An intra- and inter-industry analysis of e-business effectiveness

• Published in: Information & management Vol. 42; no. 5; pp. 651 - 667
• Main Authors: Motiwalla, Luvai, Khan, M. Riaz, Xu, Shenghan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-07-2005; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Applications (e.g. Digitizing,...); Comparative analysis; Corporate performance; Electronic commerce; Electronic commerce or electronic business impact; Exact sciences and technology; Financial impact; Financial performance; Financial statements; Information and communication sciences; Information and communication technologies; Information science. Documentation; Information technologies: storage media, equipment; IT investment; Sciences and techniques of general use; Studies; United States > US; Financial impact; Corporate performance; Electronic commerce or electronic business impact; IT investment; Performance evaluation; Industry; Information communication technology; Firm management; Electronic trade; Comparative study; Financial result
• ISSN: 0378-7206; 1872-7530
• DOI: 10.1016/j.im.2003.12.001

Electronic business (EB) on the Internet has been promoted as a revolutionary technology that will transform the way we do business. This paper presents an intra- and inter-industry financial performance (FP) analysis of three industries: retail (R), consumer products (CP), and food beverages and tobacco (FBT). Financial statements of 165 companies selected from these three industries extending over a period of 10 years were reviewed to determine whether the EB activities have any significant impact on their FP, and whether this impact varied across industries. This comparative examination indicated that the EB companies did better than their non-EB counterparts in the post-EB period and the FBT industrial sector performed better than the R and CP sectors.