Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce
Vol. 13 No. 2 August 2008
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/current.asp

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From JIBC Publisher Nahum Goldmann
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/0808-Publ_PDFVersion.pdf
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Banking/Technology Concentration

There is a plenty of evidence, coming from the North America, Europe,
South-East Asia, and other world regions, that ownership concentration
in the banking industry also leads to the drastic erosion in the
number of vendors that develop, sell and support specialized financial
software. The number of independent banks in the North America,
Caribbean and other parts of the world dwindles, with the very large
banks taking over their small and medium competitors entrenched in
particular localities.

A significant contributing factor to the bank industry's concentration
is the substantial cost of new Internet banking solutions that are
imposed by the legitimate concerns for privacy, security, operation
expenses, outsourcing of support, equipment maintenance, and,
increasingly considerable, reporting and compliance requirements. The
Catch-22 situation is in the fact that small financial institutions
(FIs) need relatively inexpensive and versatile solutions to support
the multitude of the new government requirements; but taking place
parallel rapid concentration in the banking technology industry shifts
its focus to servicing very large banks, where the development money
are. Small and specialized banks, trusts and insurance companies are
being squeezed in the process.

The only viable long-term solution might lie in the proactive
association of small financial institutions across the globe, and
their aggressive use of aggregated procurement power - to jointly
resolve the critical issues of privacy, security, operation costs,
support outsourcing, equipment maintenance and, increasingly
considerable, reporting and compliance. Technically such
moderate-cost/efficient solutions are becoming available with the
introduction of 64-bit computing platforms. However, they typically
require a substantial level of reengineering commitment from the top
banking executives in the exceedingly conservative industry, where
senior managers are typically reactive. Hence, the future of a small
or medium size individual bank or trust depends more on its own course
of action. The radical change in small FI survivability is still
feasible but, unfortunately, less and less probable with the passage
of time and of the new opportunities.

Again, I am asking each and every one of you, our readers and
subscribers, to email JIBC to at least 3 of your colleagues, friends
and discussion groups that you are participating at, and recommend
that they also subscribe. Please share information about JIBC articles
with the Internet community and suggest to us new ways to promote JIBC
among academics and professionals from around the globe.

As well, I am challenging all the current and past authors and editors
to email your own articles - along with the rest of JIBC edition - to
at least 10 of your peers and colleagues in academia, government and
industry. Make sure that they are well aware of your articles and the
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce. Recommend that they also
subscribe to email editions. After all, we send it around just 3-4
times a year.

A special appeal to ecommerce/e-business students to pass a word about
JIBC to your professors and classmates and, more importantly, to ask
them to supply new articles and tell everybody to subscribe.

Please contact us with the suggestion of how to submit information on
JIBC to other leading search engines and academic reference
publications. Also, if you notice publications referring to JIBC
articles, please let us know.

Let's spread the word!

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From JIBC Editor-in-Chief Nikhil Agarwal
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/EditorialNote.pdf
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Oh My God!! These were the expressions of people when they watch twin
tower fall seven years back. I noticed the similar faces few days back
when two giants of the finance industry Lehman Brothers and Merrill
Lynch fall because of financial crisis.

Last editorial I talked about 3F crisis, however, it appears financial
crisis will swallow other two. However, the feds have given lease of
life by providing cash-injection to crumbling markets. Is the federal
intervention considered a step towards nationalizing financial
institutions? Is it considered healthy to monitor the free market
economy? Some academics may say, this is how communism started. Strong
statement uhh!!

Recently, I was invited to Poland to participate in Baltic Innovation
Forum held in the city of Gdansk. The highlight of the forum is to
create near-shore capabilities in IT & ITES for continental Europe. I
found it an interesting development for IT & BPO companies. Eastern
Europe in particular has low cost, native speakers, highly skilled
manpower and efficient infrastructure compared to traditional IT
superpowers like India. Trends have shown that many Indian IT
companies are shifting their base to countries like Hungary, Romania &
Poland. In my opinion, the "new Europe" will see highest growth in
next decade.

