Electronic Commerce: The Strategic Perspective

Study overview of the reviewed opening

The preface defines electronic commerce broadly as using technology to communicate or transact with stakeholders. Its central concern is how organisations change when that communication becomes part of business strategy. Marketing decisions, rather than a catalogue of software tools, provide the main focus.

The authors describe refining their ideas through research, teaching and work with organisations. Their intended readers include practitioners and advanced business students. The electronic-edition note is important: the book became openly available after the print edition ended, and some examples were removed without rewriting the entire work.

The checked outline connects technology and Web strategy with promotion, distribution, service, pricing and social questions. This presents electronic commerce as an organisational issue rather than a separate technical department. The guide summarises the preface and opening of the outline, not a current recommendation for running an online business. Historical examples and claims about technology should be compared with the edition’s date and the reader’s present context.

Book contents

1. An Introduction
2. Electronic commerce technology
3. Web strategy: Attracting and retaining visitors
4. Promotion: Integrated Web communications
5. Promotion and purchase: Measuring effectiveness
6. Distribution
7. Service
8. Pricing
9. Post-Modernism and the Web: Societal effects

Questions for study

The following prompts are Academic Master’s editorial material.

• Why treat stakeholder communication as a strategic issue?
• What differs between a technical feature and its organisational effect?
• Why does an electronic reissue not necessarily represent a complete update?

Sources and coverage

Preface read in full (PDF pages 6–7); opening of Book Outline reviewed and complete contents checked.

Source edition · Source licence