The general theory of marketing ethics, first published in the Journal of Macromarketing by Hunt and Vitell (1986), has been the focus of much discussion and empirical testing. As a result, the the...

The General Theory of Marketing Ethics: A Revision and Three Questions

Services employing virtual channels of delivery such as the Internet are typically multichannel. Service quality research in traditional services and, more recently, in e-services tends to take a s...

http://www.feg.porto.ucp.pt/docentes/rsousa/Files/Sousa&Voss%202006%20JSR.pdf

Service Quality in Multichannel Services Employing Virtual Channels

Entrepreneurial resources, dynamic capabilities and start-up performance of Taiwan's high-tech firms

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=busadmin_fac

Toward a three-dimensional framework for omni-channel

Electronic marketplaces (EMPs) are widely assumed to increase price transparency and hence lower product prices. Results of empirical studies have been mixed, with several studies showing that product prices have not decreased and others showing that prices have increased in some cases. One explanation is that sellers prefer not to join EMPs with high price transparency, leading highly price transparent EMPs to fail. Therefore, in order to be successful, EMPs might be expected to avoid high price transparency. But that strategy creates a catch-22 for EMPs on the buy side: Why would buyers want to join EMPs in the absence of price transparency and the benefit of lower prices? We argue that successful EMPs must provide compensatory benefits for sellers in the case of high price transparency and for buyers in the case of low price transparency.

To understand how EMPs could succeed, regardless of price transparency, we examined the relationships among EMP strategy, price transparency, and performance by analyzing all 19 EMPs that compete by selling a broad range of standard electronics components. We found that all EMPs pursuing a low cost strategy had high price transparency and performed poorly. All EMPs that performed well pursued strategies of differentiation, but, interestingly, not all successful EMPs avoided price transparency: Some EMPs succeeded despite enabling high price transparency. We therefore examined two differentiated EMPs in greater depth-one with high price transparency, the other with low price transparency-to show how they achieved strategic alignment of activities and resources and provided compensatory benefits for their customers.

Electronic marketplaces and price transparency: strategy, information technology, and success

Web services and flexible business processes: towards the adaptive enterprise

Electronic marketplaces operate in highly dynamic environments. B2B (Business-to-business) e-Commerce (Electronic Commerce) is expanding rapidly, but Independent Internet based Electronic Marketplaces (IBEM) have passed through periods of boom and bust. In start-up entrepreneurial ventures such as IBEMs, adaptation is critical than at any other stage in the life cycle and hence the ability to learn and adapt becomes a key competency. The research uses the resource-based theory as a means of analyzing the evolution and adaptation of the resources and capabilities of IBEMs and the sustainability of competitive advantage. We use four case studies to trace the pattern of adaptation as well as identify the variables. Based on the inputs from this, we use a comprehensive sample of 135 IBEMs across various geographic regions covering 15 industry segments. The findings of this study provide key managerial insights into various issues that are important to IBEMs in particular and start-up entrepreneurial firms operating in highly dynamic environments in general. These include the stages of evolution and the sources or the lack of competitive advantage at each stage, the type of resources and capabilities, which need to be built, the type of complementary assets, which needs to be leveraged and the degrees of adaptation at various stages.

Adaptive Strategies of Firms in High Velocity Environments: The Case of B2b Electronic Marketplaces

Our motivation for this research is the belief that blind users cannot participate effectively in routine Web-based activities due to the lack of Web accessibility and usability for non-visual interaction. We take a cognitive, user-centered, task-oriented approach to develop an understanding of accessibility and usability problems that blind users face in Web interactions. This understanding is critically needed to determine accessibility and usability requirements for non-visual Web interaction. We employ verbal protocol analysis for an in-depth examination of difficulties participants face in completing an online assessment through a course management system. We analyze the problems that hinder accessibility and usability and explain the nature of these problems in terms of design principles. Our study contributes an effective method for qualitative evaluation of Web accessibility and usability. Our findings will guide future research to develop more accessible and usable Web applications for blind users.

/pdf/understanding-blind-users-web-accessibility-and-usability-1sa5tz2d1f.pdf

Understanding Blind Users' Web Accessibility and Usability Problems

The technology impact on the various functions in retailing has been increasing. As the number of channels for a retailer increases, managing the dynamics of customer behaviour in the rapidly emerging multi‐channel environment becomes complex. Building and retaining a long‐term association with customers require that relationship management applications should be able to accommodate the various channels. Multi‐channel customers are the most valuable customers and hence multi‐channel integration would improve customer loyalty and retention. This paper considers the impact of Web services on multi‐channel integration, the customer decision‐making process and the implications of effectively managing buyer behaviour for competitive advantage. The role of Web services is explored with the help of a few customer purchase scenarios.

Managing customer preferences in a multi‐channel environment using Web services

This paper discusses a solution based on Web services and service oriented architecture involving interorganizational information systems in the context of multichannel integration in retailing industry. Distribution intensive industries such as retailing have seen a proliferation of distribution channels. This is in part triggered by the intense competition as well as the retailers' drive to reach the customers through all possible channels. As the number of channels for a retailer increases, managing the dynamics of customer behavior in the multichannel environment becomes complex. Customers have an option of interacting with retailers across a number of channels. Acquiring and retaining customers requires that relationship management applications should be able to accommodate the various channels. In this paper, we provide an overview of the benefits of using Web services in multichannel integration and related retail processes. We propose a reference service oriented architecture for usage of Web services involving inter and intra company systems for multichannel integration.

Jai Ganesh

Papers

Web services and flexible business processes: towards the adaptive enterprise

Adaptive Strategies of Firms in High Velocity Environments: The Case of B2b Electronic Marketplaces

Understanding Blind Users' Web Accessibility and Usability Problems

Managing customer preferences in a multi‐channel environment using Web services

Web services and multi-channel integration: a proposed framework