Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Development of a situational maturity model for E-business Petrachkov, N.A. Award date: 2012 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain
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Development of a situational maturity model for e-business · 7 2. Methodology Figure 1. Project development steps. 2.1. Methodology description The following methodology has been
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Eindhoven University of Technology
MASTER
Development of a situational maturity model for E-business
Petrachkov, N.A.
Award date:2012
Link to publication
DisclaimerThis document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Studenttheses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the documentas presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the requiredminimum study period may vary in duration.
General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.
• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain
management, and business process management were selected and described with
use of the comparative framework. This comparison led to the identification of the
common problems of the selected maturity models:
No discussion on the evolution of the maturity model;
Lack of supporting materials;
Suitability to provide only implicit recommendations;
Lack of verification and/or validation;
No configuration options;
Emphasis of the maturity model is not specified.
No suitable maturity model that would fit all the desired properties has been
found in the IS domain.
2. If such a model (from question 1) can be found then we should explore
whether we can adopt similar approach to develop a situational model for e-
business, otherwise we should explore if it is possible to develop a situational
model for e-business.
During the literature study a model with desired properties was not found, so we
attempted to develop a situational maturity model for e-business. In the presented
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research a situational maturity model for e-business has been developed. The project
made use of the research on the situational maturity models and of the maturity
model development process that were proposed by Mettler [62] to develop a
situational maturity model for e-business. The new model has been named a
situational maturity model for e-business (SMME). The dimensions of the model and
its contents were derived from the GPIS model and from previous research on e-
business/e-commerce maturity models, e-business strategy, and e-business
development. Situational aspect is presented by inclusion or exclusion of the SCM
sub-dimension based on the products/services offered by a company.
After the definition of the SMME, the assessment tool in form of the questionnaire
has been created. The sections of the questionnaire resemble the dimensions of the
SMME and questions were derived from the description of each dimension for each
maturity level.
The SMME and the questionnaire were evaluated by experts from industry and from
academia. There were little comments on the technological aspect of the model, since
the model is not bound to any particular technology. The comments on the use of
new concepts and technologies, such as cloud computing, mobile commerce, tablet
PCs and smartphones were incorporated as part of the future work, since as of today
this research is still in progress.
3. Will developed model provide explicit recommendations for assessed
companies?
Developed SMME does not provide explicit recommendations for users of the
model. However, discussion on barriers and critical success factors in e-business
adoption has been included into supporting materials in order to increase the quality
of derived recommendations. Also a research on e-business models has been defined
as a valuable future work for the development of more complex e-business maturity
models, which can possibly provide explicit recommendations.
With respect to the problem, which has been formulated in the beginning of the
research, it can be concluded that proposed situational maturity model for e-business
has desired properties and can be seen as a viable solution.
Presented research conforms to Becker et al. [7] requirements to the development
of a maturity model in the following way: Requirement 1 has been fulfilled by chapter
3.2 “Comparison of IS maturity models”. The use of defined maturity model
development process, which describes steps to develop a maturity model, is matched
with requirement 2 “Iterative procedure”. Requirement 3 “Evaluation” has been
satisfied by the evaluation of the proposed model by experts. Requirement 4 “Multi-
methodological procedure” has been fulfilled by application of the theoretically
grounded maturity model development process and by usage of theoretically sound
underlying model (the GPIS model). Requirements 5 “Identification of Problem
Relevance” and 6 “Problem definition” are met by discussion in chapter “Problem
and Research questions” and by clarification of the importance of maturity in chapter
“Introduction”. Orientation of the maturity model for management-oriented
audience and inclusion of discussion of critical success factors and barriers comply
with Requirement 7 “Targeted Presentation of Results”. This report documents in
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detail the development process of the maturity model, parties involved and obtained
results, which fit to the Requirement 8 “Scientific documentation”.
The field of e-business is quite complex as it is connected to other information
systems and cannot exist without them. From the point of view of enterprises it is
important to set the right direction in the e-business development, otherwise, time
and money will be spent on something that does not add value for customers and
partner organizations. The concept of maturity model has the potential to provide
companies with recommendations on action that should be taken in order to achieve
better implementation of the e-business in a company. We found out that this
concept in the field of e-business is not developed yet, so it is hard to receive
personalized recommendations and it is difficult to choose appropriate e-business
maturity model.
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8. Future work The complexity of the e-business domain may suggest that it is possible to create
more complex maturity model with more configuration parameters. In order to
create more complex situational maturity model for e-business the research on the
important factors for different kind of business models is needed. One of the possible
ways to better study the spectrum of different organizations conducting e-business is
to carry out a detailed research on the business models for this kind of companies. A
business model “ depicts the content, structure, and governance of transactions
designed so as to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities.”[2].
According to Grefen [29] e-business model consists of business drivers, business
chains, business directions, and business structures. Osterwalder [67] provides an
overview of the different views on business models and it can be seen that different
views include different components of business models. Lambert [54] conducted a
search of the e-business models and identified ten proposed classifications. As we
can see the research on business models is also not completed yet. We can conclude
that complex research is needed in order to create more general e-business model
with more configuration options. Firstly, relevant framework for the research on e-
business models should be defined, which will have components relevant not only to
e-business models, but also to e-business maturity model. Secondly, the classification
of business models shall be verified on real world examples. Thirdly, the general
maturity model for e-business should be derived from the identified e-business
models and configuration options should defined. At last, the e-business maturity
model should be applied to several companies that share the same e-business model.
