Final quality of products/services starts with suppliers in the supply chain. Problems can occur if suppliers do not deliver the quantities requested in full, on time, or buyers select suppliers solely on the basis of lowest price. Supplier selection has been studied for large businesses but not for very small (micro) businesses. Therefore, a survey was administered to micro-businesses to deter...

Various systems development life cycles and business development models have been popularized by information systems researchers and practitioners over a number of decades. In the case of systems development life cycles, these have been targeted at software development projects within an organization, typically involving analysis, design, programming, testing, and deployment. For business devel...

Businesses invest in developing information systems resources to gain competitive advantages. Literature has demonstrated the requirement of strategic alignment in converting these competitive advantages into sustained superior business performance. The knowledge of information systems strategic orientation and its relationship with business performance will enable these businesses to fine tune...

The proliferation of e-business, e-services and e-governance in developing countries has resulted in businesses and governments becoming highly dependent on business information and related information technologies. Such information is, however, constantly exposed to real threats that could result in security breaches. If these are realised, the prevailing economic structure of a developing cou...

This paper is part of a series which present elements of our research into technology adoption and usability problems faced by small businesses (SME’s) in Australia. We discuss our approach to research in the small business area, the importance of aggregating small businesses into vertical technology sectors and the usability improvements which can be expected from this collaborative approach. ...

Before Internet consumers make buying decisions, several psychological factors come into effect and reflect individual preferences on products. In this paper, the authors investigate four integrated streams: 1) recognizing the psychological factors that affect Internet consumers, 2) understanding the relationship between businesses’ e-marketing mix and Internet consumers’ psychological factors,...

The recovery of small businesses from a disaster is critical to community recovery. Such businesses can be extremely vulnerable to disasters, particularly because they often occupy a single location and have a localized customer base. Although social media is an effective platform for information dissemination, and has been extensively used in a disaster context, the way in which small business...

Traditional businesses are finding great advantages from the incorporation of e-business capabilities, especially for participation in the global economy, which is inherently open and dynamic. This imposes a requirement that businesses must coordinate with each other if they are to be most efficient and successful. To aid in this coordination and achieve seamless and autonomic interoperation, e...

Cloud computing promises to bring substantial benefits to how organizations conduct their businesses and the way their services reach out to potential consumers. Cloud computing is a welcome initiative for small businesses that cannot afford to invest in ICT infrastructure but need to benefit from the rewards of conducting business online. In developing economies, there are challenges that face...

Supported by technologies of Customer Satisfaction, Information Technology, and Data Mining, etc., CRM aims to enhance the effectiveness and performance of the businesses by improving the customer satisfaction and loyalty. CRM is now becoming a popular management methodology in manufacturing, sales, marketing, and finance. In China, there are a lot of small and medium businesses. For these busi...