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

Assessing the success and evaluating the benefits of government-sponsored regional internet-trading platforms for small and medium enterprises: A Western Australian perspective

The Internet has been viewed as an opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to efficiently compete in the global arena with their larger counterparts by overcoming distance and size. However, research has shown that actual uptake of Internet e-commerce by SMEs has been lagging behind that of larger companies. Fearing a growing digital divide between large companies and SMEs, some governments have taken specific measures to encourage SME participation in ecommerce. One of the more direct government initiatives to hasten the progression of SMEs on the e-commerce adoption curve is the creation, sponsorship and management of regional Internet trading platforms for these enterprises. Such a move is predicated on the belief that these platforms will offer SMEs a low-cost introduction to participation in Internet trading platforms without the need for significant technology investments, allowing them to reap benefits like lower costs, improved customer service and new levels of innovation through knowledge-sharing

Automated mechanism design for B2B e-commerce models

Business-to-business electronic marketplaces (B2B e-Marketplaces) have been in the limelight since 1999 with the commercialisation of the Internet and subsequent “dot.com” boom [1]. Literature is indicative of the growth of the B2B sectors in all industries, and B2B e-Marketplace is one of the sectors that have witnessed a rapid increase. Consequently, the importance of developing the B2B e-Commerce Model for improved value chain in B2B exchanges is extremely important for SMEs to expose to the world marketplace. There are three research objectives (ROs) in this study; first (RO1) to critical review the concepts of the B2B e-Marketplace including their technologies, operations, business relationships and functionalities; second (RO2) to design an automated mechanism of B2B e-Marketplace for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs); and third (RO3) to propose a conceptual B2B e-Commerce model for SMEs. The proposed model is constructed by the analytical findings obtained from the contemporary B2B e-Marketplace literature

Sustainability in the Age of Platforms. CEPS Special Report. June 2019

Over the past few decades, new digital platforms such as China’s Alibaba, Japan’s Rakuten and the U.S.’s eBay have grown from startups into multinational giants. With a few clicks of the keyboard, these online marketplaces bring together a seller and a buyer from anywhere in the globe. This study examines the transformative impact of online marketplaces on economic, social and environmental sustainability. It finds great opportunities. Platforms promote growth, break down barriers of distance and leap over rigid class structures, bringing marginalized outsiders into the mainstream. The study also identifies dangers stemming from the growth of e-commerce, from the reduction of labor protection to an explosion of shipping waste. What are the responsibilities of platforms? How can they promote sustainability? Policymakers are asking these questions, but struggling to find the correct balance between the opportunities against the dangers. Until now, these questions have received little attention from scholars. This study fills a much-needed void by providing some initial answers and recommendations for improvement

Interoperability and Standards: The Way for Innovative Design in Networked Working Environments

Organised by: Cranfield UniversityIn today’s networked economy, strategic business partnerships and outsourcing has become the dominant paradigm where companies focus on core competencies and skills, as creative design, manufacturing, or selling. However, achieving seamless interoperability is an ongoing challenge these networks are facing, due to their distributed and heterogeneous nature. Part of the solution relies on adoption of standards for design and product data representation, but for sectors predominantly characterized by SMEs, such as the furniture sector, implementations need to be tailored to reduce costs. This paper recommends a set of best practices for the fast adoption of the ISO funStep standard modules and presents a framework that enables the usage of visualization data as a way to reduce costs in manufacturing and electronic catalogue design.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

Design of e-Marketplace for Village-owned Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise using Rapid Application Development

Village-Owned Enterprises (BUM Desa) Pakis Sabilulungan is a business entity that houses small, micro and medium-sized businesses located in Mekarsari Village, Pasirjambu, Bandung, Indonesia. At present, BUM Desa Pakis has begun to pioneer several businesses including the production of snacks, coffee, crafts, and clothing. But there are obstacles where marketing is still limited to one sub-district and income tends to stagnate. Therefore, we need an internet-based technology that is able to help marketing more broadly and more easily than the current situation. The proposed technology in BUM Desa Pakis is a web-based e-marketplace, where all business owners can sell goods on the same platform. In its development, the prototyping method was used. This is because BUM Desa needs a description of the application that will be used before further development. The results of the e-Marketplace development on BUM Desa show that the marketing process can be carried out faster, payments can be made through bank transfers and delivery can be done through expeditions. This is significantly able to expand product marketing from Mekarsari Villag

Towards a Conceptual Framework of Electronic Purchasing Consortia

In supply chain management literature, there has been little empirical research on consortiumpurchasing focusing on a detailed analysis of information and communication (ICT) basedprocurement strategies. Based on the exploration of academic literature and two surveys amongpurchasing organisations as well as e-Marketplaces / procurement service providers (PSPs) in theautomotive and electronics industry sectors, the research methodology assesses the overallstatement: ‘Effective participation in electronic purchasing consortia (EPC) has the potential toenhance competitive advantage. Implementation requires a clear and detailed understanding of themajor process structures and drivers, based upon the technology-organisation-environmentframework’. Key factors and structures that affect the adoption and diffusion of EPC and theperformance impact of adoption are investigated, which can be a valuable starting point to EPCresearch

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