Introduction by guest editors: e-commerce strategies for the future.(Brief Article)

We present in this issue, five additional articles that were accepted from the Call for Papers in the Fall of 2000 for a special issue of the Journal of Business Strategies on ecommerce and e-marketing strategies. The papers in this special issue collectively focus on e-business strategies for both "brick-and-mortar" and "pure-play" firms to be successful in today's global environment.

The first paper, "Alternative Measures of Performance for e-Companies: A Comparison of Approaches," by Esmeralda Garbi compares and contrasts traditional measures (e.g., accounting and profitability ratios) and e-commerce specific measures (e.g., web presence growth) of performance. Utilizing secondary data from a sample of thirty pure-plays and thirty brick-and-mortar companies within the same industries, the author concludes that multiple indicators are necessary to measure variability and no single measure is a good predictor of future success.

The second paper, "Service Quality Offering Strategies: From Internet Purchasers' and Information Searchers' Perspective," by Zhilin Yang and Minjoon Jun focuses on two groups of e-commerce customers: Internet purchasers and information searchers. The author identified six service quality dimensions for Internet purchasers and seven service quality dimensions for Internet purchasers. The reliability/responsiveness dimension was found to be most important for Internet purchasers and the security/trust dimension was found to be most important for information searchers.

The third paper, "Digital Knowledge Network: Linking Communities of Practice with Innovation," by Patrice Braun proposes a conceptual model that suggests that cooperation, collaboration, and connectivity among SMEs is necessary in today's digital economy. Business models in the future need to include relationship management strategies (e.g., the exchange of knowledge and trust among business partners).

The fourth paper, "A Longitudinal Price Comparison for Music CDs in Electronic and Brick-and-Mortar Markets: Pricing Strategies in Emergent Electronic Commerce," by Zoonky Lee and Sanjay Gosain compare price, price dispersion, and price dynamics of music CDs between pure-plays and brick-and-mortar firms. The authors found that pricing strategies vary across the retail format and that information technology can play an active role in strategy development.

The fifth paper, "E-tailing: An Analysis of Web Impacts on the Retail Market," by Fang Wang, Milena Head and Norm Archer recommends that firms, which develop e-business strategies, evaluate the Web from two perspectives: as a marketing tool to be integrated into existing business strategies or as a new marketplace that requires new business models and strategies. The authors maintain that making this distinction aids the development, implementation, and evaluation of an effective strategy.

The papers in this special issue recommend strategies that can be used by pure-plays and brick-and-mortar firms, large and small firms, and global and domestic firms. Their focus on strategy is important since strategic planning is key to successfully competing in today's digital environment.

In conclusion, the special issue editors would once again like to thank each of the reviewers (listed on the following page) for their comments and suggestions. Given the importance of this topic, as demonstrated by the large number of submissions we received, we are very grateful to the journal editor, Dr. Jo Ann Duffy, for her willingness to publish a second special issue.

Douglas M. Kline (Ph.D., Kent State University) is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC. Dr. Kline teaches courses in the areas of Electronic Commerce Implementation and Relational Database Management. He has published over 20 articles at various journals and international proceedings. He has worked as System Architect and Project Manager, constructing a multi-million dollar system with an international IS consulting firm. His current research areas include Artificial Neural Networks, Electronic Commerce, and Intelligent Systems for Text Processing.

Sanjay S. Mehta (Ph.D., University of North Texas) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX. Dr. Mehta is an award winning researcher and educator with 13 years of academic experience. Dr. Mehta has been a guest lecturer at several institutes in Asia, Australia, and N. America. He has presented and/or published over 100 articles in both trade and academic journals, national and international conferences. Dr. Mehta's current research interests include e-commerce, Geographic Information Systems, and Marketing Strategies.

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