Electronic Commerce Issues in the Australian Manufacturing Industry

This paper reports on findings into the benefits, challenges and success factors of electronic commerce in the Australian manufacturing industry among the top 500 Australian publicly listed companies. The paper investigates anticipated and identified challenges, benefits and success factors of electronic commerce, and possible relationships between them. The results showed that manufacturing industry encountered similar challenges, identified similar success factors and achieved similar benefits as the other sectors of Australian economy. Although this research addresses well-established business enterprises in Australia, the nature of electronic commerce is such that it is global and the findings should be applicable to large organizations over a much wider scope. Some of the findings could as well be applicable to small and medium size businesses/organizations

Web Site\u27s Findability and Company\u27s Image

It the mid 1990s many corporate executives realised that websites might influence companies’ image immensely. Nowadays it is evident that in e-business environment this influence is becoming more visible. Furthermore, the companies’ perceptions of the importance of the customers’ impressions of web sites play a vital role in a company’s success. In this paper we investigate the change of the perceptions of company’s image after visiting and evaluating their web sites; and the influence of particular features of a web site such as the intuitive URL, intuitive keywords, use of Meta tags and frames, etc., on a company’s image

Pitfalls of Electronic Commerce in Large Corporations

To enable businesses to maximise value and achieve benefits from electronic commerce, it is imperative to identify, analyse and overcome challenges that lie ahead those engaging in conducting the business electronically. The research presented in this paper reports on the pitfalls – challenges of electronic commerce encountered among the top 500 Australian publicly listed companies. The results showed that the most encountered challenges among large corporations include a lack of e-commerce knowledge, technology cost, acquiring IT skilled people, a lack of e-commerce infrastructure, security, as well as making the business known to users, customer service, budgetary constraints, etc. It has also been established that participating companies from the industries with the highest response rate to the questionnaire have encountered similar challenges in their paths of implementation of electronic commerce. However, despite the fact that the encountered challenges among participating companies were similar, the analysis have shown that different industries have experienced different impacts from the challenges they met

Electronic Commerce Benefits, Challenges and Success Factors in the Australian Banking and Finance Industry

This paper reports on part of a wider study into electronic commerce (e-commerce) benefits, challenges and success factors in Australian businesses, with particular reference to the banking and finance industry. The findings indicate that the major benefits to this industry sector from adoption of e-commerce are increased sales, business efficiency, competitive advantage, increased automation of processes and retained and increased customer base. The key challenges identified for the sector include the costs of the technology, lack of e-commerce knowledge, budgeting, acquiring IT skilled people and customer service. Secure transactions were not considered a major challenge by this sector; rather they were regarded as one of the success factors, along with support from top management, a functional and user-friendly web site, partnerships with technology providers and an effective project leader. Participating companies correctly estimated the majority of challenges posed by the adoption of e-commerce, however they did not anticipate the difficulties of acquiring skilled staff to design, implement and manage the IT aspects of the transition

Modus Vivendi of E-Business

This paper reports on an investigation into relationships between challenges and success factors in e-business, from the perspective of the acknowledged benefits achieved by large organizations operating within the Australian context. To enable organisations to achieve benefits from e-business, it is imperative for companies to recognise challenges before them as well as to identify critical success factors necessary for their success. The outcome of the research reported in this paper is a key set of critical success factors, challenges and benefits that can be used as a modus vivendi to overcome problems by applying appropriate solutions in order to achieve benefits in this area

Does It Really Matter? – First Impressions From A Company’s Web Site

As early as 1997 many corporate executives realised that in the network era a web site would influence a company’s image immensely. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in the electronic commerce environment nowadays this influence is becoming more visible as the customer quality perceptions of web sites play a vital role in a company’s success. Research reported in this paper investigates the influence of visiting and evaluating web sites by the customers on changing their perceptions about a company’s image; the most important features regarding first impressions about web sites; as well as possible relationships between each of these features and a company’s image.

Enhancing the Australian Regional Racing Experience for Tourists: A Betting Aid for Novice Punters

Racing (thoroughbred, harness, and greyhound) brings many visitors and economic and social benefits to regional areas in Australia. Many casual gamblers, however, have little knowledge of racing and of the fundamental rules that underpin its various forms (which, while reasonably consistent across both location and type, do differ in some respects). In this article, we describe a decision support system designed to assist and educate novice punters. A motive underpinning this research was a desire to produce a tool that might assist visitors wishing to experience the Australian provincial racing circuit to get the most out of their involvement

Web site's findability and company's image

It the mid 1990s many corporate executives realised that websites might influence companies' image immensely. Nowadays it is evident that in e-business environment this influence is becoming more visible. Furthermore, the companies' perceptions of the importance of the customers' impressions of web sites play a vital role in a company's success. In this paper we investigate the change of the perceptions of company's image after visiting and evaluating their web sites; and the influence of particular features of a web site such as the intuitive URL, intuitive keywords, use of Meta tags and frames, etc., on a company's image