Another improvement point is the development of the online assessment tool for the
model. This tool shall be properly validated and configurable as an e-business
maturity model. With the use of this tool it will be easier to create a central repository
of the assessment results, which will allow for benchmarking of similar companies.
71
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Appendix Table 15. Maturity model design and maturity model use attributes. Based on Mettler’s classification system [60]
Attributes
Maturity model design
Concept of maturity Composition Reliability Mutability
Pro
cess
matu
rity
Ob
ject
matu
rity
Peo
ple
matu
rity
Matu
rity grid
Likert-like
qu
estion
naire
CM
M-like
Verificatio
n
Valid
ation
Form
Fun
ction
ing
Maturity model use
Method of application
Support of application
Practicality of evidence
Self-assessm
ent
Third
-party assisted
assessmen
t
Assessm
ent b
y
certified
practitio
ners
No
sup
po
rting
materials
Textual d
escrip
tion
/ han
db
oo
k
Softw
are assessm
ent to
ol
Imp
licit reco
mm
end
ation
s
Explicit
recom
men
datio
ns
Table 16. General maturity model attributes. Based on Mettler’s classification system [60] and Jones et al. comparative framework [63]
General Maturity Model Attributes
Nam
e
Acro
nym
Prim
ary
sou
rce
Secon
dary
sou
rce
Ad
dressed
to
pic
Origin
Au
dien
ce
Year of
Pu
blicatio
n
Acce
ss
Develo
pm
e
nt
Emp
hasis
Nu
mb
er of
stages
76
Table 17. Classification system for maturity models.
Dimension Attributes
General model attributes
Nam
e
Acro
nym
Prim
ary
sou
rce
Secon
dary
sou
rce
Ad
dressed
top
ic
Origin
Au
dien
ce
Year of
Pu
blicatio
n
Acce
ss
Maturity model design
Concept of maturity Composition Reliability Mutability
Table 28. Maturity model design and maturity model use attributes of the vPMM maturity model.
Model Attributes
Concept of maturity Composition Reliability Mutability
Pro
cess
matu
rity
Ob
ject matu
rity
Peo
ple m
aturity
Matu
rity grid
Likert-like
qu
estion
naire
CM
M-like
Verificatio
n
Valid
ation
Form
Fun
ction
ing
Lee et al
Method of application
Support of application
Practicality of evidence
Self-assessm
ent
Third
-party assisted
assessm
ent
Assessm
ent b
y
certified
practitio
ners
No
sup
po
rting
materials
Textual d
escrip
tion
/ han
db
oo
k
Softw
are assessm
ent to
ol
Imp
licit
recom
men
datio
ns
Explicit
recom
men
datio
ns
Lee et al.
Table 29. Comparison of dimension of different e-business and e-commerce maturity models.
Saleh, 2005 [the
GPIS model]
Earl, 2000
Burn and Ash, 2005
McKay, 2000
Hafeez, Keoy, Hanneman,
2006
Chan and Swatman, 2004
Chaffey, 2002 Atos E-business maturity model,
2008
Dimension\Domain IS E-
business E-business E-business E-business E-commerce E-business E-business
IT Infrastructure
Technology Systems Technology E-commerce technologies
used
IT & Infrastructure
Processes
People
Staff / Skills
Personnel involved
People and Culture
Work Environment
Strategy Organization Strategy Strategy Management and
Organization
Motto
Mind-set
Result
Critical success factor
Focus
Products and Services
Business models
Strategic focus
Planning focus
Outcomes and performance gains
89
Structure
Organizational
scope
Style
Subordinate goals
Transformation
Services available
90
Table 30. Overview of the situational maturity model for e-business.
Dimension \ Level 0 (No e-transactions performed)
1 (Classical E-commerce)
2 (Social E-commerce)
3 (Internal integration)
4 (E-business) 5 (Optimized e-business)
Short description Organization has a web-site with information about company, products/services. Transactions cannot be performed online.
No Web 2.0 elements. Simple basket functionality. Transactions can be performed online.
Web 2.0 elements such as: user reviews, personalized recommendations.
Integration between back-office and front-office. Extensive data analysis.
Integration with partners.
Organization is able to create new business models, best practices.
IT Infrastructure IS mainly presented in form of small, independent financial packages that are being developed/purchased. Decision on their acquisition is made on the group level and based on the group needs as perceived by the group management.
Presented IS focus on the financial area. Small number of other business-oriented systems is being developed. IS/IT applications overlap in purpose, function and data. No centralized storage of data. Only data that is needed for the reporting is stored centrally. High maintenance cost of IS/IT systems.
IS/IT applications cover most major operation areas, but IT services vary between business units. Central IS/IT functions exists.
All required IS/IT are implemented. Integration between front-office and back-office systems is implemented. Central coordination of the use of IS/IT in the organization. Adoption if decision support systems. Buy- and sell-side integrated with ERP system.
Strategic IS/IT applications are developed with orientation on gathering and processing external data, in addition to internal. Decision support systems for senior management are implemented. Problems of compatibility between internal and external data.
