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Demonstrates the usefulness of the traditional marketing model in developing e‐commerce marketing strategies. Discusses four e‐commerce frameworks and integrates them with the traditional marketing model (product, price, promotion, and distribution) to develop a complete framework. Discusses how the e‐commerce strategies could be applied to a real company using the integrated model.

Marketing concepts and definitions have remained relatively unchanged until recently. Electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) has forced marketing managers to reevaluate how, when and to what extent they interact with their customers. This paper is focused on the role of specific marketing concepts and how eCRM has enhanced or altered each concept. Every topic discussed is illustrated with current business examples. Several examples from the business trade press are used to illustrate the success an organization can achieve when using eCRM to enhance marketing skills.

How do online customers judge a product's attributes in cyberspace? Previous studies of online product category suggest that all goods are not equal on the Web, because products have different attributes. Furthermore, the literature assumes that the customer's ability to evaluate product quality on the Web differs according to product attributes. Based on these considerations, the purpose of this study is to determine whether a customer's dissatisfaction and propensity to complain on the Web differ depending on product category. This study examines how selected variables (i.e. monetary, and non‐monetary effort, and the degree of involvement) influenced the impact of product category on customer dissatisfaction. The analysis was performed using survey data, collected both online and offline. The findings suggest the most appropriate strategies online companies should employ for each product category in question.

Electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) has become the latest paradigm in the world of customer relationship management. Recent business surveys suggest that up to 50 per cent of such implementations do not yield measurable returns on investment. A secondary analysis of 13 case studies suggests that many of these limited success implementations can be attributed to usability and resistance factors. The objective of this paper is to review the general usability and resistance principles in order to build an integrative framework for analyzing eCRM case studies. The conclusions suggest that if organizations want to get the most from their eCRM implementations they need to revisit the general principles of usability and resistance and apply them thoroughly and consistently.

Platform‐independent low‐cost instant messaging (IM) may allow small businesses with limited financial and technical resources to communicate and collaborate internally and externally. Little research has been done investigating IM in the small business context. This study seeks to address this research gap and to investigate how small businesses respond to and actively exploit the opportunities brought by IM.

Two comparative case studies were conducted with two US small businesses. The research sites were selected based on the companies' IM usage pattern. Multiple data collecting methods were used including observation, interview, and IM transcripts. Open coding and qualitative data analysis were employed to get rich descriptive findings about IM usage.

IM was found beneficial to small businesses in several ways. The IM usage management is more a managerial issue than a technical one and a set of organizational and managerial factors were identified critical to the achievements of these benefits.

This paper addresses a research gap and investigates the under‐researched IM management issue. The study shows that creative and constructive usage of IM could bring a variety of organizational benefits to small businesses. The findings of this study provide guidance to IM researchers and small business practitioners as to how small businesses can manage IM to exploit its benefits. The comparative study method employed by this study also identifies situations where the utility of IM usage could be limited.

The guest‐editors of the first Special Issue on E‐Collaboration provide an introduction to the issue. E‐collaboration is broadly defined as collaboration among individuals engaged in a common task using electronic technologies. A brief history of the evolution of e‐collaboration technologies is offered along with a discussion of research in the area. The paper concludes with a brief review of the contributions to the Special Issue and a look at one important future challenge for e‐collaboration researchers, the challenge of theoretical summarization.

Efforts made in extant literature to link the components of customer relationship management (CRM) strategy to its implementation are insufficient. This paper aims to provide insights on the core components of CRM and the implementation of CRM strategy.

A case study of CRM implementation at a large Swedish firm was carried out using open‐ended, face‐to‐face and telephone interview methods to collect data from key informants at both strategic and operative levels. The empirical studies focused on technical and cognitive aspects necessary for successful implementation of a sustainable CRM strategy.

Results show that relationships are not only a tactical weapon, but represent a different, strategic approach to buyer‐seller exchange. Findings also show that implementing sustainable CRM strategy requires the endorsement by and commitment from top management, systematic cross‐functional communication, and mandatory customer loyalty training programmes for all employees.

Attempts made in extant literature to define CRM have been varied. A theoretical model on which future empirical analysis should be based when conceptualizing CRM should consist of a business strategy, a business philosophy and a database application, thereby forming a tripod.

CRM is a strategic business and process issue, not merely a technology solution as most often conceived in practice. The CRM process is a continuous learning process where information about individual customer is transformed into a customer relationship.

A process‐oriented integrative framework that facilitate successful implementation of a sustainable CRM strategy. It links components of CRM strategy with the key dimension of its implementation. The depth of the anchorage of this paper in the body of literature is a contribution.