E-commerce information systems (ECIS) success: a South African study

Abstract

As a phenomenon of the 1990s, e-Commerce is relatively new. Its advent offered the promise of new opportunities to businesses and entrepreneurs around the world. The hyperbole associated with the Internet and the Web resulted in a mindset that e-Commerce was an easy road to success. It was believed that this new technology-based approach would revolutionise business in a number of ways, including changing the relationships between thestakeholders and allowing small organisations to play on the global stage. However, the road to business enhancement through e-Commerce has not been easy. Many organisations have not survived their attempts to engage. in e-Commerce and others have radically changed their approach since the e- . Bubble burst. There were many reasons for the failure of these e-Commerce initiatives. They included poor business ideas, no control of expenditure, lack of general business experience and immaturity, as well as little understanding of the crucial importance of managing the technology through which the Internet and the Web delivers e-Commerce opportunities. This thesis explores the intricacies of IS within the Sduth African B2C eCommerce environment and argues that without a coherent understanding of the factors affecting IS success, the implementation of traditional IS evaluation mechanisms may be problematic. A comparative analysis of studies in this field between the pre- and post- e-Commerce eras, ascertained a paucity of theoretical frameworks and a fragmented body of knowledge in the extant literature, with a narrow focus on web-interface issues.