IS/IT applications support inter-organizational processes. Successful development and usage of knowledge management system. Integrated inter-organizational systems help to build and maintain relationships within the strategic business
91
Extensive use of data mining and data warehousing technologies. [McKay, 2000] ERP, CRM and SCM are fully integrated. [Evans, 2006]
network. [McKay 2000]
CRM None or simple contact management used by some sales representatives. Customer surveys. Customer data analyzed with use of spreadsheets, statistical packages.
Implementation of operational CRM.
- Analytical CRM.
CRM fully integrated with other IS. Collaborative CRM.
-
ERP Legacy system/Out-of-the-box solutions with accounting/finance/HR functionality.
Extension of the ERP system with order fulfillment functionality (purchasing, production, delivery)
- ERP is integrated with front-office systems.
ERP is integrated with CRM, SCM and other IS.
-
Web 2.0 Experimentation with Web 2.0 tools by some employees (such as creating company accounts
Experimentation with Web 2.0 tools internally, such as usage of wikis, internal social
Customers can write reviews for products and rate them. Special offers are published online in
Integration of internally used tools. Analysis of data
Inter-organizational use of Web 2.0 tools.
-
92
in social networks). No responsible person defined for the Web 2.0.
networks.
blogs and micro blogs. Recommender system is implemented, such that customers receive recommendations based on their interests or based on purchases of similar users. There is aperson responsible for Web 2.0 in the organization.
gathered from Web.
Processes Best practices are performed in ad hoc way.
Base practices in e-business/e-commerce are recognized.
Specific goals are formulated (the scope of the work is identified and products/services to be produced are defined).
Organizational policy for planning and performing e-business/e-commerce activities is established;
Objectives, requirements and plans for performing the e-business/e-commerce process are established;
Adequate resources for performing the e-business/e-commerce process
The description of a defined e-business process has been established and maintained;
Measures, measurement results, and improvement information derived from planning and performing the e-commerce/e-
Quantitative objectives for the e-business process about quality and process performance based on customer needs and business objectives have been established and are being maintained;
The performance of one or
The continuous improvement of the e-business process in fulfilling the relevant business goals of the organization has been ensured;
The root causes of problems in the e-business process have
93
are provided;
The responsibility for performing the e-business/e-commerce process has been assigned;
People, who support or/and perform the e-business/e-commerce process are being trained when needed;
Relevant stakeholders are identified and are being involved in the e-business/e-commerce process;
The e-business/e-commerce process is being monitored against the plan and corrective actions are being taken;
Adherence of the e-commerce/e-business process has been evaluated against requirements,
business process is being collected to support the future use and improvement of the organization’s processes.
more sub-processes of the e-business process has been stabilized to determine its ability to achieve the established quantitative quality and process performance objectives.
Business process re-engineering to match customers’ expectations. Processes and structures may have to be reengineered to accrue the true benefits of modern technologies.
been identified and corrected.
94
objectives and standards and non-compliance has been reported;
Higher-level management is involved in reviewing the activities, status and results of the e-business/e-commerce process and issues are being resolved.
SCM (NA for digital services providers.)
Ad hoc way. Basic SCM processes are defined and documented.
- SCM is the strategic tool.
Cooperation between intra-organizational functions, vendors and customers in the form of teams that share common SCM measures and goals.
Continuous improvement
The company, its vendors and suppliers, take cooperation to the process level.
Advanced SCM practices are implemented such as collaborative forecasting and planning
Creation of multi-firm supply chains. Creation of multi-firm SCM teams with common processes, goals and broad authority. Horizontal, customer-focused, collaborative culture. Process performance and reliability of the
95
efforts focus on root cause elimination and performance improvements.
with customers and suppliers.
SCM process performance is very predictable and targets are reliably achieved.
Process improvement goals are set by the teams and achieved.
extended system are measured and joint investments in improving the system are shared, as are returns.
People Ad hoc skills acquisition. Skills are developed from personal motivation. No IT managers. No dedicated IT staff, only technicians and programmers. No IS/IT training provided. Skills are of technical nature and they are specific to individual IS/IT applications.
IT Manager that is responsible for the IS/IT function has e-commerce responsibility. Users have the required training and skills to use the new IS/IT that is being developed/purchased. The small number of IS/IT staff have the skills required perform their
Technically oriented IT manager is appointed; Considerable technical competence because of the well-developed IT related skills. Well-developed project management skills. E-commerce staff has a good understanding of the business and also of the capabilities, potentials
A high level manager for the e-business/e-commerce services area is appointed with middle management status. E-commerce/E-business staff and users have their performance quantified and measured against
Organization has e-business manager with senior management status or CIO that have e-business management as his responsibility. The e-business and business planners’ roles are combined to plan the strategic use of e-business
Core staff members are retained. Widespread outsourcing and sharing of e-business staff between allied large organizations. The head of e-business is also a member of the board of directors.
96
assignments.
and limitations of IT. The role of It business analyst has been created.
quantitative performance baselines. E-commerce/e-business staff is required to have business knowledge. All individuals are involved in capturing/documenting their knowledge and experiences with e-business/e-commerce related work. The e-business/e-commerce staff can provide guidance to less experienced staff.
for individual groups and for the organization as a whole. E-business function becomes an integral part of the organization.
Work Environment Senior management has little concern for the potential utility of the e-business/e-commerce.
