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Enhancing Competitiveness of B2B and B2C E-Commerce

INTRODUCTION A framework that is often used to describe the transformation of society relates to the percentage of people involved in or impacted by a given paradigm at some point in time. Even though some of these paradigms co-exist at a given point in time, one of them tends to dominate and exert considerable influence on the others. Several authors have described such evolution in different contexts. For example, Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons (2004) suggest that societies have undergone the following transformation, one leading to the next in succession: agrarian, manufacturing, service, and information. Since its introduction a little over a decade ago, the Internet, which exemplifies the leap into the information age, has had a profound impact on many areas of human endeavor, indeed, far more than had been imagined or anticipated. This impact on society is apparent through its widespread use in government , education, medicine, engineering, as well as in business. Considering the number of people involved and the dollar amount of sales transacted over the Internet, it seems reasonable to infer that it has had the greatest impact in business during the past millennium. The Internet continues to play a significant role in making enterprises to be more competitive. The progression of the information age is underscored by projections about its growth and impact on the economies of many countries. For example, Forrester and Gartner research groups project unprecedented growth in Internet-related business transactions globally in the coming years. In particular, Gartner estimated that worldwide B2B e-commerce will surpass 7.3 trillion dollars by 2004 (Noyce, 2002). It is interesting to observe that the order of growth in electronic transactions is similar to the projected growth in computer processing speed. Further, technological advancements in the computer and communication industries have led to reduced prices of computers and Internet service, respectively. These developments are playing a significant role in facilitating the use of the Internet for commerce. For example, several polls indicate that more than half of Americans own personal computers. While not all people who own computers have Internet connectivity at home, many gain access through secondary means such as public libraries and work computers. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Internet-related studies indicate that over 70% of Americans are online (Lebo & Wolpert, 2004; UCLA, 2001). Also, Barnes (2003) reports that, as of fall 2002, estimates for people around the world who use the Internet were about …