Paula M. C. Swatman

An exploratory study of small business Internet commerce issues

Internet adoption by small business is important to the generation of critical mass for Internet commerce – governments in the G8 countries are setting up initiatives to ensure that small businesses adopt Internet commerce. This paper reports of a qualitative study into why small businesses are online. The study found that the small business Internet commerce (SBIC) phenomenon is still in its infancy, although small businesses are finding e-mail useful for business communication and document transfer; the perception of long-term benefits and potential business opportunities is what is driving SBIC; at present, the uptake of Internet-based financial transactions is still slow; there is almost no integration between the Internet and internal applications; and, finally, that SBIC seems likely to continue to expand in this sector of market only if small firms actually experience tangible benefits in the future.

Small business use of the Internet: Findings from Australian case studies

Internet use among small businesses has recently become a popular topic for researchers in the fields of marketing, information systems and entrepreneurship. In view of the media hype this topic has received over recent months, it is important for small businesses to learn from the experiences of early adopters of the Internet. Presents the results of a case study research involving 23 Australian small businesses which were early adopters of the Internet ‐ and which are still users. Finds that they are predominantly using the Internet as a communications medium and, to a lesser extent, as a document transfer and advertising channel. Management enthusiasm and perceived benefits seem to be the driving force for ongoing Internet use, although little or no integration was discovered between internal applications and Internet inter‐organizational functions. Findings also point to the importance of entrepreneurship for successful Internet use.

A longitudinal study of expectations in small business internet commerce

This paper examines the gap between expectation and realization among a group of small Australian firms that engaged in small business Internet commerce (SBIC) over a 20-month period. Essentially, small firms on-line believed that the Internet is important in terms of competitiveness, although some of their early expectations about the ability of SBIC to generate instant competitive advantage had began to wane. The most useful effects of the Internet were in information gathering and time savings, but results in advertising and sales were less encouraging. Internet marketing effectiveness was found to be industry-sector-dependent.

From EDI to Internet commerce: the BHP Steel experience

Discusses the issue of business‐to‐business e‐commerce implementation and the factors affecting it, considering the appropriateness of the various theories which underpin research into systems implementation (primarily diffusion of innovation and traditional change management theory). Describes the results of a case study of BHP Steel, the largest steel producer and one of the largest companies in Australia, which is a leader in e‐commerce implementation. The results suggest that, over time, the driving force for e‐commerce changed significantly. From an initial push to improve current business processes by adopting EDI to achieve savings and improve efficiency, the company came to be driven by a desire for greater supplier involvement and customer service in later implementations. Discusses the ways in which BHP Steel’s e‐commerce innovations have changed and suggests that, in addition to considering the characteristics of the innovation process, other more contextual aspects of implementation (such as the social system in which the innovation evolves and the timing of the innovation’s introduction) be considered in an inter‐organizational context.

The changing digital content landscape: An evaluation of e-business model development in European online news and music

Purpose – To provide an empirically based analysis and evaluation of the existing and possible future evolution of Internet business models within the digital content market, focusing particularly on the possibilities for cooperation and coopetition within this market‐space.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a three‐year study of the European online news and online music sectors, comprising a set of preliminary, scene‐setting case studies of a number of major players within the European online news and music sectors; a detailed, two‐stage survey made up of online questionnaires and face‐to‐face interviews; and a small number of in‐depth case studies.Findings – Provides a discussion of the changes taking place in the online news and music sectors, the evolution of the business models within them, the driving forces we have identified, and finally some predictions about what the future may hold for both these sectors.Research limitations/implications – The research is indicative, rather tha...

Strategic information systems planning: deriving comparative advantage from EDI

In this paper we argue that electronic data interchange (EDI) should not be viewed simply as a technological infrastructure, but as a technology which may enable an organization taking a strategic view to derive comparative advantage from utilizing it as part of a process of business re-engineering – in other words, as a sociotechnical entity. We suggest that strategic information systems planning (SISP) is a suitable superstructure within which EDI implementation may be considered from an appropriate strategic, as opposed to tactical, perspective. Finally we describe the theory and current practice of SISP and present guidelines for its application in relation to EDI.

Identifying effectiveness criteria for Internet payment systems

The Internet, since its commercialisation, has expanded with tremendous rapidity. This development has been still further assisted by the creation of the World Wide Web, which has caught the imagination of users around the world. As the marketing and provision of goods and services over the Web continues to grow, the missing factor appears to be a well‐accepted and well‐trusted method of paying for these products and services. This paper discusses the problem of internet payment systems (IPS) and reports the results of a research project which attempts to identify and classify effectiveness criteria for IPS. The project was undertaken by means of a Delphi survey of experts in IPS usage and classified types of IPS providers, as well as the factors which each group considers most important. This information was used in the development of our set of IPS effectiveness criteria.

Efficient consumer response (ECR): a survey of the Australian grocery industry

Efficient consumer response (ECR) is a supply chain management strategy which attempts to address the inefficiencies that have led to excessive inventory and unnecessary costs at all levels within the grocery industry supply chain. Although originating in the USA, ECR has also attracted attention and interest in many other countries. This paper presents the results of an Australian study which was designed to assess the applicability of ECR within the Australian grocery industry. The results of the study indicate that the inefficient business practices of the US supply chain are also prevalent within the Australian grocery industry and that some Australian companies had already begun to engage in business activities related to ECR as early as 1996.

B2B e-commerce stages of growth: the strategic imperatives

Stages-of-growth has been the most popular approach used for strategy development and implementation. The major stages of growth models such as C. F. Gibson and R. F. Nolan (1974) have been widely discussed and are particularly useful in understanding the implementation of IS in organisations. These models might be more representative of e-commerce implementation, however, if they took into account more recent IS developments such as B2B e-commerce. Using a case study research undertaken in Australia, this study proposes a model of stages of growth based on the use of B2B e-commerce technologies and applications in Australian organisations. Four stages of growth proposed for B2B e-commerce implementation are (i) initial e-commerce; (ii) centralised e-commerce; (iii) looking inward for benefits; and (iv) global e-commerce.

Internet-Based Small Business Communication: Seven Australian Cases

the self-report questionnaire that faithfully reflects the emotional factors related to electronic commerce systems. The second study focused on determining the important graphic design factors from the customer’s perspective. The causal relations between the emotional factors and design factors were established in the third study, and verified in the final study. Results indicate that it is possible to manipulate the graphic design factors of the customer interface in order to induce a target emotion, such as trustworthiness. These results have important implication for the design and implementation of emotionally usable electronic commerce systems.