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be concern of technologists not management. The priority and thrust are to minimize the
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be one of the many ways to reduce costs in the firm and sees expenditure on e-business/e-commerce as a cost-saving expenditure.
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be vital for the smooth functioning of operations. The e-business and e-commerce
Management considers e-business as one of the vital parts of the competitive strategy.
Management considers e-business as the single most critical factor for the organization. There is overall integration of views regarding e-business in the
97
expense of e-business/e-commerce utilization.
An organization-wide e-business/e-commerce architecture policy and standards are established.
function is well established and its mission is to exploit the e-business/e-commerce for business purposes and to provide competitive e-business/e-commerce in a partnership environment with users. The users have a significant degree of involvement in e-business/e-commerce related decisions, where e-business/e-commerce investments are derived from users’ stated needs.
organization.
Strategy No strategy developed.
Development of the strategy only for e-commerce. Not integrated with business strategy.
E-commerce strategy integrated with marketing strategy. Expanding consumer base.
E-commerce strategy integrated with business strategy.
E-business strategy incorporated as part of the business strategy.
Forming, maintaining and exploiting the strategic business networks.
98
Strategic thinking replaced strategic planning.
99
Table 31. Maturity criteria for IT Infrastructure dimension.
IT Infrastructure
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
ITI_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ITI_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ITI_03 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ITI_04 Local group of employees
Department Central IT department
Central IT department Central IT department
ITI_05 Opinion of local management
Opinion of the department
In collaboration between employees and IT department
In collaboration between employees and IT department
In collaboration between employees and IT department
ITI_06 Independent financial, HR software packages. Independent reporting system. No centralized storage of data.
Information systems for most of the operational areas are implemented. There is a difference in available IT services between business units.
Front-office and back office systems are well integrated (no problems with data formats, automated data transfer). Some decision support systems are introduced.
The information system in the organization has features of gathering and processing data from external to the organization sources. Decision support systems for senior management are implemented. Data mining and data warehousing technologies are used in the organization. ERP, CRM and SCM systems are well integrated.
Information systems of the organization are integrated with information systems of partner organizations. Knowledge management system is implemented.
100
Table 32. Maturity criteria for ERP sub-dimension.
ERP
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
ERP_01 Integrated ERP information system covers such business processes as accounting/finance/HR and order fulfillment (purchasing, production, delivery)
Integrated ERP information system covers such business processes as accounting/finance/HR and order fulfillment (purchasing, production, delivery)
ERP system covers most of operational business processes.
ERP system covers most of operational business processes.
ERP system covers all operational processes include industry-specific functions.
ERP_02 No integration.
No integration.
Integration with front-office systems (e.g., ecommerce, CRM).
Integration with front-office systems (e.g., ecommerce, CRM).
Full integration with other information systems in the organization (such as SCM, PLM)
101
Table 33. Maturity criteria for CRM sub-dimension.
CRM
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
CRM_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CRM_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CRM_03 With use of features of the operational CRM system
With use of features of the operational CRM system
With use of features of analytical CRM system
With use of features of collaborative CRM system
With use of features of collaborative CRM system
CRM_04 No No No Yes Yes
Table 34. Maturity criteria for Web 2.0 sub-dimension.
Web 2.0
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Web_01 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_03 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
102
Web_04 No Only some personalized content (e.g., new news since last login)
Personalized recommendations based on the purchase history and customer' preferences.
Personalized recommendations based on the purchase history and customer' preferences.
Personalized recommendations based on the purchase history and customer' preferences.
Web_05 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_06 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_07 No Sometimes (by particular departments or for particular topics)
Yes. With use of specialized tools (e.g., opinion mining).
Yes. With use of specialized tools (e.g., opinion mining).
Yes. With use of specialized tools (e.g., opinion mining).
Web_08 No No No Yes Yes
Table 35. Maturity criteria for Processes dimension.
Processes
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
PR_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_03 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_04 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_05 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_06 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_07 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_08 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
103
PR_09 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_10 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_11 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_12 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_13 No No Yes Yes Yes
PR_14 No No Yes Yes Yes
PR_15 No No No Yes Yes
PR_16 No No No Yes Yes
PR_17 No No No Yes/No Yes/No
PR_18 No No No Yes (if PR_18 = no) or Yes/No (if PR_18 = yes)
Yes (if PR_18 = no) or Yes/No (if PR_18 = yes)
PR_19 No No No No Yes
PR_20 No No No No Yes
Table 36. Maturity criteria for SCM sub-dimension.
SCM
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
SCM_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SCM_02 No No Yes Yes Yes
104
SCM_03 No defined collaboration activity
No defined collaboration activity
Teams that share common measures and goals
Shared business process
Multi-firm SCM team with common processes, goals and broad authority
SCM_04 No No Yes Yes Yes
SCM_05 No Basic practices Basic practices Advanced SCM practices (such as collaborative forecasting, planning with customers and suppliers).
Advanced SCM practices (such as collaborative forecasting, planning with customers and suppliers).
SCM_06 No No No Yes Yes
SCM_07 No No No Yes Yes
SCM_08 No No No No Yes
Table 37. Maturity criteria for People dimension.
People
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
105
PE_01 No special policy for skills development is established
Focus on the development of the technical skills
Staff is required to have technical and business knowledge.
