Future Trends in E-Business

As mentioned earlier, the findings of the Thai business survey will be used to support future research and to develop a holistic framework to guide e-business developments. The aim is to assist Thailand and other countries in a similar stage of the their e-business development cycle, to implement more effective e-business strategies. In this section, a new direction for e-business is explored.

Figure 8 provides an overview of present e-business. This study focused on only the e-commerce section of e-business. Figure 9 presents a possible future trend in e-business activity. As shown in Figure 9, virtual business (v-business), Application Service Providers (ASPs) and operational centric e-business (e-business of business) will be the main driving forces of future e-business.


Figure 8: Overview of electronic business


Figure 9: A possible direction of e-business

In recent years, the concept of virtual business has gained much popularity (Introna, 2001). V-business is defined as a business conducted over the Internet that has no physical office location. A v-business can be supported by one or more Application Service Providers (ASPs). At this stage, a virtual business is yet to become a reality. Yet the authors believe that a future trend of e-business activity in Thailand and other developing countries will be the increased adoption of the virtual business, as there are low set-up costs involved and such models are ideal for small company operations.

An ASP is a company that offers individuals or enterprises access over the Internet to applications and related services that would otherwise have to be located in their own personal or enterprise computers. ASP services are expected to become an important alternative to traditional methods of e-business and will be an important element in supporting v-business activity in Thailand. The use of ASPs will prove attractive because of minimal set-up costs and comparatively low running costs. It also enables resources and expertise to be shared among companies using the same ASP. It releases company IT resources and allows the company to concentrate on its main focus, that is, the running of the business.

Figure 10 illustrates the interrelationships between v-businesses and ASPs.

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Figure 10: Relationships between v-business and ASPs

The current study has highlighted that cultural and social factors are important issues that needed to be taken into consideration when handling the adoption of e-business. These issues will be more profound when v-business and ASPs are included in the e-business model. Figure 10 shows the inter-relationships between the e-customer, ASPs, v-Businesses and vendors. The simple relationship between the company and its customers, or company and its vendor, now becomes much more complicated. A v-business is a virtual business supported by an ASP, of which the customer has no knowledge of the ASP's identity. The issue of trust among the three players as shown in Figure 11 should become a very important issue.

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Figure 11: Trust relationship in v-business

Without trust, there will be no business. Trust is always a fundamental enabler of successful e-business.. To survive, virtual companies must demonstrate and sustain trust. Trust will continue to be important and for this reason must be embraced by the entire organization (Figure 12).

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Figure 12: Critical success factors for virtual business

If a virtual organization is to be adopted as a viable business model, it is important to have suitable frameworks to support this new organizational form.

The issue of trust is an important cultural and social factor. If virtual business is to be adopted in Thailand, it is important that the holistic framework support this new form of organization. There is a need for further research to further understand social and cultural factors and their impacts on the new generation of e-business activities.

Conclusion

Surveys of Western literature revealed eight key factors that contribute to a successful e-business. They are: law, infrastructure, tax, payment processes, consumers, suppliers, education and business culture. Countries and businesses that want to be successful in the new economy must study these areas carefully before launching their e-business endeavors.

A survey of Thai business executives was conducted during the study. Twenty social and cultural factors were identified and examined. The survey findings confirm that in addition to the eight key factors identified by Western commentators, culture and social issues Western have had a significant impact on the adoption and the success of e-business in Thailand. Organizational infrastructure and English literacy were found to be the major internal and external barriers respectively to the adoption of e-business in Thailand.

Most e-business concerns currently relate to economic, technological, legal and regulatory issues. There should be more research into the social and cultural issues associated with electronic business. The business and technology focus needs to be complemented by greater attention to social and cultural considerations. V-business and ASPs are the latest additions to the e-business economy. Cultural and social issues, and in particular, trust will become more profound under the new generation of e-business activities. It is therefore recommended that more research be aimed in this direction.



Managing Globally with Information Technology
Managing Globally with Information Technology
ISBN: 193177742X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 224

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