stages of development in e-commerce (rowley 2002:4)

ICT and its role in rural development

Martyn Warren

mwarren@plymouth.ac.uk

www.martynwarren.co.uk

Lecture 2

Internet and organisations:

Business, community and governance

Agenda

The internet and business

The internet and community

E-governance

E-democracy

Internet and business

E-commerce

‘The process of buying and selling or exchanging of products, services and information via computer networks, including the internet’ (Turban, 2000: 4).

Stages of development in e-commerce (Rowley 2002:4)

Stage

Characteristics Website functionality

1 Contact

(‘brochureware’)

Promote corporate image Publish corporate information Offer contact information

Content

2 Interact

Embed information exchange Targeted marketing effort

Communication

3 Transact

Online transactions Catalogue order/fulfilment Interaction with trading partners

Commerce

4 Relate

Two-way customer relationships

Full integration of internet capability into the business

Service interface integrated with delivery and other business operations

Community

B2C

Business to Consumer online trading

Most familiar form

B2BBusiness to Business online trading

Most common form

Closely linked to supply chain management

C2C

E-commerce benefits (1)

Expands the marketplace

Allows creation of specialised businesses (niche markets)

Low barriers to entry. Size does not matter.

Easy and cheap advertisement

Improved image, customer service, more flexibility – perhaps….

Helps to meet increasing customer expectations about choice (of product and of associated services)

Opportunity to remove ‘middlemen’ – ‘disintermediation’

E-commerce benefits (2)

Can stimulate rethinking of business processes and business relationships

Cuts cost of transmission and storage of information

Quicker order response – lower working capital costs for selling and purchasing businesses

Easy recording and analysis of customer profile information

‘Keeping up with the Jones’s…’

(‘normative’ or peer pressure)

Limitations of e-commerce

Technical

Security, reliability

? insufficient bandwidth (at business and/or consumer end)

integration of web commerce tools with pre-existing business software, hardware and processes

business may need a specialised server

Limitations of e-commerce (2)

Non-technical

cost (at business and consumer end)

trust – security, privacy; consumer resistance

Institutional (especially financial) development

concern of customers about after-sales support

lack of confidence, competence, access for consumers

reluctance to post prices, where discounting/negotiation of prices to customers is traditionally common.

‘You cannot send a handshake over the internet’

Concern of ‘being lost in cyberspace’ (Rusten and Ellingsen 2003:15)

E-business

‘…not just buying and selling, but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners, and conducting electronic transactions within an organisation’ Turban 2000: 5.

This term is often used interchangeably with e-commerce, but here implies a business that is built around electronic systems, rather than just incorporating them into its commercial processes.

e-mail

website

e-commerce

e-business

transformedorganisations

Business benefits

Extent of organisational change & sophistication

- efficient internal and external communications

- place in worldwide market- window on worldwide suppliers

- order and pay online, reducing transaction costs- maximise accessibility and speed

- integrate supply chain so manufacture and delivery become seamless- minimise waste at every stage of the supply chain

- open systems of information for customers, suppliers and partners- new business models based on interworkingbetween organisations and individuals

Adapted from Cisco led Information Age Partnership study on e-commerce in small business

Model of e-Adoption Ladder

Willis (2000?) http://www.e-ticaret.gov.tr/KobiSunum/Ankara_slides.ppt#5

Supply Chain Management

‘…the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from point-of-origin to point of final consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements’

(Council of Logistics Management, What is it all about?, Oak Brook, IL, 1986)

Internet-enabled supply chain

Bryceson (2006) 119

Internet in the workplace

Outsourcing

Collaboration (e.g. Facebook group, GoogleDocs

Business software and web services

Communicating within the company

Employee monitoring

Changing when and where work is done (flexible working)

Flexible working benefits

Cost-effectiveness and efficiency

Ability to attract a higher level of skills.

Job satisfaction and staff morale.

Retention of staff – better work-life balance.

Improved competitiveness, such as reaction to changing market conditions.

Benefits for environment...

