Handbook of Strategic e-Business Management

In order to gain an integrated view of e-business (considered synonymous with e-commerce) and the opportunities it offers in the development of organizational strategies, a comprehensive framework of the activities in the field is presented. The 5Cs framework consists of 5 domains. The top three of them, the superstructure, represent the economic and social activities of commerce, collaboration, and communication. The two supporting domains are those of the technological infrastructure: connection and computation. Analyzing the activities within these domains, we identify the ten big ideas that have influenced the development of e-business in a decisive way and that exert continuing influence on the way information systems are used strategically. The identified activities and ideas will serve to innovate in the future development of e-business as a growing component of economic and societal development.

We review the macroeconomic and microeconomic impacts of e-business on organizations. E-business improves the economic efficiency of national economies through greater capital formation and long-run efficiency gains. E-business affects many aspects of the economy, from international trade to monetary and fiscal policies. At the microeconomic level, we use Porter’s Five Forces to organize our discussion of how e-business changes the creation of value and its division among market players. ICT affects industry through many channels and at many levels, from how inputs are purchased to how final goods and services are sold and delivered. The corporate strategist must consider how e-business may change the nature of rivalry among the competitors. Changes in upstream and downstream interactions in the market and expanded opportunities for substitutes and potential entrants also influence strategy. Thus, e-business can alter strategy by changing the nature of entry threats, suppliers’ power, buyers’ power, threats from substitutes, and rivalry among existing firms. We discuss empirical results from the literature wherever possible to illustrate the importance of e-business for a firm’s strategy. We close with a brief look at e-business and non-profit organizations.

In the early 1970s, strategic planning was introduced onto the corporate management scene and since then it has been a dominating conceptual frame for understanding and designing various strategies in the corporate world. Nearly a decade later, strategic planning has been used by various scholars to explain how companies could strategize in the field of ICT and e-business. Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is an example of this application of strategic planning in the field of e-business. The prominence of SISP within the corporate IS strategy literature has been dramatic, but today there exist other different understandings of how strategies are emerging. However, e-business strategic literature is still dominated by the planning e-business approaches. The question therefore remains: Is it still optimal to build a static, programmed analytical information plan, or must the e-business strategic process adapt to changes in the planning environment and internal changes within the organization? E-business strategy, because of increased uncertainty and environmental complexity, must encourage interaction between key stakeholders that implement and use the e-business technology. The literature reveals the lack of a dynamic theory of e-business strategy. The current paper proposes an e-business strategy conceptualized as a dynamic interaction-based process, in which several organizational components co-create the e-business strategic framework of the company. The process is based on group-learning processes where the strategy emerges though the processes of action and reflection. These experience-based group-learning processes help organize the process of e-business strategizing so that improvisational and dynamic competences can emerge.

Firms compete in online markets through business models that have not yet been studied in sufficient detail. First, this chapter contributes to the literature on Internet business models through the study of the main mechanisms for creating and capturing value in electronic markets. The chapter describes how the main mechanisms of value creation on the Internet are aggregation, efficiency and customization. This chapter also discusses how companies can capture value in online markets by increasing the switching costs for consumers or leveraging network effects. Second, the chapter sets out four broad categories of business model based on specific mechanisms of value creation and value capture: Internet Malls, Content Providers, Merchants and Connectors. Finally, the chapter reflects on the dynamic nature of Internet business models and how most online companies tend to adopt hybrid business models which are continuously evolving.

Firms increasingly invest in Information Technology (IT) to achieve competitiveness to address turbulent and dynamic environment conditions. After an exhaustive literature review, this chapter aims at developing a framework to identify and analyze the relationships between a set of IT assets and IT capabilities, firm performance and the achievement of a sustainable competitive advantage. The findings suggest that IT investment by itself is unable to sustain a long-term competitive advantage, making it necessary to analyze the presence of resources that complement IT infrastructure to achieve better organizational performance. We thus stress the importance of studying the complementarity of IT resources in this relationship. This means that assessing both physical and managerial IT resources and other organizational resources in studying the relationship between IT and firm performance may provide better justification for IT spends.

