An underpinning topic for e-Commerce is that all activities that we commit when using online resources are subject to legal, ethical and social parameters.
There are very tight laws and compliance issues when it comes to not only the payment methods for online transactions. Security and legally of information, trading and the protection of intellectual property are all concepts dealt with by this chapter.
I will be specifically reflecting on what I think today’s top ethical, legal and social online topic. One that I am sure most people can relate to at home and that most people would be guilty of, the downloading and sharing of electronic format media. e-Commerce becomes affected by this issue as it bleeds real online transactions and profit creation from artists etc. Sharing programs such as Limewire and old style Napster allows/ed people to search, locate and download electronic media of all kinds. iTunes I think is the most prominent example of how music and videos specifically can be sold legally.
Copyrighting of music and illegal downloading of electronic media is rampant in today’s society. There have been substantial efforts by producers and governments to control the downloading of copywrite material, but with the explosion of online sharing servers and online blogs, stopping people from illegally acquiring such files is nearly impossible I think.
Music, movies, programs, videos, files etc are all prone to being traded online without people paying for them. It not only hurts the creator of the material as they don’t receive any commission, royalties or payment for their work, but users are becoming increasingly burnt by viruses and agencies setup to stop illegal trading.
I think that somehow, to stop people illegally downloading files is that one-day their favourite artist or producer will suddenly resist to make or release their material in electronic format (ie. CD’s etc) to reduce file sharing essentially. It seems so easy to simply click on a link and acquire what’s not free, most people don’t think twice about it. But as the saying goes, “There is not such thing as a free lunch!”
(Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006.) brings up specific reasons for the online legal issues of such illegal downloading:
1. The Internet is global and who therefore has the responsibility of controlling it?
2. The Internet is electronic and not in physically writing as per say.
3. The Internet is digital and perfect copies of material is a click away.
Thus the Internet and the manner in which e-Commerce is conducted online presents situations and issues that are very hard to control and rectify when it comes to file sharing, as part of its major advantages is that is completely conducts these actions perfectly.
Reference:
• Charles Sturt University MGT220 Study Guide: Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006. Charles Sturt University MGT220 e-Commerce Study Guide.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Blog Reviews: Collected Copies
Cass’s Blog Review:
In my review on this blog entry by Cass, your initial entry about the topic e-marketplaces was quite well done. It contains a good overall perspective of what the topic covers, but also the acknowledgement of the vast types of markets and consumers that e-commerce reaches. The mention of the three main types of e-marketplaces was good to see, as I did not mention this in my blog! The part about the risk that is present was also worth noting, as with every type of business there is an associated degree of risk involved.
I found the mention of trading shares online through the stock exchange good to see as it gave a personal relationship and experience to the e-marketplace from a different angle.Mostly I consider e-marketplace transactions as funds transfers, but never thought to consider share trading online. A good introductory blog.
Ellisa’s Blog Review:
Ellisa’s task one introduction was good, it framed how she felt about e-Commerce overall in relation to searching for information and conducting transactions online. I like how you set your blog entry out with clear headings and easy to read paragraphs.
I like also how you mentioned your favourite website to browse and purchase through. Very importantly people do use websites in a form of information seeking and gathering before going out in the real world. In the travel section, I do think that a major proportion of people now use online portals for booking flights and checking the best deals.
Obviously e-Bay is the biggest change I think to hit the e-tailing and commerce transactions overall. e-Bay allowed anyone with Internet access to become a seller of anything to anyone, anywhere. The fear of purchasing and performing real money transactions I think still haunt many people when they are considering who they are paying and how.
Lastly the concept of that information is power gives I think gives power to the Internet and e-Commerce in today’s modern World.
Christina’s Blog Review:
Christina, your blog gives good insight into your feelings about what and how the Internet can provide services, which other forms of commerce cannot. I think everyone can relate to how they enjoy “window shopping” and the power of free and convenient browsing of their favourite shops online. I almost find it disappointing in today’s very electronic based selling if a certain brand I am researching does not have a website to compare prices etc with.
