaces and their implications for small firms. The results indicate that online marketplaces for IT services do reduce transaction costs for small firms in offshore outsourcing across ten specific market processes. More surprising, however, is the finding that the lower market entry barriers for suppliers result in lower prices for buyers without compromising other aspects of market performance.Offshore IT Outsourcing;Online Market;Process-Stakeholder Analysis;Reverse Auction

Matchmaking Framework for B2B E-Marketplaces

In the recent years trading on the Internet become more popular. Online businesses gradually replace more and more from the conventional business. Much commercial information is exchanged on the internet, especially using the e-marketplaces. The demand and supply matching process becomes complex and difficult on last twenty years since the e-marketplaces play an important role in business management. Companies can achieve significant cost reduction by using e-marketplaces in their trade activities and by using matchmaking systems on finding the corresponding supply for their demand and vice versa. In the literature were proposed many approaches for matchmaking. In this paper we present a conceptual framework of matchmaking in B2B e-marketplaces environment.B2B Electronic Marketplaces, Conceptual Framework, Matchmaking, Multi- Objective Genetic Algorithm, Pareto Optimal

Explorations in Evolutionary Design of Online Auction Market Mechanisms

This paper describes the use of a genetic algorithm (GA) to find optimal parameter-values for trading agents that operate in virtual online auction “e-marketplaces”, where the rules of those marketplaces are also under simultaneous control of the GA. The aim is to use the GA to automatically design new mechanisms for agent-based e-marketplaces that are more efficient than online markets designed by (or populated by) humans. The space of possible auction-types explored by the GA includes the Continuous Double Auction (CDA) mechanism (as used in most of the world’s financial exchanges), and also two purely one-sided mechanisms. Surprisingly, the GA did not always settle on the CDA as an optimum. Instead, novel hybrid auction mechanisms were evolved, which are unlike any existing market mechanisms. In this paper we show that, when the market supply and demand schedules undergo sudden “shock” changes partway through the evaluation process, two-sided hybrid market mechanisms can evolve which may be unlike any human-designed auction and yet may also be significantly more efficient than any human designed market mechanism

Community Philanthropy and Social Media

Summarizes trends in technological adoption by community foundations since 2005 and the role online marketplaces, social networks, wikis, and other resources play in community philanthropy. Discusses emerging developments and their implications

What\u27s in Your Box? Removing the Tiffany Standard of Knowledge in Online Marketplaces

Online shopping is a quintessential component of modern life. Millions of products from trusted brands are conveniently available at single-stop online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba with the click of a button from the comfort of home. But is the product delivered to the consumer’s front door actually the same as the one found on a store shelf? Pervasive trademark infringement in online marketplaces makes the answer to this question difficult, that is, until the consumer experiences negative consequences from a counterfeited product. Under Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay, Inc., online marketplaces face almost no liability for trademark infringements occurring on their websites. As a result, trademark owners face the impossible task of constantly policing millions of product listings across innumerable websites to protect their brands from the onslaught of reputation damaging counterfeits, while online marketplaces can take a passive approach to the infringement problem. This imbalance in responsibility causes countless counterfeit, and potentially dangerous, products to find their ways into the hands of unsuspecting consumers. After reviewing the relevant legal landscape, this Comment advocates for legislative action to lower the current scienter requirement for contributory trademark infringement in online marketplaces in an effort to incentivize online marketplaces to take a more proactive role in policing trademark infringement on their websites

Leveraging Offshore IT Outsourcing by SMEs through Online Marketplaces

Following their larger counterparts, an increasing number of small firms outsource their IT tasks to lower cost offshore destinations. For small firms, however, offshore outsourcing is a difficult undertaking as it involves high transaction costs. Online marketplaces for IT services, which have recently become available to small firms, make offshore IT outsourcing more accessible and manageable, although differences in the marketplace design result in varying outcomes across the marketplaces. This has consequences for SME’s decision as to which online marketplace to use, because different markets may have different types of benefits and costs. This paper sets to analyze some of the similarities and differences between online marketplaces for IT services and their effects for small firms. First, we analyze if and how online marketplaces reduce small firms’ transaction costs in offshore IT outsourcing. Second, we examine the effects of market entry barriers on outcomes of online marketplaces and their implications for small firms. The results indicate that online marketplaces for IT services do reduce transaction costs for small firms in offshore outsourcing across ten specific market processes. More surprising, however, is the finding that the lower market entry barriers for suppliers result in lower prices for buyers without compromising other aspects of market performance

Do Online Marketplaces Play a Significant Role in Shaping Entrepreneurial Intention? An Empirical Investigation

Online marketplaces are regarded to play a vital role in assisting businesses to start up online. This is because of the reduced expenses involved with launching a company on online marketplaces compared to beginning an online business on a seller’s new website. Numerous enterprises are turning to online marketplaces and benefiting from the low start-up expenses and simplicity of selling. Sellers are spared of the responsibilities of storage, shipping, and payment collection. This research attempts to explore the antecedents of entrepreneurial inclination among US university students with a special focus on the role of online marketplaces. The data was acquired from 252 students using self-administered surveys in 4 different institutions in the United States. The structural model was evaluated using structural equation modeling for assessing the link between educational assistance, societal norms, perceived support from global online marketplaces, attitude, and entrepreneurial inclination. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed for data analysis. The findings suggest that the perceived online marketplace support has a statistically significant positive effect on entrepreneurial intention. This implies that the existence of an online marketplace motivates individuals for entrepreneurial activities. The findings of this research would be useful for individuals who intents to begin an online business without incurring the high startup costs associated with the majority of traditional businesses

Product Uncertainty in Online Marketplaces in China: An Econometric Model

Most studies on online marketplaces focus on seller uncertainty and rely on data from online marketplaces in the U.S. This paper extends this literature by focusing on product uncertainty and defining its two dimensions - description uncertainty (identifying the product‘s characteristics) and fit uncertainty (matching product characteristics with the buyer’s needs). It also examines the distinction, relationship, and relative effects of the two dimensions of product uncertainty on actual product returns, and how online marketplaces can use IT-enabled mechanisms to mitigate product uncertainty. The proposed hypotheses are tested with data from 144 buyers in Taobao’s online marketplace in China using an econometric model. The results stress the role of product presentations in reducing description uncertainty and of online communication, both between the buyer and the seller and also among buyers, in reducing fit uncertainty. The paper draws implications for reducing product uncertainty in online marketplaces with the aid of IT