Staff is required to have technical and business knowledge.
Core staff is required to have technical and business knowledge. Specialized technical skills are acquired through outsourcing.
PE_02 No An IT manager who is responsible for the IS/IT functions also responsible for the e-business/e-commerce functions.
An IT manager who is responsible for the IS/IT functions also responsible for the e-business/e-commerce functions.
There is an e-business manager or CIO with e-business management responsibility.
The head of the e-business project is also a member of the board of directors.
PE_03 No No No Yes Yes
PE_04 No No Yes Yes Yes
PE_05 No No Yes Yes Yes
PE_06 No No No No Yes
PE_07 No No No No Yes
106
Table 38. Maturity criteria for Work Environment dimension.
Work Environment
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
WE_01 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
WE_02 E-commerce/e-business development is the responsibility of technical staff.
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be one of the many ways to reduce costs in the firm and sees expenditure on e-business/e-commerce as a cost-saving expenditure.
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be vital for the smooth functioning of operations.
Management considers e-business as one of the vital parts of the competitive strategy.
Management considers e-business as the single most critical factor for the organization
WE_03 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
WE_04 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
107
Table 39. Maturity criteria for Strategy sub-dimension.
Strategy
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
ST_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ST_02 E-commerce only strategy that is not integrated with business strategy
E-commerce strategy integrated with marketing strategy.
E-commerce strategy integrated with business strategy
E-business strategy incorporated as part of the business strategy.
E-business strategy is part of the strategic business network strategy.
ST_03 No specific approach defined.
No specific approach defined or
No specific approach defined or Strategic planning
Strategic planning Strategic thinking
108
Table 40. General information about the example company.
Question code
General questions (Company introduction)
Answer
G_01 How many employees are in your company?
~80
G_02 What is the industry of your company? web-hosting, software development
G_03 What is the country that your company operates in?
Worldwide
G_04 What kinds of products are provided by the company?
Digital products
G_05 What kinds of services are provided by the company?
Digital services
109
Table 41. Resulting answers for the dimension IT Infrastructure.
IT Infrastructure
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
ITI_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ITI_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ITI_03 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ITI_04 Local group of employees
Department Central IT department Central IT department Central IT department
ITI_05 Opinion of local management
Opinion of the department In collaboration between employees and IT department
In collaboration between employees and IT department
In collaboration between employees and IT department
110
ITI_06 Independent financial, HR software packages. Independent reporting system. No centralized storage of data.
Information systems for most of the operational areas are implemented. There is a difference in available IT services between business units.
Front-office and back office systems are well integrated (no problems with data formats, automated data transfer). Some decision support systems are introduced.
The information system in the organization has features of gathering and processing data from external to the organization sources. Decision support systems for senior management are implemented. Data mining and data warehousing technologies are used in the organization. ERP, CRM and SCM systems are well integrated.
Information systems of the organization are integrated with information systems of partner organizations. Knowledge management system is implemented.
111
Table 42. Resulting answers for the sub-dimension CRM.
CRM
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
CRM_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CRM_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CRM_03 With use of features of the operational CRM system
With use of features of the operational CRM system
With use of features of analytical CRM system
With use of features of collaborative CRM system
With use of features of collaborative CRM system
CRM_04 No No No Yes Yes
112
Table 43. Resulting answers for the sub-dimension ERP.
ERP
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
ERP_01 Integrated ERP information system covers such business processes as accounting/finance/HR and order fulfillment (purchasing, production, delivery)
Integrated ERP information system covers such business processes as accounting/finance/HR and order fulfillment (purchasing, production, delivery)
ERP system covers most of operational business processes and has integration with front-office systems.
ERP system covers most of operational business processes.
ERP system covers all operational processes include industry-specific functions.
ERP_02 No integration.
No integration.
Integration with front-office systems (e.g., ecommerce, CRM).
Integration with front-office systems (e.g., ecommerce, CRM).
Full integration with other information systems in the organization (such as SCM, PLM)
113
Table 44. Resulting answers for the sub-dimension Web 2.0.
Web 2.0
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
Web_01 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_03 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_04 No Only some personalized content (e.g., new news since last login)
Personalized recommendations based on the purchase history and customer' preferences.
Personalized recommendations based on the purchase history and customer' preferences.
Personalized recommendations based on the purchase history and customer' preferences.
Web_05 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_06 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Web_07 No Sometimes (by particular departments or for particular topics)
Yes. With use of specialized tools (e.g., opinion mining).
Yes. With use of specialized tools (e.g., opinion mining).
Yes. With use of specialized tools (e.g., opinion mining).
Web_08 No No No Yes Yes
114
Table 45. Resulting answers for the dimension Processes.
Processes
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
PR_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_02 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_03 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_04 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_05 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_06 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_07 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_08 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_09 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_10 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_11 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_12 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
PR_13 No No Yes Yes Yes
PR_14 No No Yes Yes Yes
PR_15 No No No Yes Yes
PR_16 No No No Yes Yes
PR_17 No No No No No
PR_18 No No No Yes (if PR_17= no) or Yes/No (if PR_17= yes)
Yes
PR_19 No No No No Yes
PR_20 No No No No Yes
115
Table 46. Resulting answers for the dimension People.