Realistically also I think everyone goes through the thoughts of online banking security and the issues concerned with payment online. I initially had my doubts to whether it even worked when b-Pay started up and EFT were introduced. But now a few years on, at my place of work thousands of dollars are electronically transferred every minute, to and from accounts and into accounts where we don’t even know why such payment exists, but all seems to be figured out. Record of payment transfers is the key and very important, everything is somewhat documented within the Internet.
Sarah’s Blog Review:
In light to reading your blog Sarah, I think that anyone who in such a work environment as yourself can exactly relate to the numerous and complex security systems that are necessary to protect not only your own interests but the businesses as well. In my own job, the concept of Integrity is a backbone to the corporation. Information security is a continuous concern for both employees and employers.
Breach of security parameters can lead to entire businesses to collapse. We watched a doc video about corporation ENRON, once valued at $70 Billion dollars collapsed as internal security was jeopardised. Documents were internally leaked and stock prices fell.
Security systems are both created to control both internal and external business interests. When users are trying to log into the system from outside our network, more protocol security is used similar to then system you described. Even when employees are login in from within the building for example, the sensitivity of information still regulates tight security measures. Integrity is hard to build once lost.
Christina’s Blog Review:
All very true, the World is very quickly becoming cashless for good or for worse. I love the convenience of not having to carry or pay with cash, you cannot loose it and it can’t be stolen from you lol!
But I also find that with this easy access for paying everything with card, that when people are trying to budget that the odd amounts that are payed with ones card becomes a bit inconvenient as people will budget to the nearest $10 amount. When prices are $19.89 for example, those amounts tally up to leave odd amounts in ones bank account.
Concerning those new chipped MasterCard’s and Amex cards, I think these are a great new development in security for customer’s accounts, recently I came across an ATM skimmer on top the normal interface in Sydney. When a normal access card is placed through the slot, the skimmer reads the card info and either stores or wirelessly sends the account info to a computer at which the bank criminal can retrieve all your data! The police and bank branch were notified and they shut it down in about half an hour! Chipped cards provide such security that the normal magnetic security cannot.
In my review on this blog entry by Cass, your initial entry about the topic e-marketplaces was quite well done. It contains a good overall perspective of what the topic covers, but also the acknowledgement of the vast types of markets and consumers that e-commerce reaches. The mention of the three main types of e-marketplaces was good to see, as I did not mention this in my blog! The part about the risk that is present was also worth noting, as with every type of business there is an associated degree of risk involved.
I found the mention of trading shares online through the stock exchange good to see as it gave a personal relationship and experience to the e-marketplace from a different angle.Mostly I consider e-marketplace transactions as funds transfers, but never thought to consider share trading online. A good introductory blog.
Ellisa’s Blog Review:
Ellisa’s task one introduction was good, it framed how she felt about e-Commerce overall in relation to searching for information and conducting transactions online. I like how you set your blog entry out with clear headings and easy to read paragraphs.
I like also how you mentioned your favourite website to browse and purchase through. Very importantly people do use websites in a form of information seeking and gathering before going out in the real world. In the travel section, I do think that a major proportion of people now use online portals for booking flights and checking the best deals.
Obviously e-Bay is the biggest change I think to hit the e-tailing and commerce transactions overall. e-Bay allowed anyone with Internet access to become a seller of anything to anyone, anywhere. The fear of purchasing and performing real money transactions I think still haunt many people when they are considering who they are paying and how.
Lastly the concept of that information is power gives I think gives power to the Internet and e-Commerce in today’s modern World.
Christina’s Blog Review:
Christina, your blog gives good insight into your feelings about what and how the Internet can provide services, which other forms of commerce cannot. I think everyone can relate to how they enjoy “window shopping” and the power of free and convenient browsing of their favourite shops online. I almost find it disappointing in today’s very electronic based selling if a certain brand I am researching does not have a website to compare prices etc with.
