Electronic Commerce and Business Communications

In Electronic Business Communications, Mike Chesher and Ricky Kaura tell you all that you need to know about electronic commerce over the Internet. All the major topics are covered: - How electronic business communications can give you the edge over your competitors; - How you can develop effective business strategies for electronic commerce; - All you need to know about EDI/E-commerce Security concerns? What security concerns ¨ the Internet is open for business! - What are the E-commerce standards and why do they matter? - Making the most of trading via the Internet and value added networks; - Breakthroughs in Web-based EDI and Internet applications Information highway initiatives; - Lots of case studies are included. Anyone working in or coming into contact with the exciting world of business electronic communications will find something to interest them here.

A.- 1. Business Context.- Three Introductory Scenarios.- Purchasing a Gif.- Sending Minutes of a Meetin.- Small Business Use.- People and Information Technology.- The Business Manager.- Competition.- Case Study — Wincanton Logistics.- Speed/Time to Market.- Example — Financial Services.- Example — Fashion Industry.- Example — Office Supplies.- Quality.- Customer Service.- Example — Domestic Insurance.- Example — Automotive After-market.- Business Productivity Improvements.- 2. Organizational/Cultural Changes.- From Downsizing to Rightsizing.- Business Process Re-engineering.- What is BPR?.- Cultural Change.- IT and Empowerment.- Where BPR Fails.- BPR In Europe.- Buzzword or Strategy.- 3. Information Society and Technology Impact.- Background.- Efficiency Improvements.- Example — Hawker Siddeley Aviation.- Personal Effectiveness.- Competitive Edge.- Example — AA Sabre System.- Example — American Hospital Supply Company.- Example — Benetton.- Example — DHL.- New Generation.- Information Society.- European Initiatives.- US Initiatives and the Internet.- Initiatives in the Far East.- Internet Shaping IT Strategies.- Information Technology Trends.- End User Computing.- Distributed Computing.- Networking.- Multimedia and the Web.- Change and Information Technology.- 4. Electronic Commerce Evolution.- Example — Retail Banking.- Birth of Electronic Commerce.- Messaging Technology.- Electronic Mail (E-mail).- Example — GE.- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).- Case Study — Henkel.- Application Messaging (AM).- Case Study — The Stationary Office.- Characteristics of Electronic Commerce.- Electronic Commerce from an IT perspective.- Teleworking.- Outsourcing of IT Functions.- Internet — Removing the Barriers.- Convergence Between Domestic and Business Usage.- Values Added Network Services.- Internet Service Providers.- World Wide Web Creating Marketspaces.- B.- 5. Traditional Business Communications.- Working with Information.- Media Choices.- Historical perspective.- Factors Impacting Media Choices.- Patterns of Business Communications.- Post.- Telex.- Telephone.- Voicemail.- Facsimile.- Corporate Messaging in Evolution.- 6. Introduction to Electronic Commerce.- Background.- Electronic Mail for People (E-mail).- The Standards Issue.- Electronic Mail to Telex, FAX and Postal Delivery.- Universal Mailbox.- Electronic Mail Enabled Applications.- Electronic Data Interchange for Computer Applications.- Benefits of EDI.- Differing Characteristics of EDI.- EDI Standards.- Transmitting EDI Messages.- Application Messaging and CORBA.- Information Management (Notes, Exchange & Web).- Directory Services.- Organizational Considerations.- 7. Internet Dominance of Electronic Commerce.- What is the Internet.- Overview of Internet Technologies.- Intranets and Extranets.- Various Examples.- Case Study — BT.- Case Study — Tyson Food.- Internet Commerce Evolution.- Electronic Marketplaces and the Web.- Basic Model.- Business to Consumer (e-commerce).- Case Study — Slate.- Business to Business (E-commerce).- Case Study — GE Lighting.- EDI over the Internet.- EDI Web Forms.- Security.- 8. Business Strategies for Electronic Commerce.- Extended Enterprise.- Strategic Management & Information Technology.- Information Systems Development Framework.- Macro Planning.- Micro Planning.- Information Analysis.- System Development Process.- Approaches to the Integration of Business and IT Strategies.- Integration Summary.- Electronic Commerce Strategy Development.- Business Driven.- Customer Focus.- The Extended Organization.- Remaining Flexible.- Integration.- Information and Knowledge.- Key Supporting IT Strategies.- Thick Architecture.- Application Software Packages.- Networking.- Electronic Messaging.- Desktop Strategy.- Secutity.- Key Supporting IT Strategies Summary.- C.- 9. Open Systems.