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Key Indicators for Successful Inter<strong>net</strong> Commerce 141<br />
Testing and Training<br />
Furthermore, because e-commerce incorporates more than one discipline, a<br />
variety of consultants are used - and they do not solve everything (James, 1997).<br />
Most of the time, there are no contingency plans and systems are not tested. Many<br />
people do not train their staff and organizations, then enter the denial stage.<br />
Involvement of Stakeholders (Top Management)<br />
Involvement of a range of stakeholders, from the end-user right through to top<br />
management is one of the key issues in systems development. In fact, the Standish<br />
group report stated (see Johnson, 1995) that lack of users’ involvement was a key<br />
problem contributing to IS failures. As already suggested, e-commerce development,<br />
should be rooted in sound methodology. James (1997) provides an example<br />
of a departure from this. He suggests that one of the big problems with the<br />
development of e-commerce sites is that top management is clueless, especially<br />
when business goals are fuzzy.<br />
One non-negotiable role of involvement of the top management is alignment of<br />
e-commerce projects with organizational objectives (Abels, 2002). This strategic<br />
function bears an important relevance on steering transition in the right direction.<br />
Furthermore, it should be the role of top managers to allocate responsibility for the<br />
development of the site. The responsibility for the development of the site,<br />
according to Auger and Gallaugher (1997), should come from inside the organization.<br />
However, Abels (2002) suggests that the e-commerce project team should be<br />
created separately from the organization’s IT department, and should include<br />
marketing strategists form the beginning.<br />
ITQuadrant (2001) reaffirms the importance of senior management’s role.<br />
They noted that senior management must be heavily involved in the development of<br />
the company’s e-commerce direction right from the start. The e-commerce strategy<br />
must be tied to the business plan. E-commerce initiatives must also be well<br />
integrated with the overall business strategy.<br />
Consideration to the needs of end-users should also not be neglected.<br />
Traditional thinking is too rigid and internally focused and fails to take into account<br />
the goals of the user, according to Abels (2002). James (1997) in reporting on<br />
various e-commerce “fiascoes” that prevail also refers to end-users’ involvement.<br />
One of several issues commented on is that the people that use the site (end-users)<br />
do not participate in the development. Projects can fail if they do not meet user<br />
needs. Once again, this points to e-business’s neglect of well-researched and tested<br />
systems development methodology.<br />
Abel (2002) asserts that users want fast, friendly, easy-to-use solutions.<br />
Developers should learn users’ goals. The site should be structured for Web users<br />
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