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multidimensional auctions and predicts that B2B online business will become
increasingly more saturated with auction mechanisms in the near future. The chapter
further shows that B2B market places will only succeed if they offer value-added
services and are able to meet their customers’ expectations in the areas of privacy,
trust, and security.
Chapter 19 entitled, “Mobile Agents, Mobile Computing and Mobile Users in
Global E-Commerce” by Roberto Vinaja of the University of Texas Pan American
(USA) examines the implication of mobility in three aspects: mobile code, mobile
hardware and mobile users. The chapter also analyzes the impact of mobility on
electronic commerce in the areas of security issues, export controls, legal jurisdiction,
taxation and international issues. Mobile agent technologies and mobile computers will
play an important role in the new cyberspace economy; however, the chapter indicates
that many issues must be addressed before this technology can be fully implemented
and discusses these important issues.
Chapter 20 entitled, “Evaluation of Electronic Commerce Adoption Within
SMEs” by Marco Tagliavini, Aurelio Ravarini, and Alessandro Antonelli of Universita
Cattaneo (Italy) aims to support SMEs in choosing the most suitable electronic
commerce approaches according to their peculiarities and strategic goals. First, it
identifies five EC approaches that support various business activities. The chapter
further describes the business variables involved in any e-commerce project and
identifies four SME profiles characterized by different values of these variables.
Finally, a cross analysis between the e-commerce approaches and SME profiles
allows developing a framework and suggesting the most suitable e-commerce
solution for each business profile. This paper provides SMEs with a simple, easy to
use tool to perform a qualitative evaluation of e-commerce opportunities.
Chapter 21 entitled, “The Cost of Email Within Organizations” by Thomas
Jackson and Ray Dawson of Loughborough University and Darren Wilson of the
Danwood Group (UK) details a pilot exercise on the cost-benefit analysis of the use
of internal email performed at the Danwood Group. This exercise was part of a larger
endeavour to evaluate computer communication to help enhance performance
throughout the organization. The chapter resulted in the creation of an internal email
costing process showing when it begins to become a more efficient means of
communication. In the study, the time taken to read, write and perform other functions
with email were measured from a sample of employees. The email content was also
monitored to determine which emails were business-related. It was found that nearly
two-thirds of all emails were not business-related at the start of the research, but this
decreased to a consistent 43% towards the end.