The proliferation of the Internet in today’s society, combined with the need for greater strategic flexibility in organizations, has meant that most firms adopt e-business processes as a tool for creating competitive advantage. However, many established firms encounter difficulties in achieving the expected results. At the same time, it has been observed that numerous e-business start-ups have a special capacity for growing and for achieving a high level of competitiveness. In this article, we propose that the structures of learning that ground each type of firm have implications for strategic flexibility. Systems of management based on e-business generate greater strategic flexibility in organizations, but this influence is simpler, less costly, and more effective in its impact on performance in firms that come into being around e-business (e-business start-ups) than in firms that attempt to adopt and integrate e-business into their existing business models. Implications for management are also discussed.

The past quarter century has been characterized by major and game changing market developments such as the evolution of the competitive market environment from a physical market environment (PME) to an Internet-enabled market environment (IME) that encompasses both the physical and electronic marketplaces, and the digitization of an increasing number of information products. Such developments raise questions concerning the extent to which extant perspectives on first-mover advantage developed in the context of the PME hold in the IME, generally, and for information products in digital form specifically. This chapter addresses this issue by developing a conceptual framework that focuses on selected sources of first-mover advantage delineated in the extant literature and advancing two sets of propositions. The first set of propositions focus on sources of first-mover advantage (network externalities, consumers’ non-contractual switching costs, technological leadership and innovations, consumers’ information asymmetry and consumption experience asymmetry, spatial resource position and installed capacity) that can be expected to have a greater versus lower effect in the IME relative to the PME. The second set of propositions focus on the moderating effect of product form (information products in digital form versus information products in analog form and non-information products).

Early academic research on electronic markets suggested that there are forces driving these markets towards the Bertrand equilibrium where firms set prices equal to unit cost. However, more recent empirical evidence shows that online retailers have been able to develop a number of strategies to escape the Law of one price. This chapter reviews the economic and marketing literature to analyze the strategies that may allow retailers to set prices above marginal costs in Internet markets. More specifically this chapter describes how online retailers use marketing, operations, distribution and communication strategies to avoid perfect competition equilibrium.

While firms have become more tech savvy, the leveraging of information systems for product innovation remains a challenge to firms, from large multinationals to the smallest start-ups. Successful practices vary, but one commonality is experimentation. As a result, firms are trying out a range of digital initiatives. This study explores three important methods by which firms are using information systems to improve the process of product innovation or new product development. These include: “listening in” to social media, crowd-funding, and virtual product teams.

Turbulence and competitiveness define the current global business environment. Firms need to develop high quality products and services quickly and at lower costs than competitors by improving their internal operations as well as focusing on core activities while outsourcing non-core activities. This increasing competition forces firms to integrate their suppliers and customers into the overall value chain processes. To achieve this integration, sharing relevant information among components of the supply chain becomes crucial. Moreover, in these situations, information and communications technologies play a central role by allowing information sharing among suppliers and customers through facilitating information availability and reducing the bullwhip effect and improving quality. The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, it intends to provide an extensive theoretical framework on Supply Chain Management process integration. Secondly, e-business is presented as a SCM integration processes enhancer, and thirdly, some practical implications for managers are provided.

The use of e-business applications has reshaped the structure of organizational supply chains. e-business applications have enabled supply chain organisations to collaborate with each other in order to meet performance goals. Although recent studies have identified that e-business applications support and enable supply chain management and improve an organisations’ performance, the interrelationship between the applications and performance is still a relatively underexplored research area. In addition, it has been questioned in recent literature whether or not e-business applications directly improve organisational performance. Researchers are frequently emphasising the importance of complementary factors that are essential for e-business applications to create value within an organisation and its supply chains. This chapter proposes a model of the relationship between e-business applications, organizational factors and performance within the context of supply chain management. Based on a literature review and the theoretical underpinnings from the resource-based view (RBV) and contingency theory we provide a novel perspective that expands our understanding of the necessary conditions and underlying mechanisms for firm resources to create business value within the supply chain environment.

