Strategic motivators and expected benefits from e-Commerce in traditional organisations

This paper aims to identify the strategic motivators and expected benefits related to the implementation of e-commerce infrastructures in traditional “brick and mortar” organisations. Despite the fact that the clearest benefit from e-commerce might be expected to come from contribution to corporate profits, either from an increase of sales or reduction of costs, but this may not be the case. The literature suggests that there are different ways in which the potential benefits can be assessed. These ways are directly related to the evolution of e-commerce. This research has chosen six representative organisations from different sectors to explore their rationales for their e-commerce strategies. One of the main benefits reported is to increase the focus on the customer and improving internal communications. Additionally, obtaining competitive advantage was found to be a powerful motivator, despite the fact that the recent academic literature suggests that this is very difficult to achieve

Organizational perceptions of e-commerce: Re-assessing the benefits

This paper reports on preliminary findings from a wider and more in-depth study of six traditional organizations from different sectors that have successfully introduced e-commerce initiatives. The research adopted a case study approach, within which a questionnaire, identifying 16 generic benefits synthesized from the literature, was administered. The organizations were also asked to characterize whether e-commerce was strategic for them or not. The findings suggest that those organizations that perceived e-commerce to be strategic tended to consider intangible benefits as more important than tangible benefits, indicating perhaps a move away from the traditional view of e-commerce as a marketing driver to increase or create sales. Those organizations perceiving e-commerce as non-strategic rated the tangible benefits in much the same way as the strategic organizations, but rated the intangibles lower. Also it was found that e-commerce was important as a communication tool, not only with customers, as might be expected, but also with staff within the organization. The value of intra-organizational e-commerce was also found to be important, perhaps more than previously thought, as was its use in communicating and disseminating knowledge. The findings also reflect the importance of the sector and environment of the organization in determining their perceptions of e-commerce

Enterprise portals: addressing the organisational and individual perspectives of information systems

Enterprise portals are being viewed as the next generation application platform of choice, offering benefits over both client/server and thin client arrangements. By providing a mediating layer between the information applications and resources of the organisation and the individuals using them, enterprise portals appear to provide a unique context to allow both the organisational and individual perspectives of information systems to be addressed. This study seeks to examine these often competing perspectives of information systems by using an exploratory empirical survey to investigate the actual deployment of enterprise portals within a range of different organisations. It is found that both the individual and organisational benefits that enterprise portals can offer appear to have been recognised, and coherent sets of services addressing each of these perspectives are being developed. Consistent with diffusion and acceptance of technology models, organisations appear to be commencing their portal developments with services that will ensure utilisation by individuals, and are subsequently seeking to realise organisational level benefits

Recognising the challenge: how to realise the potential benefits of ICT use in SME’s

There is evidence to suggest that small businesses often start with innovative business ideas but fail within the first 3 years because the proprietors lack the expertise to make them thrive. In this context, it has been suggested that SMEs would benefit from support to select suitable ICTs that can help them to make the most of their business potential. Such suggestions tend to overlook a need to design a system for use of these ICTs within the context of a particular business. Technology alone solves no problems. Managers need to develop relevant expertise to exploit all the assembled resources available to them, and design of an Information System that will be experienced as useful is a prerequisite for successful development of business opportunities. While the technical aspects of e.g. data processing and storage can be consigned to a contractor, responsibility for a customer’s experience in interacting with the business cannot. It is necessary to design business processes and technologies in synergy, paying as much attention to design of effective use of ICTs as to the technologies themselves. The authors believe it is vital for the proprietors of small to medium-sized enterprises to consider what may be the unintended consequences of investment in ICTs and to devote due time and effort to development of effective systems for use

Evaluating the Benefits of Electronic Commerce in Small and Medium Enterprises

This paper outlines and analyses the behaviors of small and medium enterprises with respect to the evaluation of electronic commerce investments, and the subsequent realization of the anticipated benefits from those investments. The responses of executives who participated in the study suggested that on-going involvement in electronic commerce did not come cheaply. Nonetheless, our study suggests that there were generally ad hoc approaches to evaluation of the proposed electronic commerce investments, almost non-existent post-implementation reviews, few measures of success, and generally speaking, there was little evidence of there being proactive management of the realization of benefits of those investments. Perhaps not surprisingly, the group interviewed seemed somewhat disappointed with the outcomes of their electronic commerce initiatives. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly for countries where small and medium enterprises contribute a large proportion of total economic activity, and where thus it is vital for small and medium enterprises to successfully engage in electronic commerce if the country is to derive the benefits of the new economy

