As a foreword, here we publish an email letter of Late Professor Herb Simon, Nobel Laureate, that he wrote on the occasion ofthe death of the fatherofa friend. This letterofcondolence, more than any other wisdom, tells about the essence of the process of scientific creation, which is so important for both, the specific subject being covered by this book, and for the general science. When asked to address an SSGRR conference in Italy, prior to his death, Professor Herb Simon agreed that these lines be presented to all those who are interested in understanding the real essence oftheir own scientific struggle. Dear Professor Milutinovic: I want to extend my deepest sympathy to you and your family on the death of your father. His career was a very distinguished one, and his life spanned a most complex and difficult sequence of epochs in your country's history. Our generation (I am just a year younger than he was), like all its predecessors, leaves many tasks - hopefully no more than it inherited - for the next generation to take up; but even knowing that it must be so does not remove one's senseofloss in the parting.

The internet has changed the way consumers interact with companies. Businesses must maintain good levels of customer service in a digital world where old strategies may no longer suffice. This book explores what the successful compliance-centred businesses are doing to manage and improve customer experience.

Sustainable development is a highly topical issue and is of critical importance to tourism as the environment is of utmost importance for the continued development and prosperity of the industry. There have been numerous texts written on sustainable tourism and the measures to mitigate and manage this but none which acknowledges Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a mechanism of doing so despite being an emerging area of research. ICT in this context refers to innovative tools which form an integrated system of software and networked equipment that facilitates data processing information sharing communication and the ability to search and select from an existing range of products and services for an organisation s benefits. Despite the symbiotic relationship, which exists between ICT and sustainable tourism, there has been little research, which has considered how the use of such technology can be used to make sustainable tourism development a more workable reality.

This opportune book is the first to provide a focus on the interrelationship of these two important topics demonstrating their synergies and providing insight into a new and innovative approach to managing sustainable tourism development. It considers the use of technology to reduce the negative impacts of tourism from both the demand and supply side perspectives. A critical review of a range of cutting edge technologies used by tourists and businesses to assess their usefulness in managing sustainable tourism development from the macro to the micro level is also discussed. It further integrates examples and practical applications to show how ICT can be an invaluable mechanism in the management of sustainable tourism development.

This cutting-edge volume provides a wealth of information on an important yet neglected subject. This book will be invaluable reading for students, researchers, academics and members of the tourism industry looking for new and innovate ways of fostering a more sustainable tourism industry.

Build your DTC brand by learning from the best. As consumer buying habits continue to shift, more and more brands are turning their attention to e-commerce and selling direct. However, few manage to succeed at scale. Overcome the challenges of the ever-increasing cost of marketing, the demands of customer service, complicated logistical requirements and the perils of selecting the right technology by learning from the DTC pioneers who have got it right. Read the founding stories, strategies, failures and eventual success of DTC brands such as Huel, graze, Snag, tails.com, Who Gives a Crap, Casper, Lick, allplants, Bloom & Wild and more to discover: * How they got started, what worked then and what works now * The importance of building a community and how to use data * When to consider going multichannel * Why you need a bulletproof brand * Navigating funding, margins, growth, customer service and product development and more For the first time, the best in class of DTC share their playbooks so that you can understand and build on their successes.

In the world of web design, if one wants to create a successful web site, one needs an effective content strategy. Return on Engagement shows web designers and developers how to implement an effective content strategy and how to stay ahead in the rapidly changing industry of web design. It presents best practices in terms of web design through a marketing function: content strategy, SEO, social media marketing, and success measurement to help web designers implement a strategy that ensures success for the site they are building. Return on Engagement shows web designers and developers how to not just design an aesthetically pleasing, functional website. This book shows those professionals how to implement marketing strategies and analysis into their website, thus ensuring its success. Nearly 3 years since the previous edition published, new best practices have been formed. Tools in which web developers use to analyze website metrics have advanced. New social media networks and communities have cropped up. New research in how audiences read and receive content has been done, subsequently refining best digital marketing practices. Return on Engagement features a step-by-step breakdown of how to use new tools, techniques, and technologies. The new edition also includes updated case studies of industry leaders who implement best practices on projects. Return on Engagement also features a regularly updated companion site that offers readers sample content, easy sharing tools, and web-based resources to help measure marketing viability of web properties.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 5th International Conference on E-Technologies, MCETECH 2011, held in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, January 23-26, 2011. Originally 10 papers were selected from a total of 32 submissions. Seven additional papers were included following a second round of reviewing and improvement.The papers in this volume cover topics such as process modeling, organizational transformation, e-Business, e-Government, e-Education, and e-Health.