Benefits for environment

Resource Consumption

Transport – energy, pollution, emissions, congestion.

Air quality – in workplace.

Use of office and home space

Design and location of offices

Occupational health and safety

2004 SUSTEL report

Rebound effects

Transport rebounds - for example, when the availability of cars at home because people are no longer commuting results in additional use.

Rebound effects

Location rebounds - when people decide to move home, or employers offices, because the need to be at a given location five days a week is less important.

Rebound effects

Space rebounds - when savings in office space from hotdesking are offset by individuals gaining more space at home through moving or extending.

Internet and community

Community

“A social network of interacting individuals, usually concentrated into a defined territory.”

Communities of:

Place

Practice

Profession

Interest

Johnson (2000) Dictionary of Human Geography

Communities and cyberspace

“…exploring the transforming qualities of the new information and communication technologies such as the internet for the development, economic regeneration and democratic stimulation of communities.”

Keeble, L and Loader, B, Eds. (2001). Community informatics: shaping computer-mediated social relations. London, Routledge. p1

Virtual communities

…rich diversity of virtual communities … are forming between normally disparate individuals as a consequence of computer-mediated communication (CMC).

Typically these are communities of shared interest rather than spatially or geographically constructed. (K&L 4)

Social media key to virtual communities, e.g.

Email, SMS, instant messaging

Blogs, Twitter

Facebook, LinkedIn, Bebo

Skype

Wikis

Flickr

7 key concepts in social media (Baym 2010)

Interactivity

Ability to facilitate social interaction

Temporal structure

Synchronous (but lags in transmission may reduce synchronicity in e.g. Instant messaging)

Asynchronous

Social cues

Body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, text substitutes, emoticons ;-) )-: ...

7 key concepts in social media (Baym 2010)

Storage

Replicability

Both features of emails, for instance – messages can be kept, forwarded, multiplied

Reach

‘one single keystroke can send a message to thousands of people’

Mobility

Portability, independence of location.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13925893

Community and ICT - possibilities

Providing support to/within existing (place-based) communities;

Extending the reach and effectiveness of existing (interest-based) communities;

Creating new, virtual communities (chat rooms, MySpace…)

Even creating imaginary virtual communities (e.g. secondlife.com)

Use of online social networking by rural youth

Study in one rural community in USA

On the one hand, social networking takes time which would otherwise be spent on ‘hands-on’ community activity.

On the other hand there are positive effects, including the strengthening of bridging social capital in some cases.

Researchers suggest that community leaders need to embrace social media to encourage youth involvement.

Chew, LaRose et al (2011) Use of online social networking by rural youth and its effects on community attachment. Information, Communication and Society, Vol 14, 5, pp726-747

Fwi forumsCase Study – online

community

What are farmers talking about online?FWi Forums (number of posts to 21 Nov 2009)

Talking Point 54600

Talking tackle 27996

Animal banter 9213

The Next Generation 3134

Chicken chat 722

Off-topic chat, jokes, etc 2182

Crop comments 6995

Crimeline 236

FWi ‘Talking Point’ forum posts, Jan-April 07

Wind Turbines 399

Wind Power 270

The Big Debate - Are Wind Turbines A Good Thing For Farming? 208

The CRoW Act 2000 - What's your opinion? 64

Farmers told to tap online market 63

The Great Global Warming Swindle,[ TV programme] 62

Coastal Footpaths 52

Best Joke 47

Working long hours... 46

Why are you farmers such moaners???? 40

FWi ‘Talking Point’ forum posts, Jan-April 07

Ways of tackling Supermarket power. 39

Favourite farming smells 39

NFU Reform 34

Supermarket abuse of power 32

pleasing to the eye 29

2006 Single Farm Payment 26

Wind farm noise 22

Land Rovers 21

Renting land to farm in saskatchewan 21

TIME FOR CHANGE AND A BRAVE LEADER 20

Milk 19

HLS, ELS, OELS: Got a query? 19

Countryside Rights of Way Act forum

The CRoW Act 2000* - What's your opinion?