Realistically also I think everyone goes through the thoughts of online banking security and the issues concerned with payment online. I initially had my doubts to whether it even worked when b-Pay started up and EFT were introduced. But now a few years on, at my place of work thousands of dollars are electronically transferred every minute, to and from accounts and into accounts where we don’t even know why such payment exists, but all seems to be figured out. Record of payment transfers is the key and very important, everything is somewhat documented within the Internet.
Sarah’s Blog Review:
In light to reading your blog Sarah, I think that anyone who in such a work environment as yourself can exactly relate to the numerous and complex security systems that are necessary to protect not only your own interests but the businesses as well. In my own job, the concept of Integrity is a backbone to the corporation. Information security is a continuous concern for both employees and employers.
Breach of security parameters can lead to entire businesses to collapse. We watched a doc video about corporation ENRON, once valued at $70 Billion dollars collapsed as internal security was jeopardised. Documents were internally leaked and stock prices fell.
Security systems are both created to control both internal and external business interests. When users are trying to log into the system from outside our network, more protocol security is used similar to then system you described. Even when employees are login in from within the building for example, the sensitivity of information still regulates tight security measures. Integrity is hard to build once lost.
Christina’s Blog Review:
All very true, the World is very quickly becoming cashless for good or for worse. I love the convenience of not having to carry or pay with cash, you cannot loose it and it can’t be stolen from you lol!
But I also find that with this easy access for paying everything with card, that when people are trying to budget that the odd amounts that are payed with ones card becomes a bit inconvenient as people will budget to the nearest $10 amount. When prices are $19.89 for example, those amounts tally up to leave odd amounts in ones bank account.
Concerning those new chipped MasterCard’s and Amex cards, I think these are a great new development in security for customer’s accounts, recently I came across an ATM skimmer on top the normal interface in Sydney. When a normal access card is placed through the slot, the skimmer reads the card info and either stores or wirelessly sends the account info to a computer at which the bank criminal can retrieve all your data! The police and bank branch were notified and they shut it down in about half an hour! Chipped cards provide such security that the normal magnetic security cannot.
Group 2: The Reflection
Overall in looking back upon our group assignment work, “Group 2” as we were known to each other managed to pull ourselves together to provide both group assignments on time and with reasonable results, (one pending lol!).
The group team members consisted of: Elissa, Sarah, Mona and myself. We managed well to firstly identify what work need to be completed, by both discussing amongst ourselves but when certain queries came up we talked to Matt to make sure we were doing those parts correctly, sometimes the wording of the question in the textbook seemed confusing.
After we evaluated the questions, we decided on which parts the group members were happy to complete. I think that this is the easiest way to do group assignments when people are not able to sit down together and complete the assignment. Divide the work up and allow group members to do their part. When the group can physically meet together, they can discuss and combined thoughts on a single document.
So once the parts were given out, group members completed what they had to do. Communication was conducted via email and the Interact website. Unfortunately, I did not have Internet access outside of the workplace, since I had recently moved and had not set up connection facilities, which made confirmation hard sometimes.
Luckily my group members were happy to post their draft parts to the Interact announcement section, which in the end was where most of the communication ended up as it also allows email notification, which was very handy. I didn’t realise at first, but I was trying to post announcements on the Interact site from my work email, and I was only authorised to submit from my home email address, which was initially frustrating.
I was thankful for my team to use the CSU Interact portal as it made it much easier to review where the group was up to progress wise and to see what drafts they had completed. The work was of a quality nature and we were confident in our final drafts before we submitted to Turitan. I was also thankful for the group to submit the draft to Turitan and to Matt, as I didn’t have access to do so at home.
I put forward initially that we needed to post our phone numbers to increase the amount of communication outside of the workplace since I didn’t have net access, but the group considered it would be better to use the Interact portal and email since this was a
e-Commerce subject. Personally I still think that it would of helped, but overall it seems everything worked out Ok.