An Appraisal of the Motivators for and Inhibitors to Information Communication Technology (ICT) Use and Adoption by SMEs in Nigeria

The use of Information and communication technology (ICT) to gain competitive advantage has become a key strategic issue amongst organisations in the fast globalizing environment. This research aims to identify and recommend strategies that would assist in stimulating and increasing ICT adoption and use by Nigerian SMEs. This study on the appraisal of the motivators for and inhibitors to the use and adoption of ICT by SMEs in Nigeria. Present arguments suggests that for SMEs to survive and remain competitive in the current highly competitive business environment, there is the need to adopt and use ICT to attain some level of competitive advantage. To be able to achieve the above aim, this study adopted the qualitative research approach and a study of seven selected SMEs in Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with owner/managers with a view to get a better and deeper understanding of various level of government influence on ICT adoption. The research identified key factors that act as drivers of ICT adoption amongst SMEs in Nigeria. Summary of the factors that affect ICT adoption include: - Electricity/Power Challenges. - Finance and cost of High cost of hard/software. - Lack of focused policies. - Corruption. Recommendations: - As (SMEs) are among the greatest supplier of labour, there is the need for government to provide the necessary support and infrastructures. - Government needs to create more awareness on ICT benefits and adoption. - ICT should be introduced in all schools, colleges and universities and made compulsory

Utilisation of mobile technology in logistics

Accessing information quickly has become more and more important. Mobile devices can nowadays be used to perform and accomplish tasks more efficiently. Logistics companies can benefit from mobile applications in many ways. Many logistics areas, such as warehouse managing and transportation, concentrate on the physical movement of goods. The benefits of mobile applications are emphasised in those environments where portability and real-time information are of great use. The business IT alignment framework offers an approach to researching companies business and IT strategies and execution. The enterprise mobile applications may bring many advantages but also disadvantages to organisations utilising them. In this thesis, the business It alignment framework is used in the context of researching the utilisation of enterprise mobile applications in the case organisations. The utilisation of mobile applications in logistics is studied in this research by using the qualitative research method. Research data has been gathered from semi-structured interviews with case company employees responsible for logistics mobile application projects. The logistics areas where mobile applications are used are warehouse management and transportation. A new logistics IT alignment measurement tool was developed for the purposes of this study, as no such a tool existed before. The tool utilises the previous business IT alignment literature. Companies or researchers can utilise this tool in determining their logistics IT alignment level. This study finds that there are multiple important features that companies should take into account when developing and implementing logistics mobile applications. Ease of use and user friendliness are the most important of them. In addition, information quality and efficiency and effectiveness should be considered. Many companies also benefit from end device independence. Companies can get many advantages from logistics mobile applications. These advantages are for example better information quality, real-time information and cost reductions by consuming less paper. High logistics IT alignment supports in gaining these advantages

The Barriers and Benefits of the Electronic Marketplace Environment for SMEs

Although there are many initiatives to encourage SMEs online, not all have been successful. It may therefore seem premature to discuss electronic marketplaces in the context of SMEs. However, if SMEs ignore e-marketplaces a number of problems can result. E-marketplaces present a significant threat to SMEs since they increase competition and leave nonparticipants vulnerable to more e-enabled firms. This paper examines the barriers and benefits of e-marketplaces in the context of SMEs. It first addresses the nature of emarketplaces, before identifying the benefits that may be realisable by SMEs from participation. Drawing on the literature, the barriers facing smaller firms in this environment are discussed. Identification of these barriers, such as lack of standards, supply chain integration and global trading, enables a greater understanding of how SMEs can plan effective strategies to gain from e-marketplace participation

An investigative analysis of factors influencing Ebusiness adoption and maintenance of commercial websites in Nigeria

The number of commercial organizations applying electronic commerce systems is on the rise when viewed globally. In the near future, this trend will become not only a tool to simply increase income, but without doubt will be considered an essential means for competition. Although Nigeria has the largest and fastest growing ICT marketplace in Sub-Saharan Africa, e-commerce activities have not progressed at a similar speed. In general, Nigerian retailers have not responded actively to the global growth of online retailing. Using a case study approach, various managers in six organisations from different states of the country were interviewed with a view to unravelling the factors influencing the adoption and maintenance of commercial websites in Nigeria. Analysis shows that consumer readiness is an influential factor for both developed and developing economies. Findings further revealed that most company websites are not maintained due mainly to absence of internal know-how by employees, time, and lack of continuous connectivity. This study contributes to a greater understanding of the factors that influence website adoption and maintenance within developing economies. And it provides insight to businesses contemplating setting up a website in developing economies on the successes and failures in the process of developing a commercial websit