… I'm a mature final year student and my dissertation is on the CRoW Act so any response is gratefully appreciated (as long as it's clean ) and will help with my research. Thank you for reading and hopefully responding.

*Countryside Right of Way Act, allowing people access to farmed land for walking.

Countryside Rights of Way Act forum

Re: The CRoW Act 2000 - What's your opinion?don20/03/2007 08:20

…. THERE  ARE  PLENTY OF  CHURCH-GOING  ROGUES  WHO PRETEND .....REPEAT  PRETEND.....TO  BE  UPSTANDING   HONEST  MEMBERS  OF  THE  COMMUNITY!!!

WHAT A LAUGH!!!AS I SAID........CHECK OUT SOME OF THE DECISION MAKERS  AND CHECK OUT

SOME OF THE DECISIONS !!!WILL  THE  RAMBLERS  BULLY  THEIR  WAY  ALONG  THE  COAST  OF PRINCE

CHARLES'S TINTAGEL  IN THE DUCHY HE NEVER BOUGHT???? LIKE HELL!!!WILL THEY BULLY THEIR WAY THROUGH LADY CHARLOTTE  TOWNSHEND'S

COASTAL LAND AT ABBOTTSBURY , DORSET ???? LIKE HELL!!!LAW????  WHAT A FARCE!!!! SOME PEOPLE ARE ABOVE THE LAW!!HOW CAN YOU HAVE EQUITABLE LAW IN A COUNTRY WHICH ALLOWS  JUDGES 

AND BARRISTERS  TO  BE  FREEMASONS??? THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY ARE BEING JUDGED BY MEMBERS OF A SECRET SOCIETY WHO HOLD GREAT POWER!!!

WHY DO YOU THINK CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE NOT BEING "TRODDEN" ON???

Countryside Rights of Way Act forum

• Re: The CRoW Act 2000 - What's your opinion?moaningfarmerpalmer22/03/2007 08:23

• Don; I am not even going to try and respond to your rant. You appear to be so far off the mark with your views and opinions it is untrue…..

Countryside Rights of Way Act forum

• Re: The CRoW Act 2000 - What's your opinion? Zippidee21/03/2007 00:35

• 12.30 am , just lambed a big single with both feet back , its blinking freezing !...would'nt swap it for the world..well..nearly! and you wonder why we get annoyed when those without any knowledge of what goes on the countryside get annoyed when dogs are let loose amongst flocks and gates are left open ….

Countryside Rights of Way Act forum

• Re: The CRoW Act 2000 - What's your opinion?Zippidee21/03/2007 01:37

• Me again , obviously still up with these sheep , now waiting for the one that had the harness on because she prolapsed 2 weeks ago has started lambing. Have taken the harness off and she has now decided that maybe taking all night could be good idea , probably to get me back for putting the harness on in the first place. Popped into house for a hot drink , Horlicks....mmm , not the kind you make with milk as that would take too long but the one that you just add water to as it is quicker and at 1 in the morning who can be bothered to boil milk. Had a couple of Ryvita with strawberry jam on to go with it as you can eat too much during the night if you aint careful and when it comes to breakfast time your appetite is shot to heck.Having said that the biscut barrel called out and the digestives took a hammering as well although I did manage to push the choclate hob nobs to the side...willpower eh! Here's a ……..

British Farming Forum http://farmingforum.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=52118

E-governance

Governance

‘Governance’ is concerned with the distribution and exercise of power as a whole – not just that vested in the state.

Involves not just central and local government, but also non-government agencies, community groups, interest and pressure groups, charities, business groupings, direct activists, and so on.