People
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
PE_01 No special policy for skills development is established
Focus on the development of the technical skills
Staff is required to have technical and business knowledge.
Staff is required to have technical and business knowledge.
Core staff is required to have technical and business knowledge. Specialized technical skills are acquired through outsourcing.
PE_02 No An IT manager who is responsible for the IS/IT functions also responsible for the e-business/e-commerce functions.
An IT manager who is responsible for the IS/IT functions also responsible for the e-business/e-commerce functions.
There is an e-business manager or CIO with e-business management responsibility.
The head of the e-business project is also a member of the board of directors.
PE_03 No No No Yes Yes
PE_04 No No Yes Yes Yes
PE_05 No No Yes Yes Yes
PE_06 No No No No Yes
PE_07 No No No No Yes
116
Table 47. Resulting answers for the dimension Work Environment.
Work Environment
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
WE_01 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
WE_02 E-commerce/e-business development is the responsibility of technical staff.
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be one of the many ways to reduce costs in the firm and sees expenditure on e-business/e-commerce as a cost-saving expenditure.
Management considers e-business/e-commerce to be vital for the smooth functioning of operations.
Management considers e-business as one of the vital parts of the competitive strategy.
Management considers e-business as the single most critical factor for the organization
WE_03 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
WE_04 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Table 48. Resulting answers for the sub-dimension Strategy.
Strategy
Question code \ Maturity level
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
ST_01 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ST_02 E-commerce only strategy that is not integrated with business strategy
E-commerce strategy integrated with marketing strategy.
E-commerce strategy integrated with business strategy
E-business strategy incorporated as part of the business strategy.
E-business strategy is part of the strategic business network strategy.
ST_03 No specific approach defined. No specific approach defined or
No specific approach defined or Strategic planning
Strategic planning Strategic thinking
117
Table 49. General maturity model attributes of the SMME.
Attribute \ Model
N.A. Petrachkov
Name A Situational Maturity model for E-
business
Acronym SMME
Primary source
N. A. Petrachkov, 2012
Secondary source
-
Addressed topic
Management of IT/IS
Origin Academic
Audience Management-oriented
Year of publication
2012
Development Linear
Emphasis Non-specific
Number of stages
5
118
Table 50. Maturity model design and maturity model use attributes for the SMME.
Model Attributes
Concept of maturity Composition Reliability Mutability
Pro
cess
matu
rity
Ob
ject matu
rity
Peo
ple m
aturity
Matu
rity grid
Likert-like
qu
estion
naire
CM
M-like
Verificatio
n
Valid
ation
Form
Fun
ction
ing
SMME
Method of application
Support of application
Practicality of evidence
Self-assessm
ent
Third
-party assisted
assessm
ent
Assessm
ent b
y
certified
practitio
ners
No
sup
po
rting
materials
Textual d
escrip
tion
/ han
db
oo
k
Softw
are assessm
ent to
ol
Imp
licit
recom
men
datio
ns
Explicit
recom
men
datio
ns
SMME
119
Table 51. The questionnaire for the SMME.
Quest
ion
code
Dependenc
y
General questions
(Company
introduction)
G_01 How many employees
are in your company?
{number} to define
small, large
company
G_02 What is the industry of
your company?
G_03 What is the country
that your company
operates in?
to define
developing,
developed
country
G_04 What kinds of
products are provided
by the company?
(No products,
Physical
products, Digital
products)
G_05 What kinds of services
are provided by the
company?
(No services;
Physical services;
Digital services)
Model questions
(E-business
assessment)
IT Infrastructure
ITI_0
1
Does your company
has a web site that
Yes No
120
contains information
about the company, its'
products/services?
ITI_0
2
Can customers
perform transaction
with the company
online?
Yes No
ITI_0
3
Can customers track
the status of their
orders online?
Yes No
ITI_0
4
Who makes decision
on the acquisition of
addition functionality
for the information
systems? (in form of
independent software
packages, additional
modules)
Local group of
employees
Department Central IT
department
ITI_0
5
How the need for the
additional
functionality is being
recognized?
Opinion of local
management
Opinion of the
department
In
collaboration
between
employees
and IT
department
121
ITI_0
6
What is best
represents
organization's
information system
architecture?
Independent
financial, HR
software
packages. No
centralized
storage of data.
Independent
financial, HR
software
packages.
Independent
reporting system.
No centralized
storage of data.
Information
systems for
most of the
operational
areas are
implemented.
There is a
difference in
available IT
services
between
business
units.
Front-
office and
back
office
systems
are well
integrated
(no
problems
with data
formats,
automate
d data
transfer).
Some
decision
support
systems
are
introduce
d.
The
informatio
n system
in the
organizati
on has
features of
gathering
and
processing
data from
external to
the
organizati
on
sources.
Decision
support
systems
for senior
managem
ent are
implemen
ted. Data
mining
and data
warehousi
ng
technologi
es are
used in
Informati
on
systems of
the
organizati
on are
integrated
with
informatio
n systems
of partner
organizati
ons.
Knowledg
e
managem
ent system
is
implemen
ted.
122
the
organizati
on. ERP,
CRM and
SCM
systems
are well
integrated
.
CRM
CRM
_01
Is CRM system used in
the organization?
Yes No
CRM
_02
Does customer data is
being analyzed?
