The Internet and e-business has had enormous impact on many companies in Nigeria and there has been much research on how e-business influences the environment, but little can be found on how the environment of a developing country like Nigeria influences e-business. In e-business, technology tells the business what can be done in smarter ways. Technology not only can make business more efficient but also can make business more effective in targeting and reaching markets, however technology cannot enhance business in isolation as there are other vital factors that equally impact business. This thesis presents an adapted version of the PESTEL (Political, Economic, Socio cultural, Technology, Environment, and Legal) framework so called e-business PESTEL framework, as a method for structural analysis of macro environment forces in the future. In addition to this PESTEL framework, the Porter’s five forces model was employed to analyse the industrial forces that also influence MTNN e-business strategy. The main goal of this research is to give an overview of industry and macro-environment forces influencing the e-business strategy MTN-Nigeria and the impact of future developments. The research methodology was explorative and descriptive. A further method for future analysis of the macro-environments influences and a suggestion on how to incorporate it in this research work is given. The e-business strategy of MTNN consists of four areas: E-procurement, E-collaboration (CRM), Supply chain management and E-commerce. The influences found on macro-environments level are political and sociocultural forces and in the industry levels are bargaining power of customers and suppliers of its products and services .The most recommendations are that MTN-Nigeria should add e-business PESTEL framework described in this thesis to its e-business strategy check. Furthermore MTNN should include environment analysis more extensively in their e-business strategy approach as the factors in this research work shape the environment in which it carries out its business. / toks_philip@yahoo.com,adac06@student.bth.se,++447976105543

El presente proyecto se enfoca en las compañías responsables de interconectar diferentes organizaciones buscando facilitar la ejecución de transacciones financieras y de datos. Para ello, se ha tomado como objeto de estudio la compañía Visanet, adquirente de la marca Visa en el Perú, responsable de brindar un servicio transaccional que permita la aceptación de tarjetas Visa como medios de pago en diferentes puntos. Bajo este enfoque, la propuesta de este proyecto consiste en el desarrollo de una plataforma que le permita a Visanet centralizar las transacciones generadas desde los diferentes canales ofrecidos a sus clientes, además de facilitar la implementación de nuevos canales y productos. Esta plataforma estará implementada en la nube, aprovechando todas las ventajas y opciones que ofrece la misma, y será accesible desde dispositivos móviles. Para validar esta propuesta, se ha desarrollado un modelo de negocio basado en la metodología Lean Startup. Esta propuesta de modelo de negocio se plasmó en un Lean Canvas, el cual permite tener una visibilidad del negocio enfocado en el producto y en el mercado. Además, se construyó una versión básica del producto o MVP (producto mínimamente viable) a fin que pueda servir para que el dueño del producto valide la hipótesis y viabilidad de la plataforma. Para el desarrollo del proyecto, se aplicó el marco de trabajo ágil Scrum y algunas prácticas de Programación Extrema, las cuales en su conjunto permitieron afrontar los rápidos cambios de requerimientos que se presentaron durante el ciclo de vida del software. Considerando el marco de trabajo y las prácticas indicadas, se desarrollaron las iteraciones o sprints, documentando por cada uno de ellos respecto a las actividades realizadas, a los criterios de evaluación empleados para su aceptación, entre otros aspectos. / Tesis

