Introduction

managing it in government, business & communities
Chapter 5 - Using Spreadsheets as a Decision Support Tool: An Application for Small Businesses
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
by Gerry Gingrich (ed) 
Idea Group Publishing 2003
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Spreadsheets have been used as a decision support tool to assist businesses. This chapter discusses a model that has been set up to assist small businesses in the decision-making processes associated with setting up a Web site by which they can interact with their customers. A particular aspect of the model, the decision processes needed to determine the cost of the Web site and the skills needed to implement it, are described here.

A Model for Small Businesses to Interact with Customers Using the Internet

Burgess and Schauder (2000a) identified a number of steps that are common to models that can be used to assist firms in identifying strategic IT ideas (such as Porter and Millar, 1985; Barton and Peters, 1990; Osterle, 1991) and/or e-commerce opportunities (Marchese, 1998; AlMoumem and Sommerville, 1999). These steps included a need for a thorough business investigation. This is typically the first step in any model and needs to occur to increase the likelihood that decisions to be made later in regards to Web design and content are based upon a sound knowledge of the firm. Typical analysis tools used at this stage are Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) Analysis.

The SWOT analysis has been traditionally used in the marketing or economics areas of the business. An analysis is performed on the various areas of the organisation to identify current or potential strengths and weaknesses when compared with other competitive forces. From this analysis, the organisation identifies actual or potential opportunities to gain strategic advantage or threats to the organisation's well being. Actions taken by the organisation to take advantage of an opportunity are proactive. Actions taken by the organisation to combat a threat are reactive (Kotler et al., 1989).

E-commerce is seen as a way in which small businesses can compete with large businesses (DIST, 1998; Penhune, 1998), but small businesses have little time or resources to address potential changes to their current activities. Many lack the availability of technical expertise and avoid proper planning techniques to help them take advantage of opportunities that may present themselves (DIST, 1998; Engler, 1999; Conhaim, 1999; Conroy, 1999). A number of attempts have been made to set up models to assist small businesses in the adoption and use of electronic commerce, but many of them lack sufficient detail to explain how they operate and how each step of the model links with the next to provide a complete solution. In fact, small business owners find themselves confronted with information from many sources (books, magazines, newspapers, government, friends, business contacts, and so forth) and can find it extremely difficult to sort out just where to access reliable information (Stiller and Burgess, 2001). In order to address some of these problems, particularly those relating to a lack of proper planning techniques, facing small businesses that wish to use the Internet to interact with customers a conceptual version of a model to guide small businesses was proposed by Burgess and Schauder (2000b). Figure 1 shows the model that was developed.


Figure 1: A Model to Assist Small Businesses to Interact with Customers on the Internet

The model is based upon the major steps in other IT and e-commerce models. It represents an attempt to address the specific needs of small businesses by guiding them through a planning process that is relatively easy to comprehend (Burgess and Schauder, 2000a).

The initial stage of the model, the business investigation, involves a modified SWOT analysis. The firm's internal and (some) external forces are examined. Internally, the firm's resources in relation to time, money and expertise are examined, as well as the characteristics of the firm's goods and services. The firm's overall strategy is also examined, as a firm wishing to grow in size may require a more aggressive Web strategy than a firm that is satisfied with its existing customer base. Externally, the Web sites of competitors are examined, as well as the ability of customers to access the firm's Web site.

Other steps of the model, after the business investigation, refer to identification of the firm's overall Web site strategy: what Web site features they are going to implement, what method they use to implement these features, how they promote the Web site, and how they evaluate its success.

The next stage is to develop it into a more detailed, usable model. This applied version of the model consists of two major components: a procedures manual (showing the various steps of business investigation, strategy, and so forth) and a spreadsheet program for recording the results of the analysis provision of recommendations. The development of aspects of this model is discussed in this chapter.

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Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
ISBN: 1931777403
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 188

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