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Electronic commerce

Electronic commerce has been growing, and the ease of accessibility of the Web as a medium and its interactive nature has led to a recent surge in the number of sites conducting electronic business. As a result there are many benefits, among them being; less paperwork, efficiency due to integrated purchasing and ordering systems, reduction in administrative tasks, quicker access to information, low cost/high payback alternative to traditional sales models, immediate and international sales presence, providing services 24 hours a day and email vs. telephone or fax issues.

Confidence in the benefits of Web e-commerce has increased that in early 1999 the projected e-commerce revenues for e-business was billions of dollars, and stocks of companies which could make a name in e-commerce rocketed, (Ian, 1999). However, Web e-commerce gives rise to a number of issues, not limited to regulation, legislation and encryption. One problem being the payment mechanism: how should consumers pay for their goods, and will the payment transaction be secure? This is a very complex subject that covers standards such as SET and proprietary solutions, such as Microsoft's Merchant Server.

At this level it is important to know that credit cards are the most popular method of payment, with credit card numbers being transferred over a secure Web connection. A new study by Booz Allen Hamilton (2002) identifies the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada as the nations with the best environments for e-commerce, combining an up-to-date communications infrastructure with strong political leadership. A nation's "Environment" for e-commerce comprises the level of innovation, capability, a national population's IT skills, the cost and availability of access to the internet as well as political leadership and regulatory openness.

The other main elements of the e-economy' framework against which the nations were mapped were readiness, uptake and use and impact of on-line technology among three key groups: citizens, business and the government. According to the study sustained policy initiatives and intrinsic environmental factors are keys to success. Certain areas of challenge for the UK government were also identified; including government's uptake of on-line technology, uptake among citizens, and the development of world-class communications infrastructure Find Out More

Communication evolution between manufacturers and their supply chain has developed significantly with the increasing utilization of electronic forms. Ever since the invention of the fax and phone, every organization in the motor industry has benefited from new communication technologies to speed the transfer of information between companies. Now, specifications, drawings, orders and invoices can speed between companies in minutes over the phone lines rather than spend days or even weeks being posted around the world.