Exploring the Role of Social Community Within an E-Marketplace

Marketplaces have provided a meeting place for communities to socialise, exchange information and transact business for many centuries. It is perhaps a natural progression that the inclusion of social network facilities should be an intrinsic part of e-marketplace development. This exploratory study examines the concept of designing social features into an e-marketplace by considering the needs of online community members. Using TradeMe, a New Zealand horizontal intermediary e-marketplace, as an illustrative case study it was found that the use of an online community to encourage information flow, reciprocity and trust has resulted in a vibrant, successful business model. Further research is required to investigate the viability of the community model beyond the case illustrated

Recognition and Use of Key Success Factors in Electronic Marketplaces

This study examines the critical success factors previously identified as contributing to the development and success of e-marketplaces. An analysis of twelve e-marketplaces found that they were sensitive to the needs of their target market and offered services appropriate to that market. However, although each of the critical success factors were addressed by the e-marketplaces there remained areas of concern, particularly in the areas of security, technological infrastructure and neutrality. One success factor, that of meeting participants’ needs through value-add, was identified as being key in establishing competitive advantage

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

Challenging The Global, Rediscovering The Local: Voluntary Market Restriction In C2C E-Marketplaces

The current age of networked information systems brings concerns that in an increasingly global world the dominance of multinational corporations overrides regional and national identities. This view is challenged by the concept of glocalisation where ideas in the global environment are adapted to take account of local cultures. Many organisations operating globally seek to adapt their business strategies to fit with local environments. However, in an increasingly glocalized world organisations may curtail their market by forming boundaries around their online presence; in essence making local what is potentially global. We have identified this strategy of boundedness as ‘voluntary market restriction’. This study aims to examine voluntary market restriction in the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) space where online marketplaces are differentiating themselves by creating boundaries within which they embed communities. This paper examines three C2C e-marketplaces with strong similarities in their market mechanisms that have the potential to operate globally, although two have chosen not to do so. These two market makers have put boundaries around their markets; one by language and one by geography. They have succeeded in wresting considerable local market share from the global e-marketplace. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the research and suggestions for future study

Generating a Gender Balance: Making Introductory Information Systems Courses a Positive Experience

There is a growing shortfall of graduates entering the IT profession. The situation is exacerbated by the continuing decline in the number of women undertaking IT related degrees. However, there are an increasing number of students taking business degrees that have a small information systems component, although few students choose to major in IS. Using a qualitative reflective approach we identify the perceptions and experiences of female undergraduates taking introductory IS courses in two universities, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. We discuss ways of improving the delivery of introductory IS courses in order to make information systems more interesting to women undergraduates, thus enhancing their learning experiences and encouraging further uptake of IS majors. The paper concludes with some reflections on other influences that impact on the ability of IS departments to deliver appropriate introductory courses

Agile in Wonderland: Implementing a Virtual World Workshop Activity

For immersive 3D environments to be useful for specialist teaching, their programming facilities must be powerful enough to enable educators to create flexible learning tools. In this paper we describe the creation of a virtual environment designed to be used to host a workshop activity based on agile software development. Following an initial assessment of some available virtual world tools, the Java-based ‘Project Wonderland’ was used to create a proof of concept for running the workshop. We discuss the features that were implemented and a number of significant issues encountered during the process. In the light of our experiences, we assess the utility of Project Wonderland as a tool for creating an immersive workshop activity and describe the future work that would be needed to enable a robust and useable environment to be developed

Developing a positive experience of introductory information systems for women at two Australasian universities

This paper examines how academics can contribute to encouraging greater uptake of IS majors by women. Using a qualitative reflective approach we identify the perceptions and experiences of female undergraduates taking introductory IS courses in two universities, one in Australia and one in New Zealand, and discuss ways in which to improve their learning experience. We examine ways to improve the delivery of introductory IS courses in order to make information systems more relevant and less dreary to women undergraduates. The paper concludes with some recommendations for marketing courses and areas of further research

Are they all the same? Benefit realisation from e-marketplaces

This paper addresses the issue of benefit realisation from e-marketplaces and examines whether there are significant differences in benefit recognition according to the type of e-marketplace used. An empirical study of two marketplaces and one buying organisation is used to analyse how the realisation of benefits may vary according to different e-marketplace models. A comparison is made between an intermediary and a consortium marketplace before the benefits achieved by the buying organisation are discussed. The study found that although there were distinct differences between the e-marketplaces, many benefits are achievable from both. Benefit realisation was influenced more by the buyer’s procurement strategies than by the features offered