Abstract:
There is a high level of interest and debate among academics and the business community
regarding the future of electronic business. In recent times there has been considerable
disillusionment with the losses and negative returns associated with many e-business investments.
However, the move towards e-business enablement seems inevitable for reasons of
efficiency and effectiveness. Developments in e-business should be of considerable interest to
marketing strategists, as they impact on business networks and affect the nature of relationships
between organisations and between an organisation and its customers.
Business and marketing strategists would benefit from a better understanding of the
incentives and inhibitors accruing at each stage of the evolutionary path to an e-business
enabled future. Based on recent research, this paper proposes the use of two frameworks that
may be used to stimulate management discussion, aid management decision-making and plan
progressive moves into e-business.
