E-Commerce Longitudinal Case Study from Ukraine

Abstract

The need to develop a strategy for e-business applications is an important facet of doing business, especially where organizations can provide value-added services to the customer base. In this chapter, we identify key value-added e-business applications and focus on success factors that clearly support small enterprise goals. Performance factors are presented that show the impact of e-business applications on the organization’s bottom line. The case study in this chapter uses a methodology of direct observation, unstructured interviews and document review to gather data for identifying issues in starting a small business using the Internet. The case organization provides services around office and business support, energy consulting, and Web development. The formation of International Business Solutions has been difficult due to the banking system, work culture, and infrastructure of Ukraine. IT issues investigated include telecommunications, energy, hardware, software, and the availability of technical skill sets. E-business issues that were found to be important in this study include: (1) difficulty of the user interface, (2) a lack of a planning process for e-business applications, (3) development and testing concerns, (4) finding the Web site and a lack of branding, and (5) the lack of evidence to support a formal budgeting process.