BRINGING E-BUSINESS TO RURAL REGIONS THROUGH TELECENTRE NETWORKS

In the present paper, I am trying to emphasize that telecentres � despite the difficulties they are facing due to last years� technological changes � could still be helpful in promoting the principles of the Lisbon Agenda. They could provide access to ICT in rural regions with underdeveloped and remote infrastructure, thus integrating relatively isolated communities into national and international information networks. They could be means of regional and / or rural economic development by transferring expertise in a number of areas, such as agriculture or rural tourism to and from the community. They could also improve the degree of local employment by offering teleworking opportunities. Last, but not least they could support the training of local people by using eLearning techniques, pointing out new regional trajectories to the knowledge economy. Telecentres could play an important role in establishing knowledge society and in reducing the �digital divide� that still exists between different EU-regions. My paper starts by presenting some basic ideas, such as telecentres and their role in rural development, it goes on with a brief overview of the role which telecenter networks could play in the new European informational landscape and it ends with a presentation of the case of Romania.Telecentre, Community Informatics, Regional Economics, Rural Development, Knowledge Society

Transformation theory and e-commerce adoption

This thesis investigates business transformation on the Internet; particularly the nature and significance of Cyber transformation theory and the Marketspace Model as a framework for E-commerce adoption. E-commerce can raise a firm\u27s productivity, transform customer relationships and open up new markets. The extent to which nations become adopters of E-commerce is set to become a source of comparative national competitive advantage (or disadvantage) in the twenty first century

B2B e-marketplaces in the airline industry:process drivers and performance indicators

Competitive pressures are increasing within and between different strategically oriented groups of airlines. This paper focuses on the level of efficiency improvements gained by using e-Marketplaces in the procurement process. Findings from a survey among 88 international airlines reveal that the use of Business-to-Business (B2B) e-Marketplaces does play different roles across the various airline groupings. Airlines that are involved in strategic alliances show higher joint procurement activities than airlines that are not involved in strategic alliances. However, alliances are probably viewed as loose arrangements and thus airlines may be reluctant to share information on procurement prices and processes with another airline that could also be acting as a competitor. The financial involvement in or initiation of e-Marketplaces by airlines is very low. Low cost airlines show high use of e-Marketplaces, but demonstrate little financial involvement in contrast. Overall, the categories of spares and repairs, office supplies, tools and ground support equipment (GSE) show the greatest potential for reducing costs and increasing procurement process efficiencies. The intense competitive pressures facing carriers will make their search for tools to realise even incremental savings and efficiency gains ever more urgent. There is evidence that e-Marketplaces are one tool to improve such performance indicators

Interdependencies and Collaborative Action for Platform Leadership: A Comparative Analysis of Two Leading Chinese Multi-Sided Digital Platforms

Asia continues to lead e-commerce growth worldwide, with multi-sided platforms like Alibaba.com, 360buy.com and Taobao.com leading the race. Despite their rising prominence, few studies articulate how these multi-sided platforms in Asia service and collaborate with it sides. It is important to learn how platforms encounter and adapt to changing suppliers-platform-customers interactions, to better understand the implications of e-commerce necessary to compete and lead in this digitally enabled landscape. Furthermore, scholars suggest research to discern between modernization of Asia and Westernization. To close these gaps, the authors conduct a case study of two of China’s leading multi-sided digital platforms—A.com and M.com. The researchers cross-examine the development of the two firms since their establishing, focusing on collaborative strategies with their sides and within their business units, through interdependencies and collective action conceptual perspectives. The contributions of this paper are two-fold. Firstly, we introduce a framework that identifies four types (I-IV) of multi-sided platform collaborations. This framework prescribes guidelines to identify and manage different types of collaborative action for strategic planning and operations between platform partners. Secondly, we consolidate four lessons learnt from our data—teach, consolidate, co-opete and ultimately lead—a set of actionable guidelines for platform leadership in the marketplace

The Potential of Critical E-Applications for Engaging SMEs in E Business: A Provider Perspective

