William Wresch

Initial E-Commerce Efforts in Nine Least Developed Countries: A Review of National Infrastructure, Business Approaches, and Product Selection

While e-commerce would seem to be a unique opportunity for poor countries with limited local markets to sell goods to richer nations, limited research is available on the current status of e-commerce efforts in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). This study reviewed the efforts of the nine countries identified by the UNDP as having the least technological capacity. Statistics provided by the UNDP demonstrate serious national infrastructure problems in each of the countries. Yet a survey of business web sites finds that all but one (Sudan) has some minimal e-commerce efforts underway. A survey sent to companies in three of these countries showed that many companies were being creative in where they were hosting their web sites and were able to keep their web costs low. Yet the vast majority also reported slow sales and a variety of local barriers to success. A review of the products they are offering on their sites found that the product mix might be particularly problematic. The author hopes the results of this study will suggest improved strategies for companies in LDCs seeking to use e-commerce to expand their markets.

Managerial Strategies Used to Overcome Technological Hurdles: A Review of E-Commerce Efforts Used by Innovative Caribbean Managers

Studies summarized by the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development continue to show that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries face particular problems with managerial skills, connectivity, branding, logistics, security, and foreign competition. Yet the same studies note that barriers and e-commerce efforts vary considerably from one region of the world to another. To determine if these barriers are significant in the Caribbean region during July and August 2004, the principle investigators visited business executives in five Caribbean nations. Thirty-six businesses and government agencies were interviewed. General results showed significant e-commerce efforts underway in these countries with most enabling technologies and business systems in place. However, several major barriers were repeatedly encountered. Logistics challenges, including shipping and customs barriers, as well as recent import controls in the U.S. were frequently mentioned. Many also described a banking sector unwilling or unable to facilitate convenient electronic payment systems. Nevertheless, executives described a number of e-commerce strategies, which could be adopted by other SMEs that wish to increase their e-commerce income. The investigators present four managerial characteristics that were seen in the leading businesses. The authors hope the results of this study will suggest improved strategies for SMEs in developing countries seeking to use e-commerce to expand their markets.

ICT – enabled market freedoms and their impacts in developing countries: Opportunities, frustrations, and surprises

One of the freedoms that Sen says promotes development is economic freedom – access to markets. ICTs can facilitate that access to markets by breaking down barriers of distance. But for all the promise that ICTs create, much research has found that small businesses in developing countries are not finding as much success through e-commerce as had been hoped. A longitudinal study of 23 Caribbean companies helps illustrate the specific experiences of small business people in developing countries. While they have found some success in reaching out to additional markets, they have also encountered many of the frustrations found by others: difficulty with shipping, inadequate local banks, and invisibility amongst a sea of web sites. Additionally, Caribbean businesses are encountering growing competition from the Amazon.coms of the world, companies that can now target small pockets of demand via their web sites. This study describes some of the responses these companies are taking, and proposes responses their governments might also take to increase their chances of success.

Persistent Barriers to E-commerce in Developing Countries: A Longitudinal Study of Efforts by Caribbean Companies

Studies summarized by the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development show that companies in developing countries face problems executing e-commerce strategies. To determine which barriers might be transitional and which might be persistent, a longitudinal study was conducted of companies in five Caribbean countries. Interviews were conducted with 23 companies in 2004. Interviews were repeated in 2008 with those companies that were still in operation. Some improvements were found in general telecommunications support, but persistent barriers were found in logistics services, and new problems were identified in increased competition and increased shipping costs. As a result of these changes, the general focus of managers shifted from establishing web sites and making them visible to more general managerial tasks connected to finding a place in an increasingly competitive environment. The results of this study suggest improved strategies for companies in developing countries seeking to use e-commerce to expand their markets.

Assessing Cocurricular Impacts on the Development of Business Student Professionalism: Supporting Rites of Passage

Professionalism has a wide variety of definitions. The authors review some of those definitions and then explore stages students pass through as they move from student to business professional. Based on literature from the systems psychodynamics field, the authors examine stages in student identity building, including social defenses, sentient communities, and rites of passage. They then connect these stages to specific curricular and cocurricular efforts. A variety of cocurricular activities assisting student growth are assessed. Results indicate that activities such as attendance at business club meetings, attendance at career fairs, and participating in internships can have a positive impact on student growth and professionalism.

The Information Age: Technology, Learning and Exclusion in Wales, by N. Selwyn and S. Gorard. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2002. vii + 226 pp.

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24.95. ISBN 0-7083-1708-1.

By 1789 the French Enlightenment had alreadyestablished that the rights of citizensincluded the right to speak, write, and printfreely. This right has since been enshrined invarious national and international documents,but remains elusive in much of the world. Oneway to consider these freedoms is to look notjust across the world comparing nations thathave or dont have freedom, but back throughtime at the first effort to promulgate thesenew rights – the French Revolution. When theFrench Revolution created freedom of the pressin 1789, the French book publishing industrywas noted for five attributes: completecensorship of all publications, a rigidlyenforced printing monopoly, copyrightprotection for all authors, fossilized content,and the proliferation of illegal presses. Digital technology is enabling a second dawn ofpress freedoms, but the five problems found inFrance two centuries ago can still be seen invarious forms, especially in the massivemonopoly of book publishing by a few countries. The answers created by France in 1810 present apartial basis for how current governments couldrespond to contemporary problems with freedomof the press. Rightly used, new digitaltechnology also has an opportunity to finallyfacilitate one of civilizations fundamentalfreedoms.