E-commerce in the parameter of communicating with others is very effective and efficient. Communication via email, posting of forums and blogs not only allowed us to talk and converse about the assignments but also to attach what we had done work wise. I consider this to be the greatest advantage as communication via phone and mail either can’t transmit documents or isn’t instantaneous. e-Commerce has the ability to provide both! But in stating this, if one does not have Internet connection, then all is lost, example myself. My final point is that communication via online methods also doesn’t provide any sense of feeling or specific responses from group members. You cannot feel what people think or write, whether they are happy or upset with aspects relating to the assignment. I find this the hardest aspect to deal with when communicating via online methods.
The group team members consisted of: Elissa, Sarah, Mona and myself. We managed well to firstly identify what work need to be completed, by both discussing amongst ourselves but when certain queries came up we talked to Matt to make sure we were doing those parts correctly, sometimes the wording of the question in the textbook seemed confusing.
After we evaluated the questions, we decided on which parts the group members were happy to complete. I think that this is the easiest way to do group assignments when people are not able to sit down together and complete the assignment. Divide the work up and allow group members to do their part. When the group can physically meet together, they can discuss and combined thoughts on a single document.
So once the parts were given out, group members completed what they had to do. Communication was conducted via email and the Interact website. Unfortunately, I did not have Internet access outside of the workplace, since I had recently moved and had not set up connection facilities, which made confirmation hard sometimes.
Luckily my group members were happy to post their draft parts to the Interact announcement section, which in the end was where most of the communication ended up as it also allows email notification, which was very handy. I didn’t realise at first, but I was trying to post announcements on the Interact site from my work email, and I was only authorised to submit from my home email address, which was initially frustrating.
I was thankful for my team to use the CSU Interact portal as it made it much easier to review where the group was up to progress wise and to see what drafts they had completed. The work was of a quality nature and we were confident in our final drafts before we submitted to Turitan. I was also thankful for the group to submit the draft to Turitan and to Matt, as I didn’t have access to do so at home.
I put forward initially that we needed to post our phone numbers to increase the amount of communication outside of the workplace since I didn’t have net access, but the group considered it would be better to use the Interact portal and email since this was a
e-Commerce subject. Personally I still think that it would of helped, but overall it seems everything worked out Ok.
E-commerce in the parameter of communicating with others is very effective and efficient. Communication via email, posting of forums and blogs not only allowed us to talk and converse about the assignments but also to attach what we had done work wise. I consider this to be the greatest advantage as communication via phone and mail either can’t transmit documents or isn’t instantaneous. e-Commerce has the ability to provide both! But in stating this, if one does not have Internet connection, then all is lost, example myself. My final point is that communication via online methods also doesn’t provide any sense of feeling or specific responses from group members. You cannot feel what people think or write, whether they are happy or upset with aspects relating to the assignment. I find this the hardest aspect to deal with when communicating via online methods.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
In-depth Reflection 3: e-Commerce Strategy
This review will be on the important concept of how e-Commerce impacts on overall business strategy and planning, including just how e-Commerce application is initially formulated justified and lastly prioritised.
Initially a description of exactly what e-Commerce strategy concerns is stated by (Turban, E et al. 2008) as: “The formulation and vision of how a new or existing company intends to do business electronically.”
Ezine Articles gives us another version to the description of e-Commerce strategy: “There are many definitions to what e-Marketing is, the simplest and shortest one being formulated by Mark Sceats: e-Marketing is Marketing that uses the internet as manifestation media. A working definition is that coming from a group of CISCO specialists: e-Marketing is the sum of all activities a business conducts through the internet with the purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.”
Overall it sounds quite straight-forward. But for businesses this matching of strategy and e-Commerce, I feel to be even increasingly important as the Internet and electronic methods of business become more prominent and increasingly available to access for the public.
I think obviously the importance of implementing e-Commerce strategy is dependent of how much of the businesses income is made from the Internet. A “Bricks & Mortar” business which dabbles with an online presence just needs to be able to manage their portal online, but for a company of the online revenues generated with such significance as for example e-Bay or any major bank, successfully marrying a physical business plan and strategy with an online strategy could make or break a business.
