Craig Standing

Benefits and barriers of electronic marketplace participation: an SME perspective

There are concerns that despite government initiatives to promote adoption of electronic commerce, SMEs still fail to realise e‐commerce related benefits. 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 non‐participants vulnerable to more e‐enabled firms. This paper examines the barriers and benefits of e‐marketplace participation by SMEs. The nature of e‐marketplaces is addressed and the benefits of participation are examined. 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.

The enigma of evaluation: benefits, costs and risks of IT in Australian small-medium-sized enterprises

The evaluation of information technology (IT) is fraught with misconception and there is a lack of understanding of appropriate IT evaluation methods and techniques. The benefits, costs and risks of IT need to be identified, managed, and controlled if businesses are to derive value from their investments. This paper presents findings from an exploratory study that used a questionnaire survey to determine the benefits, costs and risks of IT investments from 130 small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia. The analysis revealed that organizations from different industry sectors significantly differ in the amount they invest in IT but that firm size (in terms of turnover and number of employees) does not influence IT investment levels. Second, strategic benefits vary across different industry sectors. Third, the way employees adapt to change as a result of IT implementation depends on the size of the organization. Based upon the findings, a series of benchmark metrics for benefits, costs, and risks of IT are presented. It is posited that these can serve as a reference point for initiating a quality evaluation cycle in which benchmarking forms an integral component of the strategic process.

A model to develop effective virtual teams

A review of the literature shows the factors that impact on the effectiveness of virtual teams are still ambiguous. To address this problem we developed a research design that included a meta-analysis of the literature, a field experiment and survey. The meta-analysis identified factors which impact on the effectiveness of virtual teams which were then validated by a field experiment and survey. The results of the study indicate that social dimensional factors need to be considered early on in the virtual team creation process and are critical to the effectiveness of the team. Communication is a tool that directly influences the social dimensions of the team and in addition the performance of the team has a positive impact on satisfaction with the virtual team. A major contribution of the paper is an integrated model of factors that contribute to virtual team effectiveness.

An adoption model for mobile banking in Ghana

The impact of social and cultural factors on the adoption of technology still requires much research. To investigate it more fully, we examine the reasons for the adoption and non-adoption of mobile banking in Ghana. Through a survey of 271 people in Ghana, it has been found that social and cultural factors in the form of perceived credibility, facilitating conditions, perceived elitisation and demographic factors do play a significant role in adoption decisions. It has been found that elitisation of technology and services can be a positive influence for adopters whilst being a negative influence for non-adopters. In addition, perceived credibility and facilitating conditions also influence attitudes towards the technology. When these factors are added to a range of demographic factors, the impact of the social and cultural features of the context of studies can be seen as significant.

The attribution of success and failure in IT projects

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to determine how project managers attribute information technology (IT) project success and failure.Design/methodology/approach – IT personnel from large Australian organisations completed an adapted version of the Attributional Styles questionnaire, which asked them to attribute causes along a number of attribution dimensions, for IT projects which have either succeeded or failed.Findings – The results indicate that IT support workers attribute failure to external factors, whilst attributing success to themselves. On the other hand, executive management took a more balanced perspective which attribute success to external factors and only partially to themselves, whereas they attribute significant personal responsibility for failure.Practical implications – More junior professionals and operational IT employees can learn from their senior professionals in attributing success and failure. Post‐implementation reviews and debriefings conducted by senior IT profession...

An interpretive approach to evaluating information systems: a content, context, process framework

Abstract An evaluation framework is proposed reflecting the content, context, process (CCP) perspective developed from existing IS literature. Evaluation is guided by addressing the questions: why is the evaluation is being done? What is being evaluated? Who affects the evaluation? When is the evaluation taking place? And how is the evaluation to be carried out? The framework reflects the identified need for more holistic processes for evaluating information systems and explains the role of interpretive methodologies in identifying the complex interplay of issues. The framework reflects the social, political and cultural factors that influence the economic benefits and emphasises the need for an integrated approach to evaluation.