Stand Out!! uncovers the secrets of brand success and explores less travelled paths in the world of branding.This book: uncovers the secrets of brand success introduces 'Generation B' - today's generation of brand natives challenges current paradigms reveals the roots and rationale of financial brand valuation presents a range of popular valuation methods and approaches explains the conditions for brand value growth The forces that challenge brand strategy planning today are discussed in the context of our new world order of diversifying media platforms and integrated, synchronized, personalized communication. In light of this, Stand Out!! makes the case for ongoing brand stewardship in the life of an organization and concludes with a focus on brand leadership and the key principles, truths and challenges that influence brand success. This book is a key reference text for anyone interested in brand development, leadership, innovation, and sustainable business growth. Reader understanding is enhanced by: supporting tables illustrative charts case examples expert tips real-life experiences pull-out quotes "word wizard" brand glossaries Stand Out!! is an invaluable resource for the business masses - for any business owner, executive, student or branding practitioner seeking to be apprised of the latest learnings, insights and innovations in professional brand thinking and practice.

A multidisciplinary and transversal study of issues for governments, regulatory authorities and international business. Written for academics and professionals alike it explores the main themes of economic growth and sustainable development; trade, law and regulation, and competitive and managerial issues for international firms.

Claudio Ciborra was one of the most innovative thinkers in the field of information systems. This book explains the intellectual contribution of Ciborra's work in a substantial introductory chapter, contains the most significant of his articles, and provides a sample of research that draws from his ideas.

The 7th Workshop on e-Business (WeB 2008) was held on December 13, 2008, in Paris. As a pre-ICIS workshop, it provided an open forum for e-business - searchersandpractitionerstoshareresearch?ndings,explorenovelideas,discuss success stories and lessons learned, and map out major challenges with regard to the design of e-business systems. The workshop theme was "Designing e-Business Systems: Markets, Services and Networks." With WeB 2008 having been located in Europe, we wanted to highlight the increasing importance of the design science approach for infor- tionsystemsresearch,which hasa longtraditionin theEuropeanIS community. We received a large number of submissions that addressed key issues speci?c to the workshop theme as well as e-business in general. Based on a rigorous review process, a total of 31 full papers and 30 research-in-progresspapers were accepted for presentation at the workshop, covering a broad range of technical, empirical, managerial,and economic aspects of e-business. Of the 31 full papers, 17 selected papers are contained in this volume of Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. We hope that you will ?nd them an interesting read and that you will bene? t from the authors' ?ne contributions.

This is the first book treatment on two "hot button" topics in Information Systems, Computer Science and Education: the application of web technology for educational use. The result is a thorough and highly useful presentation on the confluence of the technical aspects of the Semantic Web and the field of Education or the art of teaching. The book will interest researchers and students in the fields of Information Systems, Computer Science, and Education.

After the initial enthusiastic initiatives and investments and the eventual bubble, el- tronic commerce (EC) has changed and evolved into a well-established and founded reality both from a technological point of view and from a scientific one. Nevert- less, together with its evolution, new challenges and topics have emerged as well as new questions have been raised related to many aspects of EC. Keeping in mind the experience and the tradition of the past editions of EC-Web, we tried, for its 10th edition, to introduce some meaningful innovations about the structure and the sci- tific organization of the conference. Our main target was to highlight the autonomous role of the different (sometimes heterogeneous) aspects of EC, without missing their interdisciplinary scope. This required the conference to be organized into four "mi- conferences," each for a relevant area of EC and equipped with a corresponding Area Chair. Both the submission and the review process took into account the organization into four tracks, namely: "Service-Oriented E-Commerce and Business Processes," "Recommender Systems," "E-Payment, Security and Trust" and "Electronic C- merce and Web 3. 0. " Therefore, the focus of the conference was to cover aspects related to the theoretical foundation of EC, business processes as well as new - proaches exploiting recently emerged technologies and scenarios such as the Semantic Web, Web services, SOA architectures, mobile and ubiquitous computing, just to cite a few.

