Preface Section I: E-customer Relationship Management, Consists of Six Chapters. Chapter I, " Managing the Customer Relationship: a Framework for E-crm Analysis, "

In the early 1990s, e-business heralded what is being called the Internet-driven "new economy." It revolutionized the process of buying, selling, and exchanging products and services, and spawned a host of business and technology innovations. As globalization and e-business pose new opportunities and challenges, firms face increased pressures from stakeholders to create e-business values. Firms are constantly experimenting with new business models to provide the most value-added, innovative, convenient services for their customers. They also attempt to find which e-business applications will contribute effectively to their sustainability and growth. In the early 2000s, the development of wireless technologies and mobile computing extended the reach of e-business to mobile business environments. Virtual communities became prominent business model structured around user interests and needs. Recently , the impact of Web 2.0 on the Web users and the society is noteworthy. Many new technologies are emerging under the Web 2.0 umbrella including really simple syndication (RSS), Wikis, Weblogs, Web personalization, photo sharing (Flickr, Zooomr), social networking applications, AJAX and API programming, streaming media, podcasting and MP3 files, and social bookmarking. According to O'Reilly and Battelle, Web 2.0 is the architecture of participation where users can contribute to Web site content, creating network effects. This architecture is based on social software with which users generate content, and on the programming interfaces that allow developers to add to a Web service or access data. As e-business technologies advance, an in-depth understanding of e-business models, applications, strategies, and consumer behavior, proves to be more valuable than ever before for the successful e-business development and management. In light of the current lack of comprehensive studies in e-business planning and management, an overarching framework development is in urgent need to assist e-business managers in assessing enabling technologies and the success factors when developing e-business plans. " provides researchers, professionals, and educators with the newest research on e-business trends, strategies, applications, and practices. Forty-two renowned researchers from nine countries have conferred their expertise to this publication. The book consists of 19 chapters and is divided into four segments: Section I discusses various electronic consumer relationship management frameworks and applications; Section II addresses e-business models and strategies; Section III explores various e-business management practices and issues; and Section IV investigates online consumer behavior.sity of Alberta (Canada), examines how–by using an analytical framework–a healthcare provider can develop competitive advantage through implementing e-CRM systems that create perceived customer