In the current issue, Chitura (et al) has done critical review of
literature to study barriers to e-commerce adoption in small and
medium companies. In another important review, Chai Lee Goi
investigated implementation of M-Commerce in Malaysia. Charles Ayo (et
al) in his article discussed a framework for e-commerce implementation
in Nigeria. In this paper author undertook PEST analysis to study the
current practices not only in Nigeria but in other African nations.
Sujana Adapa explores the cultural consideration in adoption of
Internet shopping in India & Australia.

In other article, Murali Raman & his colleagues evaluate consumer
perceptions on quality of e-services and Internet banking adoption in
Malaysia. Jae Won Kim, & Hyung Seok Lee from South Korea undertook a
case of Sahmyook University in Korea to determine the underlying
factors that keep higher educators away from e-teaching, and to
discuss strategic issues associated with the diffusion of e-teaching
in the context of higher education. Yazan from Bradford University has
done an exciting comparison between UK & Jordanian banks on
quantitative evaluation of the Internet banking service encounter
quality.

As always your views are important to us, feel free to write to me
sharing your experience about JIBC.

Nikhil Agarwal

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PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH PAPERS
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AUSTRALIA: Adoption of Internet Shopping: Cultural Consideration in
India and Australia
(By Sujana Adapa)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/Adapa.pdf

The current research paper examines the adoption of Internet shopping
patterns exhibited by Indian women currently residing in India and
Australia emphasizing on the prevailing cultural dimensions. A
conceptual framework has been developed based on the theoretical
background that links intention to shop over Internet and Hofstede's
cultural dimensions to adoption of Internet shopping. In order to test
the stated hypotheses, the proposed relationships between the
variables were empirically verified.

A web-based survey was employed using an online questionnaire as a
research instrument, and respondents were approached by posting the
questionnaire to various newsgroups. The results of the study reveal
that intention of Internet shopping as measured with the perceived
attributes significantly influences the actual adoption of Internet
shopping. With regard to the prevailing cultural dimensions in the
country of origin (India), the results obtained are as expected and
significantly influence the Internet purchases. Where as with regard
to the prevailing cultural dimensions in the country of residence
(Australia), most of the results obtained are as predicted except for
the dimension masculinity versus femininity. The results obtained are
promising for Internet marketers to formulate effective marketing
strategies apart from venture capitalists and e-commerce business
strategies.

MALAYSIA/AUSTRALIA: Information Technology in Malaysia: E-service
Quality and Uptake of Internet Banking
(By Murali Raman, Richard Stephenaus, Nafis Alam, and Mudiarasan
Kuppusamy)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/JIBCArticle_MuraliRaman.pdf

Internet banking is one of the most popular services utilized by the
Malaysian retail banking customers in recent years. Despite its
attractiveness, studies have shown that the quality of e-services is
core a issue that influences adoption of Internet banking services
worldwide. The objective of this study is to evaluate consumer
perceptions on quality of e-services and Internet banking adoption in
Malaysia. Results show that Internet banking users and non-users have
different expectation towards e-service quality preferences. The
implications are discussed and recommendations are made in order to
improve Internet banking service quality in Malaysia.

NIGERIA: A Framework for e-Commerce Implementation: Nigeria Case Study
(By Charles K. Ayo, Adeblyi Ayodele A., Fatudimu Ibukun Tolulope, and
Uyinomen O. Ekong)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/Ayo.pdf

The advent of the Internet has transformed the business environment in
no small measure and has influenced the ways and manner businesses are
transacted. This platform has brought about enhanced electronic and
mobile business transactions. However, the advent of e-Commerce,
m-Commerce or i-Commerce has placed a premium on the participating
organisations or nations in terms of provision of the basic
infrastructure for a secure, seamless and trusted business environment
through the electronic media.

This paper presents an exploratory study of the prospects of
e-Commerce implementation and the factors inhibiting its growth. A set
of questionnaire was designed, administered and analysed based on
political, economic, social and technological (PEST) analysis. The
PEST analysis is to help review the current practices with a view to
developing a framework for Nigeria and other developing nations in
Africa.

Findings revealed that the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) is the most
widely used medium of e-Payment in Nigeria, which is not very suitable
for e-Commerce implementation. Similarly, the Internet penetration is
still abysmally low and is one of the major threats to e-Commerce
implementation. However, the nascent democracy enjoyed in Nigeria is
faced with some teething problems, but it promised with time, relative
political stability, direct foreign investment, improved economical
atmosphere, improved social services and technological development
more than ever witnessed in the country.

