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Mobile business and services are playing an increasingly significant role in economic activity. Developments in the mobile infrastructure and device technologies have opened up all the services and potential that was available in a wired world to the mobile arena providing ubiquity of services regardless of location (Raina & Harsh, 2002; Barnes, 2003; Su & Adams, 2008). Mobile technologies are transforming the social and economic climate providing instant access to information and services (Rheingold, 2002). There are huge opportunities to develop mobile commerce (Urbaczewski et al., 2003; Hoegler, 2008).
Mobile/cell phones, PDAs, smart phones, Blackberrys, netbooks and laptops, are an integral part of working and social practice for a growing and significant numbers of people around the world (e.g., Anckar & D’Incau, 2002; Barnes, 2003; Damsgaard & Gao, 2004; Fitch & Adams, 2006; Raz, 2008). The evolving mobile arena is ubiquitous where for many people mobile technologies have become a necessity rather than a luxury (Skelton, 2003). In addition to providing all the services of the wired electronic world to a mobile platform, mobile business and services are evolving new services and functionality not previously available (e.g., Junglas & Watson, 2008; Ishii, 2004; Anckar & D’Incau, 2002). Perhaps one of the biggest potentials for mobile business and services is the evolving capabilities of mobile sensor technologies (Sohraby et al., 2007) opening up new business opportunities from transport to healthcare. These offer huge potential in enhancing value chains (e.g., increasing production quality, monitoring of distribution and delivery, more efficient use of resources) and providing new commodities and services (e.g., location support, context aware services, interactive multimedia entertainment, personal and personalised health support) (Sohraby, 2006).
There are clear strategic implications for organisations embracing mobile technologies: “mobile(m-) business is likely to have a tremendous impact on organisations, as wireless technologies and applications begin to challenge the existing processes, strategies, structures, roles of individuals, and even cultures of organizations” (Barnes, 2003, p. 2). Mobile working is changing working practices, internal operations, and management of resources along with customer interaction and provision of services.
Convergence from different industries such as telecommunications, computing, multimedia and many business sectors has been fuelling much of the change and innovation in the mobile arena. It is a fiercely competitive arena as innovations are emanating from multiple directions where different companies, consortiums and business sectors try to develop better and more lucrative services for customers (Adams & Fitch, 2005; Lord, 2004). Within such a climate “new methods, tools and ways of thinking must be developed and refined to take advantage of mobility and its potential” (Urbaczewski et al., 2003, p. 32).