Yes No
CRM
_03
CRM_02 =
Yes
How customer data is
being analyzed?
With use of the
spreadsheets or
statistical
packages
With use of
features of the
operational CRM
system
With use of
features of
analytical
CRM system
With use
of
features
of
collaborat
ive CRM
system
CRM
_04
CRM_01 =
Yes
Is CRM fully
integrated into the
Information system of
the organization?
Yes No
123
ERP
ERP_
01
What is the scope of
the implementation of
the ERP system?
Internally
developed or out-
of-the-box
independent
software
packages for
accounting/finan
ce/HR
Integrated ERP
information
system covers
such business
processes as
accounting/finan
ce/HR and order
fulfillment
(purchasing,
production,
delivery)
ERP system
covers most
of operational
business
processes.
ERP
system
covers all
operation
al
processes
include
industry-
specific
functions.
ERP_
02
What is the level of
integration between
ERP and other
information systems?
No integration. No integration. Integration
with front-
office systems
(e.g.,
ecommerce,
CRM).
Full
integratio
n with
other
informati
on
systems
in the
organizati
on (such
as SCM,
PLM)
Web 2.0
Web_
01
Does your company
use web 2.0 tools to
communicate with
customers?
Yes No
Web_ Does your company Yes No
124
02 use web 2.0 tools
internally?
Web_
03
Web_01 =
Yes
Does your company
has a person who is
responsible for the use
of Web 2.0 tools to
communicate with
customers?
Yes No
Web_
04
Do customers see
personalized
recommendations and
content when they log
on to the web site?
No Only some
personalized
content (e.g.,
new news since
last login)
Personalized
recommendat
ions based on
the purchase
history and
customer'
preferences.
Web_
05
ITI_01 = Yes Can customers write
reviews on the website
for products\services?
Yes No
Web_
06
ITI_01 = Yes Can customers rate
products\services on
the website?
Yes No
Web_
07
Does your company
gather and analyze
data from the
Internet?
No Sometimes (by
particular
departments or
for particular
topics)
Yes. With use
of specialized
tools (e.g.,
opinion
mining).
Web_
08
Does you company use
Web 2.0 tools to
collaborate with other
companies?
Yes No
125
Processes
PR_0
1
Does your company
explicitly use specific
practices for e-
commerce/e-business
implementation?
Yes No
PR_0
2
Are specific goals for e-
business/e-commerce
projects are
formulated?
Yes No
PR_0
3
For each e-
commerce/e-business
project is the scope of
the work is identified
and outcomes are
defined?
Yes No
PR_0
4
Have your company
established a policy for
planning and
performing e-
commerce/e-business
activities?
Yes No
PR_0
5
Have you company
established objectives,
requirements and
plans for the e-
commerce/e-business
activities?
Yes No
PR_0
6
Does your company
provide adequate
Yes No
126
resources for
performing the e-
commerce/e-business
activities?
PR_0
7
Have you company
assigned responsibility
for performing the e-
commerce/e-business
activities?
Yes No
PR_0
8
Does your company
provide training for
people who are
involved in
supporting/performin
g the e-commerce/e-
business activities?
Yes No
PR_0
9
Have relevant
stakeholders are being
identified and involved
in the e-commerce/e-
business activities?
Yes No
PR_1
0
PR_05 = Yes Does e-commerce/e-
business process is
being monitored
against the plan and
corrected when
needed?
Yes No
PR_1
1
PR_05 = Yes Does the e-
commerce/e-business
process has been
Yes No
127
evaluated against
requirements,
objectives and
standards and non-
compliance has been
reported?
PR_1
2
Is senior management
involved into
reviewing the
activities, status and
results of the e-
commerce/e-business
process?
Yes No
PR_1
3
Have you company
established the
description of a
defined e-business
process and this
description is being
maintained
(periodically
updated)?
Yes No
PR_1
4
Does your company
collect measures,
measurement results,
and improvement
information derived
from planning and
performing the e-
business process for
future improvement of
Yes No
128
the organization's
processes?
PR_1
5
Have your company
established
quantitative objectives
for the e-business
process about quality
and process
performance based on
customer needs and
business objectives
and these objectives
are being maintained?
Yes No
PR_1
6
Is the performance of
one of more sub-
processes of the e-
business process has
been stabilized so it is
possible to determine
its ability to achieve
established
quantitative quality
and process
performance
objectives?
Yes No
PR_1
7
Have your company
performed re-
engineering of
business processes
Yes No
129
before the
implementation of the
e-business project?
PR_1
8
Have your company
performed re-
engineering of
business processes
after the
implementation of the
e-business process (or
after the beginning of
the e-business
project)?
Yes No
PR_1
9
Have your company
ensured the
continuous
improvement of the e-
business process in
fulfilling the relevant
business goals of the
organization?
Yes No
PR_2
0
Is it possible to
identify root causes of
problems in the e-
business process and
correct them?
Yes No
130
G_04 =
Tangible
products
SCM
SCM_
01
Have your company
defined and
documented basic
SCM processes?
Yes No
SCM_
02
Is SCM recognized as a
strategic tool in your
company?
Yes No
SCM_
03
What is the level of
cooperation in the
SCM domain between
your company,
vendors, and
customers?
