Electronic Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (4-Volumes) P74 potx

664 Developing an Online Fleet Management Service 4 Linux is a free Unix-type operating system. Originally created by Linus Torvalds, it is constantly improved with the assistance of developers from around the world. The source code for Linux is freely available to everyone, in contrast to proprietary operat- ing systems like Windows. 5 A script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers. AlertDriving uses it for front end programs. 6 CVS is an open source Version Control Sys- tem. Version control systems are repositories for the source code of computer programs. They allow this source code to be held in a central place with monitored access. Every change made to the source is tracked, along with who made the change, why, and when they made it, as well as references to prob- OHPV¿[HGRUHQKDQFHPHQWVLQWURGXFHGE\ the change. 7 An open source relational database manage- ment system (RDBMS) that uses Structured Query Language (SQL), the most popular language for adding, accessing, and process- ing data in a database. AlertDriving uses it for their back end database. 8 In the industry this is known as burstable bandwidth pricing, which is an alternative to committed bandwidth pricing. 665 Developing an Online Fleet Management Service APPENDIX A. ALERTDRIVING.COM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Retrieved April 23, 2006, from http://www.alertdriving.com/services.php APPENDIX B. TIMMONS MODEL OF ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS OPPORTUNITY RESOURCES TEAM FOUNDERS BUSINESS PLAN Fits & Gaps CREATIVITY LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION Capital market contextUncertainty Ambiguity Timmons & Spinelli, 2004 Exogenous forces The entrepreneurial process is opportunity driven. Understand and marshall resources. Don’t be driven by them. An entrepreneurial team is a critical ingredient for success. • • • 666 Developing an Online Fleet Management Service APPENDIX C. WEB SITE OVERVIEW OF ALERTDRIVING.COM Retrieved April 23, 2006, from http://www.alertdriving.com/about_us.php AlertDriving’s own Web site (www.alertdriving. com) has many areas that are publicly accessible. The following websites may provide helpful ad- ditional information. This list is not exhaustive; there are many more organizations involved in SURYLGLQJÀHHWVHUYLFHVULVNPDQDJHPHQWDQG safety advice. Firms in the Fleet & Vehicle Management, Leasing, and/or Driver Training Businesses Advanced Driving Consultants: http://www. advanced-driving.com/ Advanced Driver Training Services: http://www. adtsweb.com/ Automotive Resources International: http://www. DULÀHHWFRPKRPHDVS'LVWULEXWLRQSDUWQHU Cepa International: http://www.cepasafedrive. com/ Driving Dynamics: http://www.drivingdynamics. com/ (Behind-The-Wheel partner) Drive & Survive UK PLC: http://www.driveand- survive.com/ ,'ULYH6DIHO\7UDI¿F6FKRROKWWSZZZLGULYHV- afely.com/ Interactive Driving Systems: http://www.road- risk.net/ PHH Arval: http://www.phharval.com/ PureSafety: http://www.puresafety.com/ Smith System Driver Improvement Institute, Inc.: www.smith-system.com APPENDIX D. WEB SITES FOR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH 667 Developing an Online Fleet Management Service The CEI Group Inc: http://www.drivercare. com/ Visum Learning: http://www.visumlearning. com/demo.asp Zurich Risk Engineering: http://www.risk-engi- neering.com/rep/s/rep_home_slot.jhtml - Virtual Fleet Risk Manager brochure from Zur- ich: http://www.risk-engineering.com/web/rep/d/ gho/attachments/attachments_brochures/br_au_ BHQBYLUWXDOBÀHHWBULVNBPJUSGI Safety & Government Organizations Risk and Insurance Management Society: http:// www.rims.org/ National Safety Council: http://www.nsc.org/ National Highway Transportation Safety Associa- tion: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ University Risk Management and Insurance As- sociation: http://www.urmia.org/ Fleet Manager Organizations Association of Car Fleet Operators (UK): http:// www.acfo.org/home/ International Fleet Management Benchmarking Association: http://www.ifmba.org/ National Association of Fleet Administrators: http://www.nafa.org/ Magazines $XWRPRWLYH)OHHWKWWSZZZÀHHWFHQWUDOFRP af/t_home.cfm APPENDIX E. ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Senior Management (Martin brothers) Content Development - Multi-Media (1) - Researcher (1) - Instructional Designer (1) Technology Group - Tech Director - Chief S/W Engineer - Developers (4) Administration - Office (1) - Sales (1) Sales Team - Telemarketing (3 ) - Inside Sales (2) Outside Sales (3) 668 Developing an Online Fleet Management Service APPENDIX F. COMMON SIZE HISTORICAL PROFIT AND LOSS Common Size Income Statements (percentage of total sales by year)* 2004 2003 2002 2001 U.S. Sales (in $CDN) 96.85% Canada Sales 3.15% Total Sales 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% Growth over previous year 93.57% 64.51% 1065.34% Expenses Personnel 49.06% 52.42% 37.71% 263.76% Agent Commissions 0.95% 2I¿FH - Rent & Utilities 1.74% 2.78% 4.01% 45.53% - Computers & Telephone 2.72% 5.36% 4.45% 38.31% Marketing and Travel 6.12% 4.86% 2.99% 15.51% MVRs 19.36% 18.73% 24.77% 2.72% Admin. 1.48% 1.67% 2.05% 0.80% Insurance 0.97% 1.72% 1.23% Development 2.33% 3.10% 0.38% Professional Fees 0.73% 0.54% Exchange Loss 3.19% 2.34% -0.19% Depreciation 0.30% 0.19% Total expenses 88.95% 93.71% 77.41% 366.63% 3UR¿WEHIRUHWD[ 11.05% 6.29% 22.59% -266.63% Taxes 2.54% 1.45% 5.20% -61.32% 1HW3UR¿WORVV 8.51% 4.84% 17.40% -205.30% This work was previously published in the International Journal of Cases on Electronic Commerce, edited by M. Khosrow-Pour, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp. 1-22, copyright 2006 by IGI Publishing (an imprint of IGI Global). 669 Copyright © 2009, IGI Global, distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 2.21 Virtual Community Models in Relation to E-Business Models Lee Moh Shan National University of Singapore, Singapore Juliana Sutanto National University of Singapore, Singapore Atreyi Kankanhalli National University of Singapore, Singapore Bernard C. Y. Tan National University of Singapore, Singapore INTRODUCTION Virtual communities were initially recognized as social phenomena. This is evident from the GH¿QLWLRQRIYLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\DV³DVRFLDODJ- gregation that emerges from the Net when enough people carry on public discussions long enough, ZLWKVXI¿FLHQWKXPDQIHHOLQJWRIRUPZHEVRI personal relationships in cyberspace” (Rheingold, 2000, p. 5). The idea of a virtual community as D SUR¿WDEOH EXVLQHVV PRGHO ZDV VXEVHTXHQWO\ raised by Hagel and Armstrong (1996, 1997) ZKRFODLPHGWKDWWKHEHQH¿WVRIDYLUWXDOFRP- munity would arise from two aspects: from the unique capabilities of the digital medium where the virtual community is located in and from the virtual community model itself. The latter aspect is what differentiates virtual communities from other online Web sites. Unlike other online Web sites, a virtual community is intended to create D³VHQVHRIFRPPXQLW\´WKDWELQGVLQGLYLGXDOV WRWKH:HEVLWHDQGVHUYHVDVWKH³SXVK´IDFWRU for repeat visits. Table 1 summarizes some of the proposed EXVLQHVVEHQH¿WVVWHPPLQJIURPD virtual community (Bank & Daus, 2002; Hagel & Armstrong, 1996, 1997). Although the startup cost of a virtual commu- nity is comparatively low, the costs of maintaining LWDUHVLJQL¿FDQWO\KLJKHU+DJHO$UPVWURQJ 1997; Kim, 2000). Therefore the decision of 670 Virtual Community Models in Relation to E-Business Models whether to create a virtual community in support of an e-commerce Web site is not to be taken lightly. Critics have also questioned the validity RIWKHVXJJHVWHGEHQH¿WVRIDYLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\ particularly since there are no clear-cut measures