YesAgainst a background of the low engagement of SMEs in e-business this paper investigates the emergence of, and potential for, critical e-applications defined as `an e-business application, promoted by a trusted third party, which engages a significant number of SMEs by addressing an important shared business concern within an aggregation.¿ By a review of secondary data and empirical investigation with service providers and other intermediaries the research shows that such applications can facilitate the e-business engagement of SMEs. There are three key findings, namely: the emergence of aggregation specific e-business applications; the emergence of collaboratively based `one to many¿ business models; and the importance of trusted third parties in the adoption of higher complexity e-business applications by SMEs. Significantly this work takes a deliberately provider perspective and complements the already considerable literature on SME IT adoption from a user and network perspective. In terms of future research the importance of a better conceptual understanding of the impact of complexity on the adoption of IT by SMEs is highlighted

What Makes Small and Medium Enterprises Competitive

: This paper aims at understanding the determinants of Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises competitiveness. Having in mind the fact that the Italian economic system relies substantially on small firms which have managed to stay competitive by adopting strategies such as the creation of well-integrated social and institutional clusters (the so-called industrial districts) or specialising in the production of quality goods (the so called made in Italy). However, the growing competing pressure coming from the Far East has rendered this production system vulnerable, challenging its internationally competitiveness. By developing a conceptual model we identify the sources of competitiveness of Italian SMEs. The model is tested using a unique database which collects data, for the year 2004, over a sample of 2,600 SMEs.SMEs, competitiveness, innovation, interval regression, ordered probit

Constraints to Effective Implementation of E-Procurement in the Public Sector: A Survey of Selected Government Ministries in Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the challenges facing the implementation of e-procurement in public organizations in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to examine the drivers of e-procurement in the Government of Kenya ministries; to evaluate the benefits accruing from the adoption of e-procurement in the Government ministries in Kenya; and to assess the constraints to effective implementation of e-procurement in the Government ministries in Kenya. Methods: A Cross sectional survey was undertaken due to the fact that we intended to describe the area of research and explain the collected data in order to investigate the differences and similarities with our frame of reference within a given period of time. The focus of the study was all Government ministries totaling to 31 as at December 2011. The study respondents were heads of Procurement Units from the selected ministries, who are also the secretaries of the Ministerial Tender Committees in the respective ministries. A representative sample of 16 ministries, representing about 51.6% of the whole population were selected at random, which is within the limits of the generally accepted statistical condition. A two- stage stratified random sampling technique was employed to select the ministries for the study. Primary data was collected from the various ministries with the aid of a semi-structured undisguised questionnaire with both open ended and closed questions.  Data Analysis: For purposes of the current study, the data was analyzed by employing descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies and tables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used as an aid in the analysis. The researcher prefers SPSS because of its ability to cover a wide range of the most common statistical and graphical data analysis. Computation of frequencies in tables, charts and bar graphs were used in data presentation. In addition, the researcher used standard deviations and mean scores to present information pertaining to the study objectives. The information was presented and discussed as per the objectives and research questions of the study.Findings and Discussions: The findings of the study do indicate that the following are the drivers of e-procurement in the Government of Kenya ministries:- (i) Technological drivers: - Secure transactions; Integration of web site to all business processes; and Adequate resources and appropriate supporting ICT infrastructure; and (ii) Managerial success factors: - Effective project implementation leadership supported by  appropriate human resource capacity; forming alliances – with suppliers, technology providers, customers; Appropriate organizational structure; and Stakeholders support. The key constraints were: - budgetary support; the legal framework governing ICT in Kenya; and Government Policy on ICT. The other challenges are: - Human Resource capacity; required support; and Backing of the top executives of the ministries. Keywords: e-Procurement; Public Sector; Resource Challenges; Technological challenges; Financial Resources; Human Resource capacity; Stakeholders support; Technology adoption; and Supporting Infrastructure; e-Procurement system; e-Procurement process; e-Procurement applicatio