The 21st century is an age of conducting business electronically. The benefits of dealing electronically with customers, suppliers, government and others is a fact that will continue the push towards further use of digital technology. This research work aims to address the following research question. How can a small to medium size enterprise (SME)etransform to be competitive in a globalised, rapidly changing, digital world? There are two components to this question; firstly the nature of competitiveness in a globalised environment, and secondly, the issue of how an orgaisation can etransform.The background material investigated at the initiation of this work can be broadly categorised into two types (1)theoretical possibilities; proposing 'potential' uses of internet technologies and (2)case studies reporting on existing ebusinesses. A detailed literature review of eBusiness was conducted to discover what made these organisations different from a traditional business. The next phase in this research work involved development of the eTransformation Roadmap, a tool that served two purposes. Firstly, to measure the current Information Technology sophistication of a business. Secondly, to show the steps that an organisation can take to become an eBusiness. The Roadmap was also used to analyse data collected from a survey of Western Sydney businesses. Overall, this research has provided a holistic view of how an organisation can transform itself to compete in a rapidly changing, digital world. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis investigated trust over the Internet to seek a better understanding of trust and ways to increase trust in online transactions. The focus of this investigation was consumer-to-consumer transactions at online auctions where key actors were virtually anonymous to each other. The perceptions of a broad range of online auction community members support this thesis. Normative and grounded theoretical perspectives of trust and factors that affected trust were considered, compared and contrasted as part of this research. Concept mapping and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) were used to underpin the grounded theoretical perspective of trust developed as part of this thesis. Online auction cases were selected and analysed to check the grounded theoretical perspective of trust developed. This thesis provided a better understanding of trust, provided new insights into trust and distrust, added to the body of theory for trust and identified ways to increase trust in online transactions. This thesis provided better understandings of: trust; moral obligations; network decision structures; power; fairness; and perceived behavioural controls at online auctions. A grounded theoretical model of trust based in TPB was developed that was specific to online auctions. This model of trust developed appeared to provide clearer and richer insights into online auction trust. The model of trust developed identified factors and constructs that affected trust rather than the magnitude of any affects. The model developed and findings of this thesis can be applied to new or specific online auction sites to help practitioners build better online environments to encourage more people to transact rather than just browse online. The grounded theoretical perspective of trust and findings of this thesis may be relevant to other online consumer-to-consumer transactional environments.

This thesis investigated trust over the Internet to seek a better understanding of trust and ways to increase trust in online transactions. The focus of this investigation was consumer-to-consumer transactions at online auctions where key actors were virtually anonymous to each other. The perceptions of a broad range of online auction community members support this thesis. Normative and grounded theoretical perspectives of trust and factors that affected trust were considered, compared and contrasted as part of this research. Concept mapping and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) were used to underpin the grounded theoretical perspective of trust developed as part of this thesis. Online auction cases were selected and analysed to check the grounded theoretical perspective of trust developed. This thesis provided a better understanding of trust, provided new insights into trust and distrust, added to the body of theory for trust and identified ways to increase trust in online transactions. This thesis provided better understandings of: trust; moral obligations; network decision structures; power; fairness; and perceived behavioural controls at online auctions. A grounded theoretical model of trust based in TPB was developed that was specific to online auctions. This model of trust developed appeared to provide clearer and richer insights into online auction trust. The model of trust developed identified factors and constructs that affected trust rather than the magnitude of any affects. The model developed and findings of this thesis can be applied to new or specific online auction sites to help practitioners build better online environments to encourage more people to transact rather than just browse online. The grounded theoretical perspective of trust and findings of this thesis may be relevant to other online consumer-to-consumer transactional environments.

Ziel des Projekts Green eBusiness ist es, auf der einen Seite bestehende Hemmnisse für umweltfreundliche Beschaffung in Unternehmen zu ergründen und auf der anderen Seite daraus Anforderungen an eBusiness Konzeptionen abzuleiten, die diese erfüllen müssen, um solche Hemmnisse abzubauen bzw. deren Entstehung zu vermeiden. Daher wird ein Modell zur Identifikation und Bewertung bestehender Hemmnisse im Beschaffungsprozess von Unternehmen entwickelt, das die Gründe der bisherigen Marktdurchdringung umweltfreundlicher Produkte und Dienstleistungen erklären soll. Hierzu wird die im Rahmen des abgeschlossenen EU-Projektes RELIEF - Environmental relief potential of urban action on avoidance and detoxification of waste streams through green public procurement entwickelte Hemmnisanalyse angewendet, um in den 500 größten deutschen Unternehmen Hemmnisse für umweltfreundliche Beschaffung zu identifizieren und zu bewerten. Ein zweiter Teil der empirischen Studie befasst sich mit der Nutzung elektronischer Medien zur Unterstützung von Beschaffungsprozessen. In diesem Bereich werden Anwendungsgewohnheiten, Anwendungshäufigkeiten sowie eventuell in den Unternehmen existierende Hemmnisse untersucht. Aufbauend auf den Ergebnissen dieser Hemmnisanalyse sollen auf Basis von Szenarien eBusiness-Konzeptionen (weiter-)entwickelt werden, die geeignet sind, die identifizierten Hemmnisse zu überwinden.