An overview of e-governance framework

(Afraa Sallowm, based on Okot-Uma 2001; Odendaal 2003; Millard 2003)

e-democracy

For example

Expressing opinion

Pressurising politicians and officials

Canvassing for conventional elections

Formal voting – elections, referendums

E-petitioning, e-panels, issues forums, politicians’ websites, blogs…

Organisation of protest by activists

Democracy – essential characteristics (Coleman and Blumler 2009)

Regular, free and fair elections, involving competition between more than one party;

The rule of law, under which all citizens are subject to a common jurisdiction;

Freedom to speak, assemble and publish, and for opposition to the government of the day to organise without fear of intimidation;

Government accountability to the public and responsiveness to public concerns;

The existence of a civil society sector which is free from control by either the state or the market.

Arguments against ‘democratic deliberation’ (Coleman and Blumler 2009)

Impossibility of vast, dispersed groups being able to participate in collective conversation.

The general public does not have the intellectual capacity to cope with complex issues and sophisticated argument.

Arriving at ‘rationally calculated’ outcomes from collective discussion too difficult.

‘Deliberative democracy’ favours the powerful and articulate.

Kleptocracy Fighters

Kleptocracy: government that uses corruption to facilitate official's power and wealth

Secretary Clinton congratulates K Fighters for Anti-Corruption App

http://www.kfighters.com/ 24 Oct 2010

Twitter-power

Wired (UK) December 2009

Syria 'bans iPhones' over protest footage

Many of the images showing anti-government protests in Syria have come from amateur footage posted on the internet.

The order also apparently prohibits the import of iPhones.

BBC News 2/12/11 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16009975

UK Parliamentary consultations

Case study: top-down e-democracy

UK Parliamentary consultations (Coleman and Blumler 2009)

Gather informed evidence from the public

Learn from citizens who might not otherwise be heard;

Enable participants to interact;

Uncover un-anticipated consequences of policy proposals;

Allow policy-makers to participate in discussion

Derive a fair, independent summary of views as evidence to Parliament.

Sample consultation topics

Domestic violence

Family taxation and benefits

Stem cell research

Constitutional reform

Hate crimes

Treatment of diabetes

Agricultural , rural and environmental policy

Etc...

Conclusions (Coleman and Blumler 2009)

Created a more inclusive environment for discussion;

Needed active promotion and encouragement

Generated and connected networks of interest or practice

High level of interactivity – ‘civilised and productive debates’

Valuable evidence to refine policy proposals.

Reactions

‘there is a potential conflict between a dialogue that involves a massive amount of views, information and data... and having that put over and recognised in a way that allows a decision to be made.’ (consultee)

(Coleman and Blumler 2009)

Reactions

‘... both sides have got themselves into a rut. The politicians... “I’ve been elected this way, I don’t see why I should change”... the activists... “well I’m an activist... you just take what I say and do it”

You’ve got to actually appreciate what the other side wants to do and achieve, and work with it.’ [participant in civic engagement scheme]

(Coleman and Blumler 2009)

MumsnetCase Study: bottom-up

democracy

Mumsnet

UK community and campaigning website founded in 2000.

The site has hosted webchats with celebrities and politicians, including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose apparent failure to reveal his favourite biscuit was cited in some quarters as evidence of indecisiveness.

[Mumsnet] later explained that he had not actually been asked the question.

Mumsnet

In November 2009 newspaper articles spoke of the forthcoming UK general election as "the Mumsnet election”

Mothers were regarded by politicians as key floating voters and online forums were seen as arenas in which their votes could be courted.

Several leading politicians appeared on the website's webchats, and this was widely reported.

The site faced a barrage of publicity, not all of it favourable.

Wikipedia

Mumsnet ‘lads mags’ campaign

Democratic weaknesses of bottom-up e-democracy

Disconnection – ‘power continues to reside in government agencies, elected legislatures and transnational, intergovernmental bodies.’

‘elusive and ephemeral’ online civic and political networks.

‘autonomous creativity’ of guerrilla activism – can be effective but often ‘destructive and nihilistic’.

(Coleman and Blumler 2009)

A big question

Is e-democracy any more effective or fair than traditional representative democracy?

Could it be less fair?

Does our view depend on whether we are on the winning side...?

ICT and its role in rural development

Martyn Warren

mwarren@plymouth.ac.uk

www.martynwarren.co.uk