E-procurement, e-tailing and e-marketplaces are examples of e-business applications that have revolutionized certain processes in supply chains and have given rise to e-supply chains. Although the advantages are numerous, adopting inappropriate e-business applications may prove detrimental. Hence, firms contemplating on e-business adoption must understand the impact of such a venture not only on their own firm but also on the supply chain. It is obvious that numerous factors, situations and context must be considered in designing and evaluating the performance of e-supply chains. This calls for research into the understanding of supply chain dynamics in the presence of e-business. In this chapter, via an in-depth literature review on e-business, supply chain management, e-supply chains and supply chain performance, we discovered that the Contingency Framework lends itself well as the basis on which to mould our proposed framework. Combining this with Innovation Diffusion Theory, we then posit the contingency framework for the design of e-supply chains and the e-supply chain evaluation framework. The applicability of the frameworks is illustrated in a case study that is conducted at a brake manufacturer which is on the verge of embarking into e-business. The chapter concludes with discussions on the implications and limitations of the frameworks.

Recent developments have created an opportunity for organizations to leverage Web-based technologies. Such organizational initiatives need to be supported by sound existing infrastructures based on well-functioning Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Also, business processes in multiple organizations across the supply chain need to be integrated to forge tighter links, from raw materials to customers. This chapter examines the evolving relationship between ERP and e-Business. We study how organizations can gain competitive advantage by leveraging the complementarities between these two technologies. We present a framework of e-Supply Chain Management (e-SCM) which facilitates the integration of business processes across the supply chain. We also discuss the recent developments in the area of cloud computing and its impact on the Internet-enabled supply chain environment.

The dramatic growth in e-business is manifest in phenomena such as the surge in internet retailing, the boom in social media based marketing communications, and the centrality of e-commerce to many organizations’ core strategies. Despite this the precise implications of e-business for marketing strategy remain little-understood. In order to guide theory development and practice in the marketing strategy domain, it is of fundamental importance to take stock of the impact that e-business has had upon strategic marketing. Therefore, this chapter develops a conceptual framework in order to explicate the implications of e-business for strategic marketing theory and practice. We find that the impact of e-business on strategic marketing is far-reaching; influencing not only isolated departments, but the organization as a whole. Finally, we conclude that whilst organizations should be alert to the dynamic opportunities and threats posed by e-business, the guiding principle of value creation should not be forgotten.

In this chapter, we develop and explain a model of online consumer behavior which is born out the authors’ collective research output in the last 10 years. The model presented is original and derives from previous ones with additional variables. It is based on the SOR paradigm of Mehrabian and Russell (

1974

). First visitors are exposed to website interfaces. Following exposure to website interfaces are emotional responses (pleasure, arousal and dominance; Mehrabian and Russell

1974

) leading to website entertainment (affective atmospherics), flow (skills, challenge and interactivity) and some cognitive atmospherics. Most web atmospherics belong to the latter category (effectiveness, informativeness, structure, and organization) because the concern is to evaluate the impact of information content on other variables. All these dimensions lead to the processing variables such as exploratory behavior, website involvement, product involvement, website attitudes and product attitudes. To complete this model, are outcomes such as purchase intentions and online purchases. Finally we cover some selected important moderators, such as gender, personality variables and culture. We conclude with some ideas for future research, including applications to social media and brand communities, and with some managerial implications.

The importance of the Web is growing due to its capacity to provide information, goods and services, and thanks to its capacity to increase the value proposition for consumers. Using online platforms and strategies, companies may provide various benefits, utilitarian and hedonic, which consumers can seek out by means of online consumption processes. The fundamental objective of this paper is to realize an approximation and detailed theoretical delimitationof the structure of motivations associated with online consumption; until now there have only been partial or incomplete contributions in this respect. To this end, an exhaustive literature review was conducted and an initial theoretical proposal was developed, followed by a qualitative study phase aimed at refining said proposal. The dimensions finally arrived at are ten utilitarian motivation categories and eleven hedonic motivation categories. Finally, diverse concluding remarks are presented for academics and practitioners. The most noteworthy research opportunity derived from this study is the evaluation and validation of this motivational structure using confirmatory analyses.