This volume analyzes strategic marketing approaches on the basis of both marketing theory and international case studies. Its systematic study of Internet commerce models should allow any company to better organize their business and understand where their sources of revenue come from. It offers an assessment of a rapidly growing area, covering current models and showing how they have fared in practice. The book also provides an analytical assessment of the marketplace for business-to-business electronic commerce strategies and Includes recommendations for the implementation of a marketing strategy for business-to-business e-commerce.

Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid proliferation of eGovernance for Development projects. Drawing on evidence from three longitudinal case studies of rural eGovernance projects this book shows that improving systems of governance is fundamentally a social rather than managerial or technological activity.

In Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe, Michele Finck examines the relationship between blockchain technology and EU law and introduces the theme of blockchain governance. The book provides a general introduction to blockchains as both a regulatable and a regulatory technology and outlines the interaction between distributed ledger technology and specific areas of EU law, such as the General Data Protection Regulation. It should be read by anyone interested in EU law, the relationship between law, innovation and technology, and technology governance.

This book takes a comprehensive look at Magento, a robust and flexible e-commerce platform built on the Zend framework. With more than 750,000 downloads, Magento is the fastest growing open source e-commerce solution. This book walks you through all of the steps necessary to build a fully functional Magento-based web site. It also includes information on managing products, customers, and orders. This book is directed at web site designers and developers, but will also be extremely useful for business owners who have web sites built on the Magento platform.Introduces you to Magento, the fastest-growing open-source e-commerce platform Demonstrates how to configure and use Magento Covers how to customize Magento and develop extensions for the Magento platform What you'll learn How to install and set up a Magento based e-commerce web site How to effectively manage products, customers, and orders How to sell products through Magento How to design a custom Magento web site How to add content to your Magento web site How to create your own Magento extensions Who this book is for

Current and prospective web site designers and web developers, andsmall business owners who want an online presence. Table of Contents Introduction to Magento Installing Magento The Public Interface Walk-through The Administration Interface Walk-through Working with Products Working with Customers Working with Orders Configuring Magento Customizing Magento's Appearance Magento Extensions Application Programming Interface (API)Tips and Tricks

Learning how to build useful e-commerce applications is challenging and exciting because it involves knowing a little about a lot of different computing technologies including networking, security, programming, human computer interface design and database design. This is a book that brings breadth in its coverage of technologies and discusses how to integrate them to achieve business aims.

It covers the full range of relevant web technologies and protocols and it focuses particularly on techniques that are most suitable for e-commerce application building.

"highly recommendable ...The major strength of the book is the fact that it is comprehensive, and that by following the code examples, readers will be able to actually see how e-commerce web sites can be put together. "
Fintan Clear , Brunel University

"the text clearly provides an extremely full and appropriate coverage of the issues. As such it has major market potential as a core text for both postgraduate and undergraduate e-commerce programmes."
Ian Chaston, Reader in Management University of Plymouth, UK

"a very comprehensive and up to date description of the use of the internet to buy and sell goods and services. It covers all the major types of e-commerce, Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), Consumer to Business (C2B) and Consumer to Consumer (C2C)."
David Wortley, Mass Mitec.

"the technical content is excellent"
Maxime Bombardier, Senior Computer Systems Analyst, Sintaks, a Canon USA Division

This book examines the developments in electronic markets in relation to three key areas: online retailing, electronic collaboration and electronic marketplaces. Each chapter is authored by leaders in their field providing cutting edge perspectives on how to take advantage of electronic markets.

