Realizing value through E-business: Views from the Australian Financial Services Industry

Abstract

E-Business technologies continue to have a major impact on the way organisations conduct business. Yet in an environment which is conducive for immitative behaviour and which commoditizes ebusiness solutions, organisations find it increasingly difficult creating value by simply implementing available pervasive e-business solutions. In this paper, a theoretical framework to assess the ability of e-business initiatives to generate value is proposed. A convergent interviewing method was used to explore the elements in this proposed framework in the financial services industry in Australia and the findings provided prelimenary qualitative evidence to support the framework. Results show that e-business applications is considered to be a powerful enabling mechanism to enhance organisational competencies and thereby allowing organisations to deliver traditional and new services more effectively and efficiently in the Australian financial service industry. It is the manner in which e-business systems are used that constitutes a source of advantage.