Alaska's Embrace of Digital Opportunities

There have been a very limited number of systematic studies of how a region is turning digital opportunities into a development force. In theory, major advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have successfully transformed traditional businesses and markets, revolutionized learning and knowledge-sharing, generated global information flows, and empowered citizens and communities in new ways to redefine governance (Afuah, 2003; Mullaney et al., 2003). At a regional level, this “digital revolution” could offer enormous opportunities to support sustainable local prosperity, and thus help to achieve the broader development goals (DOT Force, 2001). Alaska is one state that can be positioned to take advantage of Internet and e-commerce technologies. Isolated from the U.S. main economic centers and heavily reliant on the export of commodities in its economy, e-commerce or business via the Internet is an ideal choice for Alaska. However, the available statistics do not support this claim. Most economic indicators show a downward trend in Alaska since 1995, in spite of the fact that the federal government expenditure has been increasing (ASTF, 2002). This chapter is dedicated to measuring the usage of the Internet in Alaska. It hypothesizes that geographical limitations help a region like Alaska embrace ICT and its applications without much hesitation, but also hinders the region to fully exploit the potential of ICT due to the limitations of resources. A large-scale survey was conducted to reveal the characteristics of Internet usage among individuals, government agencies, local communities, and private firms in Alaska. This research is of interest in two aspects: It could offer help for policymakers and enterprises within Alaska to realize the potential development brought about by the current digital revolution, and it could help enterprises outside Alaska to target this market more effectively. Theoretically, it could shed light on issues related to technology adoption and local innovation. Besides that, the platform-dependent approach used in this research can be applied in a broader context.

The Potential of B2B Commerce for Competitive Advantage

This chapter examines the implications of business-to-business (B2B) commerce for the buyer-supplier interface. Innovations in electronic commerce have a key role to play in managing inter-organizational networks of supply chain members. The evidence presented in this chapter illustrates that the Internet represents a powerful technology for commerce and communication at the buyer-supplier interface. Internet technologies are having a considerable impact on the communication patterns at the buyer-supplier interface. It is shown how electronic commerce technologies have the potential to create competitive advantage through radically changing the structure and interaction patterns at the buyer-supplier interface. The chapter identifies a number of areas where electronic commerce technologies can make a contribution to the creation of competitive advantage. While the Internet offers ways for organizations to communicate and trade more effectively with their suppliers, and gives consumers higher levels of service and sophistication, it also poses major challenges to those within organizations who have to manage it. It is argued that closed network problems and the nature of buyer-supplier relations present major impediments to electronic commerce achieving its full strategic potential at the buyer-supplier interface.

Identifying Purchase Perceptions that Affect Consumers' Internet Buying

This chapter examines how purchase perceptions influence consumers’ Internet buying practices. Using traditional, pre-Internet era buying motivators as a starting point, a survey is developed specifically for Internet consumers. With the goal of developing a better understanding of Internet buyers, 16 influencers falling within four general categories—product perception, shopping experience, customer service, and consumer risk—are examined. Results are reported for each category and related to demographic variables. The survey instrument described in this chapter, along with the results of the survey, are important tools for furthering the understanding of the growth in electronic retailing. Successful electronic retailers, merchants, and e-commerce systems developers must understand and acknowledge the effects that consumers’ perceptions about the marketplace in general and about each vendor’s website in particular play in consumer’s decisions to buy or not to buy.

Strategic Success Factors for Selling Content Online

In this chapter the authors provide an overview of strategic success factors for sustainable and profitable business with online content. Based on the practical experience of the authors gained in numerous consulting projects in this field, the chapter reveals that business success will depend fundamentally on the providers’ ability to develop compelling and convenient new content forms of high quality that are easy to find and to buy. Another key factor is a sound integration of the product “content” in the overall business model, including realistic expectations regarding revenue streams. Furthermore, the conquest of new target markets is essential. Finally, they need to develop a sophisticated pricing strategy. The practical implications of the identified strategic success factors are illustrated by means of the case study, Selling Music Online, and are summarized in concrete action guidelines.

