eBusiness & eCommerce Managing the Digital Value Chain

Over a decade ago, the European Union adopted a “plan of action for a European information society.” Internet technologies should broaden the capacity to act of organizations and of individuals, promote transnational contact and exchange relationships, and lead to an open society with cultural originality and variety. To achieve this, the opportunities and risks of utilizing electronic means of c- munication must be weighed against each other, and privacy and intellectual property rights must be protected. Due to technological development and the use of Internet technology, the productionofinformationhasgainedeconomicsigni?cance.Aninformationc- pany creates value primarily by designing, processing, and relaying information; in other words, through the exchange of digital products and services. Thistextbookprogressivelydescribesalloftheelementsofthevaluechainfor electronic business and electronic commerce. A process-oriented approach is used to present the electronic business transactions that occur between companies, consumers,andpublicadministration,andtheseareillustratedwithcasestudies. Along with the organization of digital products and services, special attention is paid to marketing, distribution, and customer relationship care. This textbook is intended for students of economics at universities and te- nical colleges who would like an overview of the state of the art in electronic business and electronic commerce. It is also suitable for executives, project le- ers, and company experts who deal with the digital value chain. The book focuses on the members of value chains in electronic business re- tionships. Each of these members has a chapter devoted to it: Chapter 1 describes the terms of electronic business, electronic commerce, and electronic government, and gives meaningful examples of their application.