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This paper outlines the rationale behind the development of a course aimed at university lecturers wishing to use the Internet for teaching and learning. It evaluates some of the potential benefits of using the Internet and assesses lecturers’ concerns about exploiting this teaching resource. It covers the design and development of the course. Finally, it considers some important points lecturers should bear in mind before embarking on using the Internet for teaching and learning.

The projected sales potential for Internet commerce indicates that businesses must understand those consumer characteristics that will influence consumer adoption of this medium for shopping. An empirical study conducted here (n = 403) investigates the extent to which open‐processing (more general innovativeness) and domain‐specific innovativeness explain the conditions under which consumers move from general Internet usage to a product purchase via the Internet. The results of our study find that generally higher amounts of Internet use (for non‐shopping activities) are associated with an increased amount of Internet product purchases. Importantly, however, this relationship is moderated by domain‐specific but not general innovativeness. Implications for business practice and academic research are provided.

This study explores the relevance of the value chain concept in internet‐driven business and assesses the extent to which businesses utilize the internet from a value chain perspective. It attempts to answer the following three questions: is the value chain concept relevant and applicable to the internet as a means of understanding the internet? To what extent do organizations utilize the internet according to a value chain perspective? Does the business use of the internet change over time?

To answer these questions, a longitudinal survey study was conducted over a two‐year period. The first study collected data from 110 firms on the way they utilize the internet. Two years later, a similar survey was conducted with 70 firms using the same instrument used in the first study.

The study provided empirical support for the use of the value chain concept as a viable taxonomy for assessing the level of adoption of the internet. The study also provided a time‐lapsed glimpse of how organizations evolve in adopting the internet.

One of the shortcomings of the study is in the sampling process, although various measures were taken to ensure that the data represent a wide range of organizations, so that the findings can be reasonably generalizable.

The most important practical contribution of the study is that it provides practitioners with a tool to systematically plan and deploy an ever‐increasing array of internet applications. The internet value chain model should provide organizations with a strategic and macro perspective to evaluate and manage various internet applications.

An important contribution of this study is that it empirically observed the evolution of the internet practices in business according to the value chain framework. There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence of changes in the way business utilizes the internet, but no study has empirically assessed these changes systematically based on a theoretical framework. The study provides a valuable theoretical framework for researchers to continuously accumulate knowledge on the use of the internet in business.

This paper is based on a Master’s dissertation whose objective was to determine the purpose for which students of the University of Dar es Salaam use the Internet (see www.udsm.ac.tz/). It was to determine if students were using the Internet for academic purposes. The study also investigated the level of students’ access to the Internet, as well as the problems students faced in Internet use. The web site has specific information on faculties, institutes, and departments, including training programmes. The Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) has been installed at the Main Campus and UCLAS libraries, replacing the manual card catalogues. The OPAC has simple and advanced search options, using ADLID software. Plans are underway to convert the manual catalogue of MUCHS library into an online catalogue. The survey method was used as the basic method for data collection, employing the questionnaire and the interview. Participant observation and focus group discussion are other methods used. The study revealed that the level of students’ access to the Internet was low, and the major reason was that at the time of the study, computers with Internet facilities were inadequate. The findings also revealed that the students who had access to the Internet were not using it effectively. They used it mainly for communication with friends and relatives more than for academic purposes. The cause of this was found to be lack of skills required for effective use of the internet. The study recommends the provision of more computers with Internet facilities, increasing Internet access speed, as well as providing more chances of training in Internet use.

Much attention, both within the popular media and the academic milieu, is devoted to presenting a very positive image of the Internet in terms of its usefulness and its importance within the business environment of the 1990s. The above statements convey that any company can ill afford not to have a presence on the Internet. The objective of this paper is to establish whether a strategic intention exists for companies being on the Internet or whether there is an element of ‘keeping up with the Jones's’. This has been achieved by undertaking investigative research in order to establish the reason why companies, who already have a presence on the Internet, have selected to be there. The research will concentrate on clothing retailers operating within the UK marketplace. In all, it is hoped that this research will go some way to offering a more focused view on the use of the Internet and its potential as part of a viable strategy for clothing retail marketing.

The purpose of this study is to examine the internet marketing literature to determine how internet marketing research has evolved in terms of quantity, content, and publication outlets. In addition, the paper identifies important trends in the internet marketing literature and provides a view of the research gaps and expected topical areas of interest.

A content analysis was performed on approximately 1,400 internet‐related marketing articles identified by searching the ABI/INFORM database. A total of 902 peer‐reviewed internet marketing articles appearing in nearly 80 different journals were identified. The study revealed that 60 percent of the internet research had been published in the last three years. The three most researched internet marketing areas were consumer behavior, internet strategy, and internet communications. The topics with the highest growth over the past two years were research issues and consumer search. Over the past 15 years, 14 articles appeared in the top three marketing journals.

The article identified important trends in the internet marketing research to provide future direction, particularly in terms of research gaps and expected topical areas of interest. The three major research areas that are likely to grow in the next few years are: consumer trust pertaining to the internet, the use of the internet by consumers for marketing related activities, and where is the internet headed in terms of integrating strategies?

The study provides both academics and practitioners with an updated review of the internet marketing literature along with a sense of how internet marketing research is evolving.

This study seeks to explore how students are increasingly using the Internet to support instruction and research needs in addition to heavy e‐mail usage. The extension of this research suggests more positive impact from the Internet in almost every aspect of academic life and suggests the need for more access at reduced costs on and near this campus.

A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of students about their internet practices.

Students are now coming to university with more background in technology and the role of the internet and other ICTs. The demand for internet service will continue to grow and how the university should respond to meet this greater demand is the focus of this research.

Study suggests that the impact of the ICTs and internet service for e‐mail and other research activities related to the role of studying suggests that access is a key problem that must be scaled better so that students and faculty have improved access. This situation should continue to be monitored and the study suggests that more and more university affiliates will need improved access to internet resources.

The Internet, which began as a communication network controlled by the US Government, is a free and open international information superhighway. The number of Internet users and the variety of information found on the network have grown dramatically in the last decade. This rapid growth also occurred with minimal control of content or acceptable uses of the Internet. This study was designed to investigate the future of Internet regulation. Surveys were sent out to 510 Internet providers in 40 countries. Respondents indicated that some regulation may be necessary, but the cultural diversity in the world will make it difficult to implement.

The Internet is promised a brilliant future among the favorite tools of marketing researchers. Develops a typology of Internet marketing surveys showing the existence of eight different designs that can be used by marketers. However, researchers who plan to develop research using the Internet need to be aware of several problems related to this new tool. In particular we show that the nature of the Internet creates different sampling problems. To identify these problems, a seven‐step procedure following the steps of the sampling process is proposed. Several practical problems are then discussed.

The findings of a study by Auger and Gallaugher (1997), in addition to suppositions and anecdotal evidence provided in a number of articles, suggest that there may be key areas of difference as well as similarities in Internet usage patterns among small and mid‐sized businesses. Since large businesses are both potential customers of and suppliers to small to mid‐sized businesses, it is important to understand their Internet usage patterns as well. The study was designed as a preliminary examination contrasting such usage among large and small and mid‐sized owner‐operated firms. Study findings suggest mid‐sized businesses may be at a competitive disadvantage in their current operational use of the Internet. Small businesses in the study were more likely than mid‐sized or large firms to have a home page and to reveal computer/technology programs as potential Internet services needed to improve current operations. Future research must continue to examine the role the Internet can play in allowing small and mid‐sized businesses to be more competitive in today’s technology based global environment.