- Worldwide Problem.- Why Use Standards?.- What are Standards?.- De Jure Standards Makers.- Internet Standards Process.- What are Open Systems?.- Operating Systems.- UNIX Standards Makers.- Networking.- New Meaning for Open Systems.- 10. Communications Fundamentals.- Computer Communications.- The Telephone Analogy.- Transferring a File.- Network Architectures.- Communications and Standards.- OSI Network Architecture.- Internet TCP/IP Network Architecture.- Types of Connection.- Terminal Connections.- Modem Connections.- Digital Switching Technology.- Popular Modem Standards.- Permanent Connections.- Asynchronous versus Synchronous.- Types of Network.- Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).- Global Networks.- Local Area Networks (LAN).- Wide Area Networks (WAN).- Interworking.- File Transfer.- Terminal Emulation.- File Sharing.- Remote Logon.- Electronic Messaging.- Interoperability.- Microwave and Satellite Communication.- High Performance Networking.- Fast Packet Switching.- Asynchronous Transfer Mode.- Summary.- 11. Desktop Computing.- Moore’s Law & Hardware Evolution.- Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC).- The Role of the Network.- Internet — The Pandora’s Box.- Software Evolution.- The Emergence of MS-DOS.- Bridging the Cognitive Gap.- Network Operating Systems.- David and Goliath.- Case Study — Windows.- The Other Players.- Software Suites.- Advantages.- Disadvantages.- Evolution of the Suite.- 12. Group-Working.- The Evolution and Growth of Groupware.- Groupware Environments.- Case Study — Lotus Notes.- The Advent of the Intranet.- Workflow Software/Computing.- Links with Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).- Evolution of Workflow.- The Intelligent Agent.- The Information River.- Conferencing and Consensus Building Software.- Schedule/Diary Software.- Challenges with Scheduling Software.- Justifying and Implementing Groupware.- Groupware — Here to Stay.- Videoconferencing.- Growth of Videoconferencing.- Videoconferencing on the Desktop.- Videoconferencing- Glorified Videophone?.- Applications of Videoconferencing.- The Value of Videoconferencing.- 13. Security.- The Elusive Search for Security.- Computer Fraud.- Passwords.- Securing Electronic Commerce.- What is Cryptography.- The Use of Keys.- Algorithms.- Data Encryption Standard (DES).- Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA).- International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA).- Authentication and Integrity Checks.- Digital Signatures and Repudiation.- Finding the Key — A Question of Management.- Certificates, Certification Authorities and Revocation Lists.- Some Legal Consequences.- The CAPSTONE Project.- The “Clipper” Chip.- The Digital Signature Standard.- Secure Hash Standard (SHS).- Securing the Internet.- Internet Privacy Enhanced Mail.- Secure MIME (S/MIME).- Pretty Good Privacy (PGP).- Securing the Web.- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).- Secured HTTP (S-HTTP).- Securing Credit Card Transactions.- The Firewalls.- Screening Router.- Gateway.- Screened Host Gateway.- Security of the Future.- Biometric Security.- Fingerprint Analysis.- Retina Scan Analysis.- Voice Analysis.- 14. Standards in Electronic Commerce (1).- Electronic Mail — E-mail.- X.400 — Inter Personal Messaging.- The Postal Analogy and X.400.- X.400 Terminology.- Internet Standards.- SMTP/MIME — Electronic Mail.- POP and IMAP — Message Access Protocols.- DNS — Directory Name Service.- Internet and X.400 Service Models.- Internet and X.400 E-mail Co-existence.- EDI Standards.- EDI Message Structure.- Operation of EDI.- EDI Standards Summary.- EDI and X.400.- EDI and Internet.- X.500 Directory and LDAP.- 15. Standards in Electronic Commerce (2).- The Myth.- Object Linking and Embedding (OLE).- OpenDoc.- Open Document Architecture (ODA).- Mark-up Languages.- SGML.- HTML.- XML.- Translation Devices.- Platform Interchange.- Collaborative Environments.- Open Collaborative Environment (OCE).- Messaging.- Directory Services.- Security Services.- Compression Techniques.- Lossless Compression.- Lossy Compression.- New Advances in Compression Techniques.- Multi-media Standards.- Standards in Multimedia Coding.- 16. Mobile Computing.- Nomads of the Future.- The Next Generation of Hardware.- Electronic Personal Assistants.- Case Study — The Apple Newton MessagePad.- PCMCIA — The Smart Card.- Growth of PCMCIA Cards.- Cutting the Umbilical Cord.- Paging Networks.- Wireless Local Area Network (LAN).- Wireless MAN/WAN (Metropolitan/Wide Area Network).- Cellular Technology.- Satellite Technology.- Who is using Wireless Networks, and Why?.- Remote Access.- Remote Control.- Remote Client (RC).- The Future of Wireless Networks.- Reference List.- D.- Acronyms and Glossary.