Special issue on
Authors: Munkvold Bjørn Erik , Purao Sandeep 
Published: October 2004

The last few years have witnessed a rapid growth in development of web-based solutions to support or initiate new forms of e-commerce. Though a few normative approaches have been proposed for different stages of the development process, it is not clear yet how practitioners or consultants are actually developing these systems. As the e-commerce revolution matures, in-depth accounts of development of actual e-commerce systems have remained sketchy. Informal evidence suggests that highly localized approaches are being used to develop innovative e-commerce solutions. The stories being shared among successful practitioners are still largely anecdotal and confined to success stories or colossal failures. The debacle of dot.com businesses during 2001 has left these issues severely under-investigated. Accounts of both successful and not-so-successful actual e-commerce systems development projects would, therefore, be useful in furthering our understanding of this complex area of study. The three articles in this special issue provide interesting perspectives on understanding several ongoing practices in this arena.

The article by Hevner et al identifies and discusses key concerns faced by several organizations that focus on systems development for e-commerce. Based on an in-depth case study of a medium sized e-commerce software development organization, they suggest the perspective of conflicting product versus project challenges in software development activities. Their analysis leads to identification of eight critical challenges in the three areas of organizational structure, relationship with external environment and the development environment. The authors elaborate on these challenges, suggest theoretical propositions for confirmatory research, and link the propositions to managerial actions to suggest implications for practice.

The article by Chiasson presents an analysis of the process related to developing an e-commerce system for a startup venture in the on-line magazine ("e-zine") business using structuration theory as the theoretical lens. Following an action research approach, the study develops an understanding of the agency-structure relationship involved in shaping the technological and organizational structure. Conflicting design philosophies in the initial stage (multimedia 'front-end' versus content management through web-database integration) gives way to a role of the system in the later stages as a strategic change agent redirecting the company towards a new business focus. The analysis leads to a critical discussion of structuration theory and its limitations in acknowledging the importance of human reflexivity in the structuration process.

The article by Henfridsson and Holmström discusses how e-commerce development in "internetworked organizations" may enable changes to the traditional corporate value chain. Based on an interpretive case study of the development of an on-line computer game, the authors describe an effort to enable customer involvement throughout the value chain including product development, evaluation, distribution and marketing. They find that the close customer involvement adds value by increasing the company's ability to respond to changing customer demands and preferences. Interestingly, they observe a greater dependency on the customers and their devotion for the game, which illustrates that internetworked organizations can be faced with the challenge associated with handling customers as partners in the value chain. The authors discuss implications for the role of customer involvement in virtual value chains, suggesting an extended view on the e-commerce development process.

The articles by Chiasson, and Henfridsson and Holmström, thus, present in-depth studies of practices related to development of E-commerce systems in different organizational contexts. They exemplify several challenges presented in the first paper by Hevner et al. The three articles together present an in-depth account of the complexities involved in the process of E-commerce systems development, characterized by rapid technological development and often fast-paced projects driven by extreme competitiveness and changing market demands. The context of the three cases presented (e-commerce software development organization, startup venture in the on-line magazine business and on-line computer game developer) serves to highlight different challenges and concerns characterizing E-commerce development practice today. Further research can contribute to extend our understanding in other contexts. Findings presented in these papers can serve as early benchmarks of the significant challenges in E-commerce systems development today. A possible extension can include the development of prescriptive methodologies and models that may be customized for different contexts. Many of the challenges identified in these papers also have a rich history in systems development research. Further research should, therefore, strike a balance between proposing innovative ways to understand these challenges and adapting established ap-proaches and accepted wisdom for systems development to the particular context of E-commerce systems development.