The concept of flow has become increasingly relevant in the field of online navigation and specifically in explaining consumer behaviour in electronic markets. Not only can it be used to characterize the user’s interactive relationship with virtual environments, but it can also have a positive and desirable impact on the individuals’ consumption experiences and also on the performance of the companies’ websites which induce flow state in their customers. The purpose of this conceptual article is to analyse in-depth the concept of flow and elucidate its relevance to the context of online consumer behaviour. It contains a comprehensive and critical analysis of the literature and highlights the potential for businesses to generate flow experiences in their online environments. It also identifies the ambiguities and inconsistencies regarding the conceptualisation and operationalisation of flow in online commercial websites. Finally, we stress the importance of conducting further research in this area, with particular focus on the role of flow within the prevailing social web context.

Five years have passed since the publication of our MISQ 2007 paper on the use, characteristics, and impact of e-commerce product recommendation agents (RAs). We are interested to learn how the research on e-commerce product RAs has progressed since then. More specifically, we are interested to find out whether the conceptual model that we have developed in our MISQ 2007 paper have received further empirical support and how the conceptual model has been extended. In this chapter, we review empirical studies on e-commerce product recommendation agents published between 2007 and 2012, particularly with respect to the theory that we have advanced in the MISQ 2007 paper. In addition, we update our original conceptual model by integrating important additional dimension(s), if any, revealed in the review of empirical studies.

An evolutionary lens captures and assess e-tailing’s historical and projected future evolution. This uncovered a four stage evolutionary pattern that is used to offer insights into e-tailing’s past and future strategic development and its implications for practitioners.

This chapter describes the key aspects of managing multiple marketing channel systems and explains how e-commerce plays a key role in their successful operation. We adopt a customer-centric perspective by beginning with a discussion of channel service outputs—those benefits that customers hope to obtain from the marketing channel. Successful firms recognize that customers are not homogeneous in their desire for channel service outputs and, hence, can be grouped into market segments that are best served by different marketing channels. We enumerate the advantages of multiple channel systems and describe some of their limitations, in particular, potential conflict among the various channels and one channel’s cannibalization of another’s demand. The effective integration of the firm’s diverse marketing channels can overcome these problems and, simultaneously, generate superior multi-channel performance. Finally, we recommended that channel decision-makers be cognizant of and accommodate the demand environment that confronts the firm’s multiple marketing channels. Specifically, the complexities and the differential effects of the buying and selling stages and the channel life cycle stages cannot be ignored in designing a successful multi-channel system.

In this chapter, I review prices and firms’ pricing strategies on the Internet through a broad survey of recent literatures on economics, information system, and marketing. In both empirical and theoretical studies, I carefully identify two causes of price dispersion, a pervasive and persistent phenomenon observed in many homogenous product markets: market friction and product differentiation. In experimental studies, I document pricing strategies arising from both laboratory and field experiments. Finally, recent studies of online pricing issues using international data are also exposited.

Advertising investment on the Internet is currently growing at a faster rate than in all other means of communication. Specifically, companies’ integrated marketing communications (IMC) are using the Internet as a main means of advertising and, increasingly, social networks as part of their communication strategies. Given their growing importance, this chapter performs an exhaustive theoretical analysis of the efficacy of online advertising. First, we perform a detailed inventory of the main forms of advertising used on the Web and social networking sites. Afterward, we analyze the variables shown, through literature, to be most influential on online advertising effectiveness, paying special attention to the banner ad format. Next, the topic of advertising effectiveness in the specific context of social network sites is discussed. In conclusion, some relevant implications for practitioners and research opportunities are presented.