WRYHULI\WKDWWKHVHEHQH¿WVFDQEHDWWULEXWHGWRWKH virtual community. Additionally, the fundamental premise which the virtual community relies on for its success, that is, its unique capacity for interac- tion amongst members and/or with the company (Balasubramanian & Mahajan, 2001; Lechner & Hummel, 2002; Mynatt, O’Day, Adler, & Ito, 1997), is subject to high risks of failure. This is because customers can always turn this capabil- ity to the company’s disadvantage by spreading adverse comments about the company’s products and services. Hence, a virtual community actu- ally has the means to work both for as well as against the company sustaining it. This article seeks to explain how virtual communities can be made to work for the organization by proposing D¿WEHWZHHQWKHYLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\PRGHOWREH adopted and the company’s e-business goals. VIRTUAL COMMUNITY CLASSIFICATIONS AND E-COMMERCE BUSINESS MODELS 7KHUHLVQRVLQJOHSUHGRPLQDQWFODVVL¿FDWLRQRI virtual community models. Several suggested FODVVL¿FDWLRQVIRUYLUWXDOFRPPXQLWLHVDQGRWKHU pseudo-like online structures (e.g., virtual publics and online communities) from previous literature are listed in Table 2. A widely used taxonomy of e-commerce models (Laudon & Traver, 2004), together with their primary sources of revenue is shown in Table 3. There does not appear to be explicit research studying the relationship between the type of virtual community and its possible effects on the various e-business models. Although it has been 7DEOH3RWHQWLDOEXVLQHVVEHQH¿WVUHVXOWLQJIURPDYLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\ 671 Virtual Community Models in Relation to E-Business Models UHFRJQL]HGWKDWQRVLQJOHFODVVL¿FDWLRQRIYLUWXDO communities is adequate and appropriate in every situation (Lee, Vogel, & Limayem, 2003), no FODVVL¿FDWLRQWKDWFRQVLGHUVYLUWXDOFRPPXQLWLHV with business objectives in mind, in particular, to create economic value for the e-commerce site, has been proposed. Therefore, based on the potential business EHQH¿WVDYLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\FDQRIIHUDFODVVL- ¿FDWLRQRIYLUWXDOFRPPXQLWLHVLVSURSRVHG7KLV FODVVL¿FDWLRQLVFRPSDWLEOHDQGLQWHJUDWHGZLWKWKH e-business model and has taken into consideration the goals of the e-commerce business. We will discuss how a suitable virtual community model can create wealth for the e-commerce site. 7DEOH&ODVVL¿FDWLRQVRIYLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\PRGHOV 672 Virtual Community Models in Relation to E-Business Models THE FIT BETWEEN VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MODELS AND E-BUSINESS MODELS Our objective is to demonstrate how virtual communities can create economic value for each of the e-business models above. To achieve that purpose, we propose that a certain type of virtual FRPPXQLW\LVPRUHSUR¿WDEOHIRUDFHUWDLQEXVL- ness model. The differentiating factor will be the latter’s means of earnings. If a virtual com- munity is able to increase the particular means of earnings which the business model relies on, then that particular type of virtual community is suitable for the business model. Table 3 shows a summary of the different means of earnings for each type of e-commerce Web site (Laudon & Traver, 2004). 7KHFODVVL¿FDWLRQVRIYLUWXDOFRPPXQLWLHVWKDW have been proposed previously in the literature Table 3. Taxonomy of e-business models (Laudon & Traver, 2004) 673 Virtual Community Models in Relation to E-Business Models (see Table 2) do not explain how each type of YLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\ LGHQWL¿HG FDQFRQWULEXWHWR generating revenues for the site. An integrated FODVVL¿FDWLRQIRUWKLVSXUSRVHLVSURSRVHGEDVHGRQ WKHSUHYLRXVFODVVL¿FDWLRQV,WERUURZVIURP+DJHO and Armstrong’s typology (1996, 1997), which LVEDVHGRQWKHW\SHRIKXPDQQHHGVIXO¿OOHGE\ the virtual community, with two changes. First, the community of interest and the community of relationship categories are eliminated. As