Assurance Services for Business-to- Business Electronic Commerce: A Framework and Implications

Authors

Deepak Khazanchi, University of Nebraska at OmahaFollow
Steve G. Sutton, Oklahoma State UniversityFollow

Abstract

The electronic commerce assurance market has been estimated to be potentially worth $11 billion. To date the focus of assurance services has largely been on web commerce (and therefore business to consumer) related services, leaving the business-to-business (B2B or B-to-B) electronic commerce market relatively untapped. Yet, with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) being mandated by large companies and government agencies, small- to medium-sized firms have struggled to acquire and implement this technology with little understanding of this new age of electronic commerce. As the ubiquitous Internet allows more firms to become EDI-capable, there is an imminent need for having some independent means for assuring the quality of B2B electronic commerce and related business practices. This need is not only crucial for smaller trading partners, but is essential to the success of larger firms who want to realize reduced cycle times, improved customer service and a greater return on their technology investments by electronically controlling the entire value-chain. This paper proposes a framework for delivering B2B electronic commerce assurance services and discusses some potential implications for such services.

Recommended Citation

Khazanchi, Deepak and Sutton, Steve G. (2001) "Assurance Services for Business-to- Business Electronic Commerce: A Framework and Implications," Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 1(1), .
DOI: 10.17705/1jais.00011
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol1/iss1/11

DOI

10.17705/1jais.00011