The proliferation of advertising in all communication media causes consumers to perceive a significant amount of competitiveness between advertised products, as well as to feel overwhelmed by the intrusiveness of their advertisements. When taken together, these dimensions form the concept “advertising clutter.” A review of the literature shows that perceived intrusiveness is the main component of the perception of clutter. Advertising clutter can prompt undesired behaviors (e.g., advertising avoidance) as well as attitudes contrary to those that companies’ advertising campaigns hope to achieve. It also leads to diminished advertising efficacy in terms of consumer memory, a decrease in positive attitudes towards the message and brand, as well as declined purchasing intention and, therefore, sales. In this article, the main consequences of advertising clutter for consumers in online media are reviewed and discussed. To that end, a theoretical review of this concept and its main dimensions is performed; special attention is paid to the online context. Finally, some practical recommendations and research opportunities are pointed out.

Past research has suggested that e-HRM may have benefits for organisations by allowing the HR function to be more efficient, improving service delivery and facilitating its transformation into a more strategic role. This chapter draws upon the results from a large-scale survey across 12 countries and also on 10 qualitative case studies in order to examine if, and how, organisations can realise these benefits of e-HRM. The results confirmed that that e-HRM is most commonly introduced in order to improve efficiency, service delivery and to allow HR to become more strategic. Efficiency and service delivery improvements were most commonly realised, but some evidence was also found that e-HRM may help HR to increase its value by becoming more strategic. This is due to the fact that HR staff had more time and information to support the organisation in achieving its business strategy. The results also demonstrated that the relationship between e-HRM and efficiency, effectiveness and strategic outcomes was not clear cut but rather was dependent on the careful planning and implementation of e-HRM, including the engagement of multiple stakeholders and the development of a number of skills in the HR team.

Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) is a new interdisciplinary field of research at the intersection of Human Resources (HR) and Information Systems (IS). Research in e-HRM is currently based on diverse research approaches from HR and IS, its “parent disciplines”, as well as other disciplines. The frequent implicitness and thus uncertainty of the used research approaches, however, is disadvantageous for future e-HRM research because it obstructs a conscious and instructed selection and adoption of research approaches as well as mutual understanding and cooperation between different research approaches. The current chapter thus aims to categorise (which approaches are available?) and analyse (which characteristics and potential do these approaches demonstrate?) e-HRM research approaches. To this end, a brief framework of conceptual criteria is derived that allows research approaches in e-HRM to be categorised and analysed. Based on this, a categorisation and analysis of four major approaches, i.e., critical research, interpretive research, post-positive research and design research, is offered, and the possibilities for adopting these approaches in e-HRM research are described.

The history of e-HRM research extends back about 4 decades. In that time, researchers have provided a rich foundation for a better understanding of issues such as e-HRM implementation, e-HRM usage, and e-HRM outcomes. The past decade in particular saw an impressive growth of publications, but more work is still needed because the field of the intersection of HRM and information technology is dynamic: HRM strategies, policies, practices and instruments as well as information technologies progress. In this chapter, we identify and describe the challenges that lie ahead for e-HRM research based on five earlier publications in the period 2009–2012. We reflect on them and modify them based on recent research outcomes. We conclude that, given the sizeable challenges identified, e-HRM research is far from ‘dead’; it is more alive than ever. Furthermore, the number of e-HRM researchers from the HRM field as well as from the IT field needs to grow in order to meet the research challenges that lie ahead.

This chapter investigates using strategist types to align knowledge management (KM) and business strategies in an organization. Does such type-analysis apply in an e-business or with m-commerce, as compared to traditional, paper-based organizations?

E

-

businesses

are companies and organizations with web-based operations throughout or in some parts.

M

-

commerce

refers to being e-based in a market segment and dependent on technology, such as mobile applications (mobile apps). Also, we ask how strategist-type alignment might make implementation of a KM system (KMS) faster, business processes more efficient, and decision-making more effective? Following presentation of a theoretical framework for a taxonomy grounded in KM literature, case studies are presented as used in qualitative analysis of KMSs for three strategic types of organizations:

Defender

,

Prospector

, and

Analyzer

. Starting with earlier research on strategic alignment in traditional companies, three types of organizations are discussed using case studies: (1)

traditional

organizations using KM; (2)

transitional

organizations converting to e-business operations in some areas; and (3) advanced

m

-

commerce

businesses operating almost totally in the mobile Internet environment. Thus, this chapter shows researchers how to validate the generalization potential of continuing to align KM and business strategies in new technological environments and shows practitioners how to investigate and plan for a KMS. We recommend determining the type of approach to strategy in an organization before aligning KM strategies and business goals by using the taxonomy presented. Research results suggest that strategic alignment and technological applications for a KMS in an e-business should support the level of strategic risk management preferred by stakeholders and in m-commerce customers should be involved in KM.