a participant is likely to have at least some interest in what the community offers (Tilley & Smith, 1996), every community is a community of inter- est to a certain extent. Thus, this category does not appear useful for our purpose. Similarly, the community of relationship appears to be a less salient type since all virtual communities allow some form of interaction amongst participants or between participants and community organizers (Balasubramanian & Mahajan, 2001; Lechner & Hummel, 2002; Lee, Vogel, & Limayem, 2003), implying every community is a community of relationship to some degree. Second, the commu- nity of discussion category is introduced, which LVGHULYHGIURPWKHFODVVL¿FDWLRQRI6WDQRHYVND Slabeva and Schmid (2001). In this type of com- munity, the participants’ motivation is to obtain information about a topic or to obtain information about a product/service. Thus, three major types of virtual communities are considered—com- munities of transaction, communities of discus- sion, and communities of fantasy—each having a unique capability to create economic value for an e-commerce site. It is also argued that each of these types of virtual community can be further examined based on the virtual community’s mode of interaction. Each type of virtual community can support different modes of interaction, that is, between the site and its customers, or between customer and customer, or both. We now describe how each type of virtual community advances DWOHDVWRQHVSHFL¿FW\SHRIHDUQLQJVLQRUGHU to deduce the match between the community type and the e-business model. Community of Transaction (Site–Customer Interaction Mode)— Transaction Broker The goal of a transaction broker is to ensure that customers perceive some added advantage (e.g., convenience, cheaper prices) from conducting their transactions via the site. Since the commu- nity of transaction facilitates not only the buying and selling of products or services, but also the information delivery related to the transactions, it suits the goal of transaction brokers. In particular, the transaction-related information delivery could be the added advantage offered by the transaction broker. For example, a travel agent can sell not only air tickets, but also distribute information about air ticket promotions, hotel promotions, and so forth to its members. A travel agent can also make use of its community’s purchasing pattern to work together with airlines and hotels in introducing packages that meet customers’ needs. It is not as useful to provide communities of transaction with customer-to-customer mode of interaction because when customers visit a trans- action broker site, their purpose is to conveniently SXUFKDVHVRPHWKLQJIURPDQ³H[SHUW´DQGQRWWR ³ZDVWH´WLPHLQWHUDFWLQJZLWKRWKHUFXVWRPHUV Finally, communities of discussion and commu- QLWLHVRIIDQWDV\PD\QRW¿WZLWKWKHWUDQVDFWLRQ broker’s business model because these types of communities typically do not involve monetary transactions that can generate transaction fees for the transaction broker. Community of Transaction (Customer–Customer Interaction Mode)—Market Creator Communities of transaction that allow for inter- FXVWRPHULQWHUDFWLRQ¿WZLWKWKHPDUNHWFUHDWRU¶V business model. Being the online gathering place for customers to sell or make their purchases, this type of community represents the direct means . contrast to proprietary operat- ing systems like Windows. 5 A script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers. AlertDriving uses it for front end. language for adding, accessing, and process- ing data in a database. AlertDriving uses it for their back end database. 8 In the industry this is known as burstable bandwidth pricing, which is an. pricing, which is an alternative to committed bandwidth pricing. 665 Developing an Online Fleet Management Service APPENDIX A. ALERTDRIVING.COM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Retrieved April 23, 2006, from