Discover how blockchain will facilitate a new currency that will transcend space and time Largely inspired by The Denationalization of Money by Fredrich Hayek, Money Without Boundaries' ideological foundation is also inspired by economists and thought leaders like Milton Friedman and Irving Fisher, advancements in capital markets over the past 50 years, and the convergence of old and new technologies. Author Thomas J. Anderson explains how blockchain acts as the filter and the glue, making it all possible. Compared with other currencies, blockchain-managed money markets are more straightforward and transparent. It is easier to monitor, understand, and assess the quality of their "full-faith and credit." Money Without Boundaries shows how not only money, but also the process of borrowing and lending, will evolve to be conducted in a 100% trusted, secure, transparent, open architecture environment. Anderson begins with a history of money and discusses the rise of cryptocurrency, concluding with a comparison of decentralized money markets to all other alternatives. Money without Boundaries: - Demonstrates how blockchain technology allows full transparency - Explains how blockchain makes it possible for money to be fully commoditized - Explains how this fully market-based, decentralized, self-regulating system has vast implications throughout the global financial system - Shows how everyone will benefit when they have the opportunity to compete on "full faith in credit" If you are interested in cryptocurrency, money, monetary theory, or understanding how the applied uses of blockchain technology will change your everyday life, this is essential reading.

Retailers are in difficult times. The recession, global competition, government regulation and the growth of the Internet mean that costs are rising but margins are increasingly squeezed. Cor Molenaar's Shopping 3.0 offers an engaging, convincing and well-researched manifesto for the future of retailing; a manifesto which encourages retailers to switch their approach from a strategy that is based around transactions to one that is based around customers. Logic dictates that there is no one single strategy that will work for all retailers; some of them may indeed benefit from investing in e-retailing solutions and the Internet but for others, success will lie in developing a service based on customer experience or one with some apparently bespoke elements; a strategy to appeal to customers as individuals. Shopping 3.0 examines all these changes. It sketches the world of consumers; those who make their purchases from the comfort of their armchair and those who enjoy shopping with friends. Cor Molenaar explores the impact of changing consumer attitudes to shopping; the role of new technology in future retailing and the changing face of both city centre and out of town shops and malls. Shopping 3.0 offers a welcome helping hand for retailers, both physical and web-based shopkeepers; something to help you make sense of the ongoing revolution in shopping and to plan or adjust your business strategy to enable you not just to survive but to thrive in a world that will look very different in a few years time.

GECON - Grid Economics and Business Models Cloud computing is seen by many people as the natural evolution of Grid computing concepts. Both, for instance, rely on the use of service-based approaches for pro- sioning compute and data resources. The importance of understanding business m- els and the economics of distributed computing systems and services has generally remained unchanged in the move to Cloud computing. This understanding is nec- sary in order to build sustainable e-infrastructure and businesses around this paradigm of sharing Cloud services. Currently, only a handful of companies have created s- cessful businesses around Cloud services. Among these, Amazon and Salesforce (with their offerings of Elastic Compute Cloud and force. com among other offerings) are the most prominent. Both companies understand how to charge for their services and how to enable commercial transactions on them. However, whether a wide-spread adoption of Cloud services will occur has to seen. One key enabler remains the ability to support suitable business models and charging schemes that appeal to users o- sourcing (part of) their internal business functions. The topics that have been addressed by the authors of accepted papers reflect the above-described situation and the need for a better understanding of Grid economics. The topics range from market mechanisms for trading computing resources, capacity planning, tools for modeling economic aspects of service-oriented systems, archit- tures for handling service level agreements, to models for economically efficient resource allocation.

Virtual worlds such as Second Life, have millions of users worldwide. Virtual world "residents" wield huge purchasing power, and use real money in the online economies. Companies as diverse as Adidas, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and MTV have plunged into these unchartered waters to give their brands a virtual presence, using varied strategies.

This book presents the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Digital Business (TrustBus 2009), held in Linz, Austria d- ing September 3-4, 2009. The conference continues from previous events held in Zaragoza (2004), Copenhagen (2005), Krakow (2006), Regensburg (2007) and Turin (2008). The advances in the information and communication technologies (ICT) have raised new opportunities for the implementation of novel applications and the pro- sion of high-quality services over global networks. The aim is to utilize this 'infor- tion society era' for improving the quality of life for all citizens, disseminating knowledge, strengthening social cohesion, generating earnings and finally ensuring that organizations and public bodies remain competitive in the global electronic m- ketplace. Unfortunately, such a rapid technological evolution cannot be problem free. Concerns are raised regarding the 'lack of trust' in electronic procedures and the - tent to which 'information security' and 'user privacy' can be ensured. TrustBus 2009 brought together academic researchers and industry developers, who discussed the state of the art in technology for establishing trust, privacy and security in digital business. We thank the attendees for coming to Linz to participate and debate the new emerging advances in this area.