QUESTION 1

E-commerce sites need to shift their focus from local consumers as the use of the Internet grows rapidly in markets throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Companies that want to succeed on the Web cannot ignore the global shift. Developing a sound strategy is critical for ensuring that a global E-commerce effort leads to Web sites that are relevant to the consumers and businesses the company wants to reach, whether those customers are in Cleveland, Singapore, or Frankfurt.

The first step in developing a global E-commerce strategy is to determine which global markets make the most sense for selling products or services online. One approach is to target regions and countries in which a company already has online customers. Companies can track the country domains from which current users of a U.S.-centric site are visiting, and established global companies can look to their overseas offices to help determine the languages and countries to target for their Web sites.

Once the company decides which global markets it wants to reach with its Web site, it must adapt the existing U.S.-centric site to another language and culture-a process called localisation. Localisation requires companies to have a deep understanding of the country, its people, and the market, which means either building a physical presence in the country or forming partnerships so that detailed knowledge can be gathered. Companies must be prepared to take painstaking steps to ensure that E-commerce customers have a local experience even though they're shopping at the Web site of an American company.

Some of the steps involved in localisation require recognising and conforming to the nuances, subtleties, and tastes of local cultures, as well as supporting basic trade laws and technological capabilities such as each country's currency, local connection speeds, payment preferences, laws, taxes, and tariffs. For example, when Dell Computer launched an e-commerce site to sell PCs to consumers in Japan, it made the mistake of surrounding most of the site's content with black borders, a negative sign in Japanese culture. Japanese Web shoppers took one look at the site and fled. Support for Asian languages is difficult because Asian alphabets are more complex and not all Web development tools are capable of handling them. As a result, many companies choose to tackle Asian markets last. In addition, great care must be taken to choose icons that are relevant to a country. For example, the use of mailboxes and shopping carts may not be familiar to global consumers. Users in European countries don't take their mail from large, tubular receptacles, nor do many of them shop in stores large enough for wheeled carts.

One of the most important and most difficult decisions in a company's global Web strategy is whether Web content should be generated and updated centrally or locally. Companies that expand through international partnerships may be tempted to hand control to the new international entities to take the greatest advantage of the expertise of employees in the new markets. But turning over too much control can lead to a muddle of country-specific sites with no consistency and a scattered corporate message. A mixed model of control may be best. Decisions about corporate identity, brand representation, and the technology used for the Web sites are made centrally to minimise Web development and support effort as well as to present a consistent corporate and brand message. But a local authority decides on content and services best tailored for given markets.

Companies must also be aware that consumers outside the United States will access sites with different devices and modify their site design accordingly. In Europe, for example, closed-system iDTV's (interactive digital televisions) are becoming a popular way to access online content, with iDTVs projected to reach 80 million European households by 2005. Such devices have better resolution and more screen space than PC monitors U.S. consumers use to access the Internet. So users of iDTVs, expect more ambitious graphics.

A new group of software and service vendors has emerged to address Web globalisation issues. The group includes companies such as Idiom, GlobalSight, and Uniscape.com. Their software can integrate with popular E-commerce and Web content management software from vendors such as Vignette, BroadVision, and Interwoven. The multilingual Web site management software can work especially well for global sites with central management.

On the Web, ultimately the only way to fight global companies is to be a global company. Successful firms operate with a portfolio of storefronts designed for each target market, with shared sourcing and infrastructure to support the network of stores, and with local marketing and business development teams to take advantage of local opportunities. Service providers continue to emerge to solve the cross-border logistics, payments, and customer service needs of these pan-European retailers.

QUESTIONS 2
(a) What are the major steps that a Holiday Resort Company in Mauritius should take to develop an online business model?

(b) Suppose the Holiday Resort Company in Mauritius is considering three business models - (i) developing its own on-line business model or (ii) tie-up with another leading international hotel chain like Marriott or Best Western, (iii) tie-up with another leading travel agency primarily operating through on-line mode. If you are asked to design control systems for web site content, what factors do you consider for the above three different business models? Under what business model you would recommend central or local or mixed control system?

(c) Which approach is better to gain a deep understanding of a country, its people, and the market-form a partnership with a company in the country or hire a software vendor familiar with Web globalization issues. Why?

(d) Identify five applications of e-commerce and e-business commonly used in organisations, and discuss each with relevant examples.

QUESTION 3

(a) Information systems can be classified by 1) the specific organizational function they serve as well as by 2) the organizational level. Discuss about systems in both instances using examples to exemplify your answer.

(b) ‘Many organisations cannot measure the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their technology assets because these assets have never been inventoried'. Identify the main issues which need to be considered when managing hardware and software assets in an organisation.

QUESTION 4

(a) ‘A company's greatest asset is its people and the knowledge and skills they bring to the workplace. Knowledge is such a valuable asset, organizations try to capture and preserve that knowledge for the future'. Explain the term ‘Artificial Intelligence' and discuss why managers would be interested in ‘Artificial Intelligence'.

(b) Although the benefits of Internet shopping include convenience and speed, many businesses believe electronic commerce offers them a more meaningful ways to reach and connect with customers. Discuss with examples.

QUESTION 5

(a) ‘Top managers (and executives) do not have time to study and analyse large volumes of data. Instead they need an information system that will analyse the data and present it in an easy and elegant manner so that they can make quick and effective decisions'. Discuss the statement with appropriate examples.

(b) "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries management looked for breakthroughs to lower costs and accelerate product development that would enable the firm to regain world market leadership in shipbuilding. The company redesigned its entire production process to replace expensive, labour-intensive tasks with robotic machines and computer-aided design tools. Companies should identify a few core business processes to be redesigned & focus on those with the greatest potential payback" (Davenport and Short, 1990). Using the above statement discuss the ‘Business Process Reengineering' concept.