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E-commerce application utilisation by South African SMME’s
Author(s)
Fitzgerald, Kyle Andrew
Date Issued
2005
Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Abstract
The Internet was functioning on Internet protocol (IP) and transmission control
protocol (TCP) in the 1970s and soon afterwards electronic mail (email) was
invented allowing messages to be sent from one person to another using packet
switch services (PSS). However email did not form an information space for
information to permanently exist. The World Wide Web (Web) arrived in the late
1980s, riding on top of the Internet providing a global and persistent information
space available to everyone.
This information space has assisted in small business facing dramatic change,
often referred to as the 'e-commerce evolution'. Compared to the industrial
revolution with the advent of the railways and electricity the magnitude of ecommerce
is no less. Advances in the information technology (or e-comrnerce
elements) and the use of Information systems (or applications) are the main
drivers behind this e-commerce evolution.
Some authors believe all businesses will be equal in the utilisation of e-commerce
eroding any competitive advantage the one may have over the other. The 'digital
economy' is now available with the explosive popularity of the Internet and the
Web as seminal applications of e-commerce.
In South Africa the maturity level of e-commerce adoption has increased from
skepticism to positivism since the world wide availability of the Internet. Although
e-commerce has generated a profusion of articles in South Africa, there has been
a lack of research into the effects and benefits of e-commerce utilisation by small
business. Various elements of e-commerce are explored highlighting the suitability
of use towards a small business. This stUdy will explain the fundamentals that
small business owners will need to understand to enable them to knowledgably
participate in the global phenomenon of e-commerce. Authors nationally and
internationally have explored the applications of e-commerce for example email
and electronic data interchange (EDI).
protocol (TCP) in the 1970s and soon afterwards electronic mail (email) was
invented allowing messages to be sent from one person to another using packet
switch services (PSS). However email did not form an information space for
information to permanently exist. The World Wide Web (Web) arrived in the late
1980s, riding on top of the Internet providing a global and persistent information
space available to everyone.
This information space has assisted in small business facing dramatic change,
often referred to as the 'e-commerce evolution'. Compared to the industrial
revolution with the advent of the railways and electricity the magnitude of ecommerce
is no less. Advances in the information technology (or e-comrnerce
elements) and the use of Information systems (or applications) are the main
drivers behind this e-commerce evolution.
Some authors believe all businesses will be equal in the utilisation of e-commerce
eroding any competitive advantage the one may have over the other. The 'digital
economy' is now available with the explosive popularity of the Internet and the
Web as seminal applications of e-commerce.
In South Africa the maturity level of e-commerce adoption has increased from
skepticism to positivism since the world wide availability of the Internet. Although
e-commerce has generated a profusion of articles in South Africa, there has been
a lack of research into the effects and benefits of e-commerce utilisation by small
business. Various elements of e-commerce are explored highlighting the suitability
of use towards a small business. This stUdy will explain the fundamentals that
small business owners will need to understand to enable them to knowledgably
participate in the global phenomenon of e-commerce. Authors nationally and
internationally have explored the applications of e-commerce for example email
and electronic data interchange (EDI).
Additional information
Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005
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