In the business research literature, e-business is considered to be a type of sourcing option of information systems outsourcing (ISO) if it is external to the firm and the renting supplier-owned resource delivers the solution over the internet. As the term “e-business” is conceptually included in ISO, this chapter seeks to investigate the factors that affect the adoption of ISO in general by comparing the effect across five business areas: human resources, finance, logistics, sales, and marketing. Based on the combination of a technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, the authors develop a conceptual model to study the determinants of ISO adoption by business area. This handbook chapter is one of the first to examine ISO adoption in these five business areas and to use a research model that combines the TOE framework and the DOI theory. Data collected from 261 firms in Portugal were used to test the proposed model. Based on a logistic regression, top management was found to be supportive and perceived benefits to be determinants of ISO adoption in all business areas defined. Moreover, other significant factors used to determine ISO included: complexity in human resources, finances and logistics; relative advantages for finance, logistics, and sales; firm size (logistics only); and competitive pressure for business areas (except marketing). Furthermore, attitudes toward change were found to have opposite effects—it is positive for sales and negative for human resources, finance, and logistics.

Researchers have made suggestions about the content of websites and tools have been developed to help in producing and maintaining them, but there is little commonality between the structure and content of the material presented on the many thousands of websites worldwide. Observing this led us to ask four questions: (1) What advantage does an organization hope to achieve when developing and maintaining a website? (2) Can these factors be used to develop a list of contents for an effective website? (3) Are some of these essential to a particular industry of website and why? (4) What advantages would the users and website communities receive from an effort to develop prototype standards for websites? To answer these, we inspected websites of corporations, governmental offices, and not-for-profit organizations, including various sized ones. We concluded that there is a need to produce guidelines. We identified portions of sites that are excellent and might be recommended as guidelines for developing sites and felt that an effort could make websites easier for users to understand and navigate to complete their transactions, though the content could depend on the website’s purpose, the organization’s industry type, and its mode of doing business.

This chapter discusses the creation of objective measures for the comparison of different types of knowledge repositories (KR) to enhance the linkage between knowledge management and strategic e-business with a specific focus on knowledge marketplaces. Knowledge repositories proliferate yet our ability to objectively assess the value and suitability of a given knowledge repository for a given task has much remained in the realm of trial and error. Knowledge marketplaces can help organizations leverage the wealth of information gathered through e-business activities. The field of knowledge management has grown significantly over the past decade yet we are lacking formal methods through which knowledge management resources can be measured. In order to facilitate such measures, and enable more effective use of knowledge marketplaces, we must first deal with comparing the value of different types of knowledge in an organizational setting and how such value is measured in and reflected by knowledge repositories. In this chapter we present the background and definition of the problem, and introduce an approach based on semantic calculus and set theory to create a theory of knowledge measurement. We then discuss how a theory of knowledge measurement (TKM) can be applied to knowledge marketplaces improving the linkage between knowledge management and strategic e-business.

The increasing acceptance and prevalence of the Internet as a modern information and communications technology has advanced the commercial use and enabled the development of digital business models. Since 2005, increasing Internet services can be noted in this context, that can be associated with the phenomenon of Web 2.0 and that changed the Internet Economy (Wirtz

2010

, p. 328). This paper analyses the strategic implications of the changes of digital business models through Web 2.0. For this reason, Internet business models are first classified based on the 4C-Net-Business-Model typology (Wirtz

2000

; Wirtz and Lihotzky

2003

, p. 522), then the term Web 2.0 is defined and an empirically validated model of explanation regarding strategically relevant components of the Web 2.0 is shown (Wirtz et al.