A Framework for Addressing Minority Suppliers as an E-Business Strategy

Financial returns from a corporate website are improved by broadening the site’s audience to include minority (e.g., small and women-owned) suppliers. Firms believe that it is good for business if their supplier base has the same racial and gender composition as their customer base. This chapter directly addresses supply chain relationships, diverse suppliers, and investment returns by examining how large corporations use their public websites to communicate with small, minority-owned and women-owned trading partners. The chapter is based on findings from a large-scale study of corporate, public websites. The researcher visited all of the public websites of the Fortune 500 to understand Web-based supplier communications, and analyze how large firms use their public website to communicate with minority suppliers.

The Effects of IT on Supply Chain Management in the Automobile Industry

This chapter introduces the concept of electronic supply chain design (eSCD) and empirically examines the impacts of eSCD on supply chain management. eSCD is a supply chain design that integrates and coordinates suppliers, manufacturers, logistic channels, and customers using information technology (IT). In this chapter, a model that shows the effects of eSCD on the customization capability of companies was developed. From previous studies, the model identifies three major effects of eSCD—electronic linkage effect, supply chain coordination effect, and co-engineering effect. The model also shows a process through which an electronic supply chain network is transformed from a simple infrastructure for data exchange into a knowledge-sharing network for fast response and customization. The model was tested using the data collected from the automobile industry in Korea. It was shown that eSCD has significant effects on the supply chain coordination and co-engineering. It was also shown that eSCD affects the customization capability.

Past Purchasing Behavior in E-Commerce

As e-commerce becomes more competitive, it is increasingly important for Web vendors to understand why people choose to—or choose not to—buy online. Ajzen (1985, 1991) developed the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict and explain human behavior. The current study tests a modified form of the theory in an online shopping context. It is hypothesized that past online purchasing behavior will contribute toward explaining intentions to purchase online in the future, independent of the theory’s original antecedents—attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Two-hundred-forty students from two universities completed a Web survey developed from an open-ended elicitation questionnaire. Results indicate that in addition to attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, past purchasing behavior is directly related to intentions to shop online in the future. Adding past purchasing behavior also significantly improves the explanatory effect of the model. Unexpectedly, past behavior was independent of attitude and subjective norm, but interacted with perceived behavioral control. These results suggest that the challenge to Web vendors is to entice potential customers to try online shopping, as experienced shoppers quickly gain control and confidence in the online shopping process.

Know Your Why's How's - Towards a Contingency Model for Industrial E-Procurement

This chapter uses traditional marketing and purchasing strategy models to forward a model for e-procurement. It maintains that there are two major classes of e-procurement solutions used in industry, both deriving from traditional marketing models: e-procurement solutions that focus on enhancing relationships to enable integration between buyer and seller, and solutions that are transaction-oriented and have their primary function in strengthening market forces, thus making industrial markets more competitive. It is argued that the e-procurement solutions used should be related to the purchasing strategies employed and the different steps of the purchasing process. We propose a model based on purchasing strategies that identify appropriate e-procurement solutions to be considered for different types of purchased items. This model can be used to evaluate purchasing initiatives, both from an academic and a practical perspective.

Customer-centric Internet Strategies

This chapter analyzes the implementation process of a CRM system in online retailing and the challenges of transforming a product-focused business into a customer-centric organization. Customer relationship management (CRM) is increasingly found at the top of corporate agendas. Online companies in particular are embracing CRM as a major element of corporate strategy, because online technological applications permit a precise segmentation, profiling, and targeting of customers, and the competitive pressures of the digital markets require a customer-centric corporate culture. The chapter argues that the implementation of CRM systems in online organization determines a complex restructuring of the organizational elements and processes to adapt to new customer-centric procedures. The proper understanding of the benefits and challenges of implementing an online CRM system may help professional organizations to plan, design, and manage more effectively this major organizational re-structuring.

An E-Business System Development and Modernization Model to Improve the Profitability of Investment Decisions

An Internet-based Systems Development and Modernization Model (SDMM) is an information technology (IT) method that system designers and developers (SD&Ds) can use to develop new systems, to modernize legacy systems, and to increase the net present worth of the systems. The SDMM is, therefore, implemented for three primary purposes: to design and develop leading-edge technology systems, to modernize legacy systems, and to increase profitability of the systems. The model satisfies SD&Ds’ specifications as well as user requirements from the concept phase to the operational phase of the development process. It is a structured approach through which users and SD&Ds interact before the system is designed; thus, the users can affect system development when it is most cost-effective to do so. The model uses online modules to develop products that are fully capable of bridging the design to the system development lifecycle phases. The SDMM implements IT principles to standardize system development throughout its lifecycle phases.