Ziel des Projekts Green eBusiness ist es, auf der einen Seite bestehende Hemmnisse für umweltfreundliche Beschaffung in Unternehmen zu ergründen und auf der anderen Seite daraus Anforderungen an eBusiness Konzeptionen abzuleiten, die diese erfüllen müssen, um solche Hemmnisse abzubauen bzw. deren Entstehung zu vermeiden. Daher wird ein Modell zur Identifikation und Bewertung bestehender Hemmnisse im Beschaffungsprozess von Unternehmen entwickelt, das die Gründe der bisherigen Marktdurchdringung umweltfreundlicher Produkte und Dienstleistungen erklären soll. Hierzu wird die im Rahmen des abgeschlossenen EU-Projektes RELIEF - Environmental relief potential of urban action on avoidance and detoxification of waste streams through green public procurement entwickelte Hemmnisanalyse angewendet, um in den 500 größten deutschen Unternehmen Hemmnisse für umweltfreundliche Beschaffung zu identifizieren und zu bewerten. Ein zweiter Teil der empirischen Studie befasst sich mit der Nutzung elektronischer Medien zur Unterstützung von Beschaffungsprozessen. In diesem Bereich werden Anwendungsgewohnheiten, Anwendungshäufigkeiten sowie eventuell in den Unternehmen existierende Hemmnisse untersucht. Aufbauend auf den Ergebnissen dieser Hemmnisanalyse sollen auf Basis von Szenarien eBusiness-Konzeptionen (weiter-)entwickelt werden, die geeignet sind, die identifizierten Hemmnisse zu überwinden.

METU-Online, a distance education tool developed and maintained by Middle East Technical University (METU) Informatics Institute, can be defined as Customer-to-Business-to-Customer (C2B2C) e-business. In this thesis, a new design and improvement of this system based on Customer Relationships Management (CRM) is presented. With this approach a CRM system is designed, an organizational change is recommended, customercentered business processes are improved to a certain extend, a CRM data warehouse is broadly defined and a basic reporting system is designed. The result of a system analysis of METU-Online, methods used in this analysis, and the CRM model and the recommended design are presented.

The purpose of this research is to explore the business strategies of a firm seeking to develop and profitably market a mobile smartphone application to understand how small, digital entrepreneurships may build sustainable business models given substantial market barriers. Through a detailed examination of one firm’s process to try to commercialize their mobile app, we identify various business model decisions and marketing strategy approaches that hindered the company’s efforts. The case study describes two distinctly different business models adopted in succession, as well as the various adjustments the firm makes to its target market, distribution and pricing approach that led to their current strategy. This research looks closely at business-to-business-to-consumer distribution arrangement for mobile apps and in doing so challenges the rising positive bias that exists for the app store as the dominant actor in the mobile value chain. For practice, this paper suggests unanticipated hurdles small digital entrepreneurs may face if they rely heavily on mobile advertising and the app store to launch and sustain their business.

The leading effort for creating a standard semantic basis for business documents to solve the electronic business document interoperability problem came from the UN/CEFACT (United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS) through a conceptual document modeling methodology. Currently, the main challenge in using UN/CEFACT CCTS based approaches is that the document artifacts are stored in spreadsheets and this makes it very difficult to discover the previously defined components and to check their consistency. Furthermore, businesses need to customize standard documents according to their specific needs. The first XML implementation of UN/CEFACT CCTS, namely, Universal Business Language (UBL) provides detailed text-based descriptions of customization mechanisms. However, without automated tool support, it is difficult to apply the customization and to maintain the consistency of the customizations. In this thesis, these problems are addressed by providing an online e-business document design and customization environment, i.e. iSURF eDoCreator, which integrates the machine processable versions of paper-based UN/CEFACT CCTTS modeling methodology and UBL customization guidelines, accompanied with an online common UN/CEFACT CCTS based document component repository. In this way, iSURF eDoCreator environment aims to maximize re-use of available document building blocks and minimize the tedious document design and customization efforts. The environment also performs the gap analysis between different customizations of UBL to show how interoperable is the compared document models. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community&#039 / s FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n&deg / 213031, the iSURF Project.