2010

). Using these components, the influence of Web 2.0 on single Internet business models is explained. Thereby, various Web 2.0 applications are assigned to the business models. Moreover, the effect of individual Web 2.0 components towards the applications is explained and implications for practice are derived.

The rapid rise of powerful social customers has drastically changed the e-business landscape. Social CRM (SCRM) emerged in late 2009 as an e-business strategy for companies to enable customer relationship management (with social customers) utilizing social technology. Despite the many applications that are labeled as SCRM, there is a dearth of guidelines for SCRM design and development. Many companies are trapped using social media as just another communication channel, and have naively applied traditional Electronic CRM (ECRM) practices on social platforms based on a model of exchange that centers on goods (e.g., goods-dominant logic or G-D logic), with value created by the firm and relationship implying multiple transactions of value-laden output. G-D logic might have served companies in the pre-Web 2.0 environment in which the interaction with customers could be contained in one-to-one, closed, well-defined channels. However, in a collaborative open, social environment in which interactions cannot be contained and are often unpredictable, this firm-centric, transaction-oriented approach is at odds with how social customers behave and expect, and therefore becomes inadequate in fostering true relationships that cultivate devoted advocates and brand co-creators. In this chapter, we offer an alternative logic called service-dominant (S-D) logic for SCRM design to meet new challenges. S-D logic is based on the reciprocal application of applied competences (service), which sees relationship in terms of co-creation of value. We argue that the S-D logic perspective for SCRM is appropriate, if not essential. We offer S-D logic-informed strategies for SCRM and next-generation CRM system design.

e-Novation is innovation developed and delivered through a collaborative information platform evolving in sophistication and capability in the digital economy era. A neo-Schumpeterian perspective of innovation through an age of technological revolution focused on computerising (digitising) the global economy running from about 1971 to about 2020 to 2030 in this chapter. A platform perspective is outlined, offering insights into developments in innovative digital technology and business, institutional, economic and social development. The Wide–Wide Web is discussed as a “Platform” (Web 2.0 and Social Media), with reference to e-Marketing 2.0 based on a Service-Dominant Logic Perspective (S-D Logic). Innovation sensemaking, visualisation, mapping and operationalization into collaborative information platforms are discussed, with reference to a selection of approaches for incorporating conscious and unconscious decision-making into software applications and systems––including Decision-System Analysis (DSA), Roadmapping, Business Models, Case-Base Reasoning (CBR) , and Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA). Next generation e-Novation will be characterised by development of an increasingly intelligent collaborative information platform capable of producing a fully digital innovation cycle (ideation, feasibility and digital commercialization), including new developments in “additive manufacturing”, and rendering of digital economy services––including group and individual digital “selves”.

Social networking sites (SNSs) are a booming worldwide phenomenon with enormous business potential for companies to communicate with their target-audience consumers and spread their brand-related messages. One of the notable distinguishing characteristics of SNSs, when compared to previous Web 1.0-based communication tools, is the active role that consumers play in the communication process with companies and, even more importantly, with other consumers. SNSs provide a setting where commentaries, analyses and recommendations about brands, products and services are communicated. EWOM is a unique and powerful consequence of SNSs. In this chapter, we perform a conceptual analysis of eWOM, of the motivations for engaging in it and of its effects on consumers’ behavior, paying special attention to the type of eWOM that takes place in SNSs. Finally, some relevant managerial implications and research opportunities are discussed.

Social, cultural, political and technological forces have significantly transformed the competitive landscape of the global economy. Amongst these forces, technology has arguably had the most rejuvenating impact on the way international businesses interact with each other and their customer base. End-users are making use of computer-mediated communications, newsgroups, chat rooms, email list servers, personal World Wide Web pages and other online formats at an unprecedented pace, and as they share ideas and obtain information about products and services, firms are extending their market research activities to these domains. These new tools, online communities, virtual communities and virtual worlds have emerged as a fascinating and useful pool of collective experience for international business. However, the utilization and analysis of this body of knowledge for international business decisions is still in its infancy. This paper analyzes the potential of these tools to inform international business decisions. We explain how to identify and access each of these communities, and how to convert the qualitative information available from online communities into a strategic input for the firm.