No defined
collaboration
activity
Teams that share
common
measures and
goals
Shared
business
process
Multi-
firm SCM
team with
common
processes,
goals and
broad
authority
SCM_
04
Does your company
focus on the
continuous
improvement of the
SCM process (such as
elimination of the root
cause and performance
improvements)?
Yes No
131
SCM_
05
What is the level of
implementation of the
SCM practices?
No best practices
recognized
Basic practices Advanced
SCM
practices
(such as
collaborative
forecasting,
planning with
customers
and
suppliers).
SCM_
06
Do SCM teams set
goals and achieve
them?
Yes No
SCM_
07
Is SCM process
performance is very
predictable and targets
are reliably
achievable?
Yes No
SCM_
08
Are performance and
reliability of the multi-
firm supply chain
system are measured?
Yes No
People
PE_0
1
In what way e-business
related skills are
developed in your
company?
No special policy
for skills
development is
established
Only specialized
skills are trained
when needed
Focus on the
development
of the
technical
skills
Staff is
required
to have
technical
and
business
Core staff
is
required
to have
technical
and
132
knowledg
e.
business
knowledge
.
Specialize
d
technical
skills are
acquired
through
outsourci
ng.
PE_0
2
PR_07 = Yes What is the level of the
person who is
responsible for e-
business/e-commerce
development?
An IT manager
who is
responsible for
the IS/IT
functions also
responsible for
the e-business/e-
commerce
functions.
There is an e-
commerce/e-
business project
manager with
middle
management
status.
There is an e-
business
manager or
CIO with e-
business
management
responsibility
.
The head
of the e-
business
project is
also a
member
of the
board of
directors.
PE_0
3
Does e-business
function in your
company recognized as
an integral part of the
company?
Yes No
PE_0
4
Does staff involved in
the e-commerce/e-
business process also
involved in the process
Yes No
133
of
capturing/documentin
g their knowledge and
experience with e-
commerce/e-business
related work?
PE_0
5
Does experienced e-
business/e-commerce
has responsibility for
providing guidance for
the new employees?
Yes No
PE_0
6
Does your company
uses outsourcing for
staff management?
Yes No
PE_0
7
Does your company
has an alliance with
other organizations to
share e-business
function and e-
business staff?
Yes No
Work Environment
WE_
01
Does your company
have a formal structure
for e-commerce/e-
business function?
Yes No
134
WE_
02
What is the position of
the e-commerce/e-
business function in
the organization?
No dedicated
position. E-
commerce/e-
business
considered of
little importance.
E-commerce/e-
business
development is
the responsibility
of technical staff.
Management
considers e-
business/e-
commerce to
be one of the
many ways to
reduce costs
in the firm
and sees
expenditure
on e-
business/e-
commerce as
a cost-saving
expenditure.
Managem
ent
considers
e-
business/
e-
commerc
e to be
vital for
the
smooth
functioni
ng of
operation
s.
Managem
ent
considers
e-business
as one of
the vital
parts of
the
competitiv
e strategy.
Managem
ent
considers
e-business
as the
single
most
critical
factor for
the
organizati
on
WE_
03
Does your company
have established
organization-wide
architecture of the e-
commerce/e-business
function?
Yes No
WE_
04
Does your company
have established
standards for e-
commerce/e-business
related functions?
(such as data transfer,
security)
Yes No
135
Strategy
ST_0
1
Does your company
have established e-
commerce/e-business
strategy?
Yes No
ST_0
2
ST_01 = Yes What is the level of
development of the e-
commerce/e-business
strategy?
E-commerce only
strategy that is
not integrated
with business
strategy
E-commerce
strategy
integrated with
marketing
strategy.
E-commerce
strategy
integrated
with business
strategy
E-
business
strategy
incorpora
ted as
part of
the
business
strategy.
E-
business
strategy is
part of the
strategic
business
network
strategy.
ST_0
3
What is the approach
to form strategy in
your company?
No specific
approach
defined.
Strategic
planning
Strategic
thinking
136
Figure 5. E-business structure as depicted by Chaffey [9]
137
Figure 6. E-business architecture as depicted by Kalakota [46]
138
Figure 7. E-business architecture according to Papazoglou and Ribbers [69]
139
Expert feedback #1 “Capgemini” (interview notes)
The dimensions of the situational maturity model for e-business are not balanced.
The IT Infrastructure dimension has 3 sub-dimensions, while Processes and Work
Environment has only one and the dimension People has no sub-dimensions. For
example, for dimension Processes could there be such sub-dimensions as CRM
processes, Service processes, Marketing processes? For dimension Work
Environment could there be such sub-dimensions as Culture, Business/IT
alignment? For the dimension IT Infrastructure could there be sub-dimension of
Business intelligence (BI), Business Process Management (BPM)?
In the research the influence of such contemporary technologies as cloud computing,
mobile commerce, and tablet PCs is not covered. Also it would be nice to take into
account the process of globalization.
It is not explicitly stated from which perspective the assessment is being done. From
the historical perspective identified levels are not in the correct order. The social
commerce stage should happen after the e-business stage. From the perspective of
modern possibilities it is possible that identified stages are in the correct order. It
should be stated explicitly which perspective is adopted in the research.
The GPIS model and the process of levels definition should be explained in more
details. It is not clear how levels were obtained.
In general, the situational maturity model for e-business is aligned to the underlying