Factors affecting evaluation of e‐business projects

Abstract

Purpose

Despite rapid expansion of e‐business, the research on corresponding evaluation is relatively rare. This paper studies the factors that impact how companies evaluate their e‐business projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Paper starts with conceptualization of factors that affect the usage of e‐business evaluation. The empirical part is based on representative telephone survey (n=755) among Slovenian companies in 2003. The causal model (LISREL) was applied on this data.

Findings

Only about one tenth of the companies with sizeable e‐business projects employs some type of formal e‐business evaluation. One reason for that might be high satisfaction with e‐business. Among formal methods return on investments and cost benefit analysis dominate. However, once a company decides to apply evaluation approach it will use more methods, usually three or four. The attitudes towards e‐business are the most important factors affecting the implementation of e‐business evaluation methods. Surprisingly little differences were noticed in respect to the size of the company, its IT infrastructure, as well as the number and variety of e‐business projects.

Practical implications

The attitudes of the IT management are crucial for employing evaluation of e‐business projects.

Originality/value

The paper revealed that the perceptions of e‐business most strongly affect the corresponding e‐business evaluation practice. On the other hand, the high occurrence of problems related to e‐business implementation has a negative impact on the introduction of evaluation methods.

Citation

Lesjak, D. and Vehovar, V. (2005), "Factors affecting evaluation of e‐business projects", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 105 No. 4, pp. 409-428. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570510592334