e-business is a central element of the contemporary marketplace and models of e-business continue to evolve. While various forms of e-business offer unique opportunities for businesses to reach consumers, such practices can also raise issues of an ethical nature. In this chapter we examine and illustrate some of the ethical implications of the transformative nature of e-business. By framing these issues within the context of a general account of business ethics we show how the ethical issues involved in e-business are both related to traditional issues in business ethics and unique in their own right. In doing so, we examine several ways in which the technologies involved in e-business have intensified ethical concerns about privacy, security, and other social norms in business. A number of examples and cases are used to illustrate these ethical concerns as well. In addition to providing a theoretical framework to approach these ethical issues, we also offer some practical guidance as to how businesses can implement and maintain appropriate ethical standards to govern their e-business activities.

Businesses and individuals must appear both capable and trustworthy in order to be successful in the online environment, including electronic commerce transactions. This chapter presents recent findings and implications of these findings on the eImage paradigm first suggested by Gregg and Walczak (MIS Quarterly 32:653–670, 2008). Perceptions of capability and trustworthiness are formed using a variety of digital signals including the aesthetic and informational quality of an individual’s or organization’s website, third-party evaluations, and electronic communications, among others. Knowledge of the various factors that influence perceptions of capability and trustworthiness will enable individuals and businesses to improve their eImage or online identity. Suggestions are made for future research needed in this domain.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a holistic framework of contemporary complaint communication management on the Internet. Specifically, a model for e-businesses strategy is put forward which integrates the communication perspective of online complainers, the company as respondents and observers who follow the complaint dialogue online. In acknowledgement of the active or passive influence of each communication participant on the exchange process, the particular characteristics of online complaint psychology, electronic communication channels and related management systems are reflected within a circular process model that highlights the need for e-managers to develop and implement strategic means to proactively control and respond to negative publicity on the Internet. By distinctively focusing on studies from communication psychology, strategic management, marketing and

I

nformation technology that were conducted in an online environment, this chapter aims to address the lack of literary integration with regards to the unique managerial demands posed through online complaint communication paradigms.

Even though electronic service (e-service) quality has been analyzed to a great extent, mobile service (m-service) quality still requires further investigation. The hierarchical and multi-criteria structure, which is adopted in this work, appears to be the most appropriate approach to define m-service quality. In the proposed theoretical framework, m-service quality is composed of three primary dimensions: (1) interaction, (2) environment, and (3) outcome quality. An overall view of m-service quality would propose

interaction quality

to include the sub-dimensions of expertise, problem solving, information, security/privacy, and customization/personalization,

environment quality

to comprise equipment, design, and context, and

outcome quality

to be composed of reliability, tangibles, and valence. In order to validate the proposed theoretical framework, each sub-dimension is further analyzed into a number of quality criteria by means of a number of experts. Following this method, the quality criteria are assessed through a survey conducted with a sample of mobile users. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), it is proved that the quality criteria were properly grouped into the sub-dimensions of the proposed theoretical framework. These findings entail that the sub-dimensions described in this paper are in fact the constituent parts of the m-service quality construct.

This work reviews and illustrates potentially misleading disclosure practices which may respond to opportunistic management behavior. We focus on press releases announcing annual earnings posted on company websites. The complexity of corporate communication practices has increased over time providing users with elaborate reports including detailed information on company annual results. Additionally, companies also issue press releases summarizing the annual results. These press releases are essential for a firm’s disclosure strategy, and are accessible to investors and the general public through company websites and news wire services. They are fundamental for a timely presentation of a firm’s performance, potentially influencing the perceptions of the reader. The negative aspect of these press releases is that their content is unregulated, and managers can select and present the information in a misleading way. Our objective is to identify the strategies used to do so. The practices analyzed in this work are subtle techniques which may not be easy to detect. The identification of these practices is relevant for the different parties involved or those affected by corporate disclosures. Decisions taken using this potentially biased information is likely to have an effect on the efficient allocation of economic resources. Therefore, the contribution of this research is important and relevant in order to extend corporate communication research.