A framework to assess the factors affecting success or failure of the implementation of government-supported regional e-marketplaces for SMEs

Regional electronic marketplaces (REMs) have been used to promote e-commerce uptake by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, the community and regional economic development motives underpinning REM creation can cause complexities. While REM development and management can be informed by existing theoretical frameworks, there is no comprehensive framework that can be used to examine the factors affecting the success or failure of government-supported SME-REMs. The objective of this paper is to construct such a framework that can be used to examine these factors. The literature on e-marketplaces and IT/IS/e-commerce adoption by SMEs is examined to determine the appropriateness of existing theoretical frameworks, the key constructs of which are synthesised to form an integrated theoretical framework. The value of the framework is confirmed by content analysis of published case studies and empirical results from in-depth case studies of two SME-REMs. The most significant factors affecting success or failure of government-supported SME-REMs are as follows: SME-owner innovativeness; REM ownership structure and governance that engender trust and build critical mass by including SMEs in REM development and management; matching REM focus and structure with regional profile by leveraging community ties and existing business relationships; adopting a staged approach to REM development; and ensuring REM benefits are understood by SMEs.

Organizational Evaluation of the Benefits, Constraints, and Satisfaction of Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce

Organizations that wish to be competitive must engage successfully in business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce, but there has been little research on how organizations evaluate their B2B e-commerce investments, the extent to which they benefit from their investments, and how these factors relate to their satisfaction with B2B e-commerce systems. A multi-case approach is used to determine where and how organizations evaluate their B2B e-commerce initiatives. The relationships between constraints, evaluation practices, benefits, and satisfaction with B2B e-commerce investments are explored. The results show that (1) the level of constraint affects the degree of evaluation undertaken and the use of evaluation methodologies, (2) the use of evaluation methodologies affects the level of benefits obtained from B2B e-commerce, and (3) organizations that use evaluation methodologies are more satisfied with their B2B e-commerce. A B2B e-commerce evaluation-satisfaction model is developed that can enable organizations to adopt and effectively use evaluation methodologies in order to enter a cycle of continuous B2B e-commerce improvement that will result in high levels of satisfaction with their systems.

A review of research on e-marketplaces 1997-2008

Electronic marketplaces are an important theme of research on the information systems landscape. In this paper we examine eleven years of research on electronic marketplaces in leading journals. The research articles are classified according to whether they focus on electronic markets theory; whether they take a system perspective and focus on the technology or functionality of the system; whether they investigate adoption and implementation issues, or organisational issues. The analysis of the literature highlights two distinct issues that researchers in the discipline need to address. The first is the lack of research on the fundamental questions on the nature of electronic markets and their efficiency. If information systems research does not address this question then it will not be seen as tackling critical issues by those outside of the discipline. The second is the relative lack of papers on the organisational implications of adopting and managing electronic marketplaces. These include, the organisational benefits, costs and risks of trading through e-marketplaces and strategies and methodologies for managing organisational participation. Both issues can be addressed by increasing the number of macro studies examining efficiencies in electronic markets.

A framework for the selection of electronic marketplaces: a content analysis approach

Although there has recently been an increased practitioner and media focus on electronic marketplaces, there still remains confusion over the advantages of participation. As a consequence organisations are finding difficulty in developing strategies, policies and procedures in relation to the e‐marketplace selection process. In some cases due to the dynamic and evolving environment of electronic trading, there can be a reluctance on the part of buyers and suppliers to participate in e‐marketplaces. Several classification models offer assessments of which type of marketplace are most suitable for different procurement purposes, but they fail to remain relevant in this dynamically changing environment. In this paper a content analysis of research and practitioner articles is carried out to evaluate the issues that prospective participants, seeking to purchase goods and services online, need to address in their selection process. A framework to support electronic marketplace related decision making is proposed, which is based within the contexts of business drivers, internal company issues and e‐marketplace facilitators.