A prime example for this would be ING Direct. This Netherlands bank has decided that the Internet is such a low cost, powerful tool that they have become the largest “branchless bank” in the World. Their entire presence in Australia is no more than advertising on the Internet and TV. Within their very large corporation, their overall strategy and electronic strategy is that only offering banking online would prove to the best move.
And such decisions do pay off when implemented carefully and whole-heartedly.
ING Direct offers some of the highest savings accounts and interest rates of any bank in the marketplace. I personally am deciding when the time is right to open one of their savings accounts online since they offer such good rates. With no “real” infrastructure costs, it allows them to offer such competitive savings and rates.
As with all types of strategies along with their implementation to a new or existing business strategies, a planning process exists. (Turban, E et al. 2008) gives us the SISP model (Strategic Information Systems Planning) consisting of;
1. Initiation
2. Formulation
3. Implementation
4. Assessment
Overall this type of process is similar in fashion to other implementation models, as e-Commerce is simply another marketing and revenue channel. I found it interesting the how (Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006) stated that “there is no clear sure fire way to ensure success.” In relation to this statement, I really thought that there would have been a recipe for such success. But since the Internet and e-Commerce are such a young marketing, revenue and business tools that we have not seen significant trends and proven methods of success?
But these theories need to be coupled with an effective guide or business plan. Anyone can outline the theory of identifying what needs to be done, but how will it be placed in the larger scheme of things? Where will e-Commerce be strategically positioned within the business overall plan? Scaling from just enhancing another business SBU, all the way up to influencing a business so much to changing completely over to a virtual business.
Is the online sales World simply another marketing and sales channel? According to Ezine Articles, no. A business that incorporates e-commerce into its business strategy can offer much more. “What gives e-Marketing its uniqueness is a series of specific functions, relational functions, that can be synthesized in the 2P + 2C+ 3S formula: Personalization, Privacy, Customer Service, Community, Site, Security, Sales Promotion.”
But what is the point for the implementation of e-Commerce? The use of e-Commerce business strategies provides businesses with a competitive advantage over their rivals. I think that this is the one clear point, integrating e-Commerce into a businesses strategy, even allowing it to become a strategic business unit by itself.
(Turban, E et al. 2008) importantly notes that “e-Commerce in strategy development does not radically change the process, but it does impact the outcome.” A business that decides that entering the World of online trading and e-Commerce needs to importantly identify what they exactly want from the Internet. Does the business only want another channel in which to sell a few items through, or do they wish to fully integrate an Internet business strategy similar to examples such as amazon.com? Look at where you are now, compare where you would like to be and implement accordingly while never loosing sight of your businesses capabilities.
The Internet has proved itself to be an almost unlimited market and profit maker. Google is the biggest demonstration plain and simple. But in the parameters of the topic, how utilising good e-Commerce strategy can transform a normal “bricks & mortar” business. A prime transformation example I think would be any banking or real estate business.
But even in wake of the power and success of such businesses, (Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006) states that “e-Commerce still does not have total global reach.” The spreading fingers of the Internet cannot touch everyone. The factors listed below are stated as the reasons for why:
1. Cultural
2. Administrative
3. Geographical
4. Economic
Reference List:
· Turban, E. King, D. Viehland, D & Lee, J. 2008. Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective 2008, Pearson Education, USA.
· Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006. Charles Sturt University MGT220 e-Commerce Study Guide.
· Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?e-Marketing-Strategy:-7-Dimensions-to-Consider-(the-e-Marketing-Mix)&id=21976
Initially a description of exactly what e-Commerce strategy concerns is stated by (Turban, E et al. 2008) as: “The formulation and vision of how a new or existing company intends to do business electronically.”
Ezine Articles gives us another version to the description of e-Commerce strategy: “There are many definitions to what e-Marketing is, the simplest and shortest one being formulated by Mark Sceats: e-Marketing is Marketing that uses the internet as manifestation media. A working definition is that coming from a group of CISCO specialists: e-Marketing is the sum of all activities a business conducts through the internet with the purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.”