Therefore, a viable framework for Nigeria and Africa would be such
that involves the private and public partnership (PPP). This
consortium is expected to provide the platform for access to the
Internet and popularize the use of e-Payment among other things.

SOUTH KOREA: Some Considerations in Diffusing e-Teaching for Higher
Education: A Case of Sahmyook University in Korea
(By Jae Won Kim and Hyung Seok Lee)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/Lee.pdf

Over the past few years, many higher educational institutions have
begun to implement e-learning technologies, initially by blending them
with conventional classroom activities. For an educational change like
this to be truly reformative, as the educational authorities wish,
universities/colleges will need to effectively manage this transition,
as well as provide technical support to all relevant parties.

The purpose of this study was to determine the underlying factors that
keep higher educators away from e-teaching, and to discuss strategic
issues associated with the diffusion of e-teaching in the context of
higher education. One case of a smaller University in Korea was
closely analyzed for this purpose. This study focused on the
provider's side of e-learning as the delivery of course contents via
electronic media, especially the Internet.

UNITED KINGDOM: Quantative Evaluation of the Internet Banking Service
Encounter's Quality: Comparative Study Between Jordan and the UK
Retail Banks
(By Yazan K. A. Migdadi)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/Yazan_1.pdf

The purpose of this study is to identify the differences in the
Internet banking service encounter's quality between clicks-and-mortar
retail banks in Jordan and the different Internet banking models of
the UK retail banks, and between clicks-and-mortar and dot com. retail
banks in the UK, the web sites were evaluated by using the web site
quantitative evaluation method (QEM) that developed by Mateos et al.
(2001) and Miranda et al. (2006), the evaluation of the banks' web
sites was conducted in March 2008 for sixteen clicks-and-mortar retail
banks in Jordan, eleven clicks-and-mortar retail banks in the UK, and
six dot com. retail banks in the UK, the results indicated that; the
Internet banking service encounter quality of the clicks-and-mortar in
Jordan retail banks is very close to the UK banks, further quality of
Internet banking service encounter quality of the clicks-and-banks in
the UK.

UNITED STATES: An Innovative Spreadsheet Authoring Environment
(By Richard J. Petti and Howard I. Cannon)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/Petti.pdf

Spreadsheets are problematic components in enterprise information
systems, due to reliability and other problems. The root problem is
that the greatest strength of spreadsheets - enabling authors to work
with visual layouts of models instead of program code - is a
double-edged sword, especially in more complex applications.

Spreadsheets are simple in the sense that the set of primitive
operations is small; yet they are not simple in the sense of having a
sufficiently rich set of primitives for building complex models. What
is needed in spreadsheet land is a new synthesis of visual layout and
program structures that preserves the virtues of spreadsheets while
introducing the missing structures - time series, dimensions,
variables, data types - in a way that does not render business
analysts dependent on programmers, as BI and ERP systems often do.
This paper compares these design criteria against the new ModelSheet
authoring environment, which is based on a new symbiosis of visual
layout and program structures. ModelSheet retains the key strengths of
spreadsheets - supporting decentralized innovation by domain experts
who may not be programmers - while it improves model reliability,
model expressiveness, team collaboration, and modeler productivity.

ZIMBABWE: Barriers to Electronic Commerce Adoption in Small and Medium
Enterprises: A Critical Literature Review
(By Chitura T., Muphemi S., Dube T., and Bolongkikit J.)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/Chiturat.pdf

This study is attempting to determine if the barriers reported in
early e-commerce researches differ from those found in recent
e-commerce studies as well as exploring if the resultant barrier
groupings created from e-commerce barriers are dissimilar. To achieve
our research's aim, an extensive literature review was conducted based
on what we believe to be representative sample of some of the most
cited pieces of research on this topic. The study concludes that
though the issues inhibiting SMEs in their uptake of e-commerce are
seemingly endless, the reality is that these issues have largely
remained the same since the advent of e-commerce in the early 1990's.
The implication of our study is that researchers should stop
reinventing the list of e-commerce adoption barriers but instead focus
their efforts on how SMEs can overcome these barriers so as to reap
the full benefits of the technology.