Overall it sounds quite straight-forward. But for businesses this matching of strategy and e-Commerce, I feel to be even increasingly important as the Internet and electronic methods of business become more prominent and increasingly available to access for the public.
I think obviously the importance of implementing e-Commerce strategy is dependent of how much of the businesses income is made from the Internet. A “Bricks & Mortar” business which dabbles with an online presence just needs to be able to manage their portal online, but for a company of the online revenues generated with such significance as for example e-Bay or any major bank, successfully marrying a physical business plan and strategy with an online strategy could make or break a business.
A prime example for this would be ING Direct. This Netherlands bank has decided that the Internet is such a low cost, powerful tool that they have become the largest “branchless bank” in the World. Their entire presence in Australia is no more than advertising on the Internet and TV. Within their very large corporation, their overall strategy and electronic strategy is that only offering banking online would prove to the best move.
And such decisions do pay off when implemented carefully and whole-heartedly.
ING Direct offers some of the highest savings accounts and interest rates of any bank in the marketplace. I personally am deciding when the time is right to open one of their savings accounts online since they offer such good rates. With no “real” infrastructure costs, it allows them to offer such competitive savings and rates.
As with all types of strategies along with their implementation to a new or existing business strategies, a planning process exists. (Turban, E et al. 2008) gives us the SISP model (Strategic Information Systems Planning) consisting of;
1. Initiation
2. Formulation
3. Implementation
4. Assessment
Overall this type of process is similar in fashion to other implementation models, as e-Commerce is simply another marketing and revenue channel. I found it interesting the how (Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006) stated that “there is no clear sure fire way to ensure success.” In relation to this statement, I really thought that there would have been a recipe for such success. But since the Internet and e-Commerce are such a young marketing, revenue and business tools that we have not seen significant trends and proven methods of success?
But these theories need to be coupled with an effective guide or business plan. Anyone can outline the theory of identifying what needs to be done, but how will it be placed in the larger scheme of things? Where will e-Commerce be strategically positioned within the business overall plan? Scaling from just enhancing another business SBU, all the way up to influencing a business so much to changing completely over to a virtual business.
Is the online sales World simply another marketing and sales channel? According to Ezine Articles, no. A business that incorporates e-commerce into its business strategy can offer much more. “What gives e-Marketing its uniqueness is a series of specific functions, relational functions, that can be synthesized in the 2P + 2C+ 3S formula: Personalization, Privacy, Customer Service, Community, Site, Security, Sales Promotion.”
But what is the point for the implementation of e-Commerce? The use of e-Commerce business strategies provides businesses with a competitive advantage over their rivals. I think that this is the one clear point, integrating e-Commerce into a businesses strategy, even allowing it to become a strategic business unit by itself.
(Turban, E et al. 2008) importantly notes that “e-Commerce in strategy development does not radically change the process, but it does impact the outcome.” A business that decides that entering the World of online trading and e-Commerce needs to importantly identify what they exactly want from the Internet. Does the business only want another channel in which to sell a few items through, or do they wish to fully integrate an Internet business strategy similar to examples such as amazon.com? Look at where you are now, compare where you would like to be and implement accordingly while never loosing sight of your businesses capabilities.
The Internet has proved itself to be an almost unlimited market and profit maker. Google is the biggest demonstration plain and simple. But in the parameters of the topic, how utilising good e-Commerce strategy can transform a normal “bricks & mortar” business. A prime transformation example I think would be any banking or real estate business.
But even in wake of the power and success of such businesses, (Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006) states that “e-Commerce still does not have total global reach.” The spreading fingers of the Internet cannot touch everyone. The factors listed below are stated as the reasons for why:
1. Cultural
2. Administrative
3. Geographical
4. Economic
Reference List:
· Turban, E. King, D. Viehland, D & Lee, J. 2008. Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective 2008, Pearson Education, USA.
· Hardy, C. Dyki, M. 2006. Charles Sturt University MGT220 e-Commerce Study Guide.
· Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?e-Marketing-Strategy:-7-Dimensions-to-Consider-(the-e-Marketing-Mix)&id=21976
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