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OPINION ARTICLES
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MALAYSIA: Review on the Implementation of Mobile Commerce in Malaysia
(By Chai Lee Goi)
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2008-08/GoiChaiLee_Aug2008.pdf

Malaysia is the second highest mobile penetration in South East Asia
after Singapore. Although M-Commerce still at infancy stage, Malaysia
has already embarked on the adoption of M-Commerce. As the
communications and multimedia industry evolves towards convergence,
licences under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 are
formulated to be both technology and service neutral. This creates
opportunities for expansion into the industry particularly in the area
of applications service providers and provides for a more effective
utilisation of network infrastructure. To help future applications and
technologies handle M-Commerce, Varshney and Vetter (2002) proposed
four levels of M-Commerce framework: M-Commerce applications, user
infrastructure, middleware, and network infrastructure. Mohd and Osman
(2005) have adapting this model into M-Commerce applications in
Malaysia. M-Commerce does have a bright future in Malaysia. To achieve
this objective, mobile users expect an improvement in charges access
fee, network quality, accessibility and speed. Other issues need to be
considered are security and customer customisation. With government
support, M-Commerce in Malaysia has a very promising future and moves
forward in sectors that are clearly going to be the engines of growth
worldwide over the next few years.
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Administrative Notice
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Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce

JIBC is a leading edge publication that informs banking and electronic
commerce professionals and executives on principal developments,
benchmark practices, and future trends in the Internet-based marketing
practices of governments and industry. This free online interactive
journal is a way to keep in touch, to share information, and to
establish business contacts (networking) for worldwide professionals
that specialize in electronic commerce, governance and banking solutions.

In JIBC you will find informed discussion of the latest Internet-based
banking and electronic trends and practices from around the world. Our
priority is quality, not quantity. We want to maintain JIBC as a
service that provides substantial information and an effective forum
for your articles, your letters, your insights and ideas.

JIBC invites banking and electronic commerce professionals,
academicians and publishers to submit important announcements,
original articles, guest columns and significant feature
presentations. We also welcome surveys, book reviews and letters to
the Editor. Technical discussions in highly specialized areas of
expertise will be kept to an absolute minimum.

JIBC is formally issued three to four times a year when an email
summary of current articles is distributed to subscribers. The full
text of current articles is posted on the JIBC Web site at
http://www.ARRAYdev.com/commerce/JIBC/current.asp.

The publication is complemented by the Compendium of Internet Banking
and Commerce Initiatives at:
http://www.arraydev.com/frames/f-guest_comp.htm.
We invite readers to provide brief descriptions of products, books,
and services that they think others will find interesting.

The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce (JIBC) is provided as a
service by ARRAY Development based in Ottawa, Canada. Views expressed
are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by ARRAY
Development. Firms or individuals interested in sharing sponsorship of
this project may contact array (at) ARRAYdev.com.

The JIBC Web Archive
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/articles.htm contains all
articles published to date.

You can reach the Editor-in-Chief Nikhil Agarwal with any questions or
comments by email at:
nikhil.jibc (at) gmail.com

Publisher Nahum Goldmann is at:
Nahum.Goldmann (at) ARRAYdev.com.


=================================
Editorial Board
=================================

Publisher and Member of the Editorial Board: Nahum Goldmann

Editor-in-Chief: Nikhil Agarwal

Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Joshua Fogel

Founding Chief Editor Emeritus and Member of the Editorial Board: Gord
Jenkins

Managing Editor: Xin "Robert" Luo

Mailing List Managing Editor: Anne-Marie Jennings

Contributing Editors
UK Contributing Editor: David G.W.Birch
South America Contributing Editor: Carlo G. P. Bellini
Australia Contributing Editor: Dale Pinto
Japan Contributing Editor: Carin Holroyd
Middle East Contributing Editor: Raed Awamleh
Legal Contributing Editor: Edwin Jacobs
Africa Contributing Editor: Alemayehu Molla
France Contributing Editor: Jean-Michel Sahut
India Contributing Editor: Arun Mohan Sherry
Malaysia Contributing Editor: Bala Shanmugam
Canada Contributing Editor: Arthur J. Cordell


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