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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

E-Commerce Infusion Into Business

Education—Encompassing the Realities of an

Emerging Business Model

James L. Morrison & Ganiyu Titi Oladunjoye

To cite this article: James L. Morrison & Ganiyu Titi Oladunjoye (2002) E-Commerce Infusion Into Business Education—Encompassing the Realities of an Emerging Business Model, Journal of Education for Business, 77:5, 290-295, DOI: 10.1080/08832320209599678

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832320209599678

Published online: 31 Mar 2010.

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E-Commerce Infusion Into

Business Education-

Encompassing the Realities of

an Emerging Business Model

JAMES L. MORRISON

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University of Delaware

Newark,

Delaware

GANIYU TITI OLADUNJOYE

Albany State University Albany, Georgia usiness educators and trainers must

B

scrutinize their cumculum contin- ually if they are to stay on the cutting edge. E-commerce is a relatively new marketplace phenomenon that has resulted in considerable interest among entrepreneurs as well as trainers in business and industry. An integral part of e- commerce is the capability of connect- ing to consumers electronically throughout the world by means of the

Internet.

A considerable number of

graduates of business education programs are likely to find employment in an electronic working environment designed to enhance the speed and effi- ciency of producing and disseminating products and services to consumers. Furthermore, as employees see their companies expand from bricks-and- mortar operations to ones including e- commerce practices, they will likely encounter a greater need for retraining. Therefore, e-commerce is a topic of interest to both business educators in academic institutions and trainers in business and industry.

In this study, we sought to determine the degree to which e-commerce is being integrated into academic programs, specifically by faculty in business educa-

ABSTRACT. Researchers surveyed 287 business educators regarding the

infusion of e-commerce topics such as success factors, government regula-

tion, and protection of intellectual

property, into current business education programs at both the secondary

and postsecondary levels. The survey also investigated respondents’ personal involvment in e-commerce transactions or learning. The findings suggest that e-commerce is not being highly

emphasized or integrated into existing

business education programs.

tion departments as defined by the National Business Education Associa- tion (NBEA). However, this analysis should also be beneficial to trainers in business and industry, because what students learn in today’s classrooms will likely affect training programs, which are designed to keep employees up to date. As technology becomes more user friendly, Internet applications are likely to become more important as tools for educating future workers and upgrading existing staffs. Balachandran and Smith (2000) suggested that marketing courses offer an excellent opportunity for academic institutions to merge e-commerce topics with Internet technology. E-commerce topics can be merged into the study of accounting, computing, retailing, and financial services.

Therefore, we sought to find out if and to what degree e-commerce topics have been infused into business education programs. In this research, we

defined the term

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infusion as the integra-

tion of e-commerce topics into existing curricula by means of initiating an entire course or revising an existing course for inclusion of a new segment or unit. Infusion signifies more than sim- ply discussing e-commerce for a day or 2 in an pre-existing course.

E-commerce, also known as electron- ic commerce, generally relates to the

electronic exchange of goods and services for money. Prior (1 997) stated that the Internet is the driving force behind e- commerce, in that it enables companies to buy and sell electronically with other companies as well as with consumers. Conley (2001) suggested that e-commerce offers greater speed and efficien- cy for companies to communicate with their partners, contact new consumers, and expand market share for the purpose of boosting profits. Barua and Whinston of the University of Texas (2001) stated that the Internet would enable the emer- gence of a new business model that would alter the creation, delivery, and pricing of products and services.

290 Journal

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of Education for

Business

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E-commerce has transformed the economy by changing the way that peo- ple work and consume. Many compa-

nies have adopted

business-to-business e-commerce strategies to reduce trans-

action costs. In a report on the status of e-commerce, Jupiter Media-Metrix (2000) determined that business-to- business e-commerce resulted in approximately $500 billion in transactions in 1998 alone and that this figure would likely triple by 2003. According to the National Federation of Indepen- dent Businesses (NFIB, 2001), Net use is substantial among small companies with 20 to 249 workers. In a survey of 200 firms by NFIB (2001), 70.3% of small businesses sampled used the Internet.

Another dimension of e-commerce is business-to-consumer transactions, which result in direct sales to cus- tomers. According to Barnes-Vieyra (2001), online business-to-consumer e- commerce transactions pale significantly in comparison with business-to-business commerce. Pritchett (1999) expected business-to-consumer direct sales from online transactions to increase from $40 million in 1998 to over $400 billion by the end of 2002. Similarly, the Forrester Research Group (2001) estimated that the Internet retail sales would approach $400 billion by 2002. Forrester Group also reported that the number of individuals making online purchases would likely increase from 18 million in 1998 to 128 million in 2002 and that company executives expected the Internet to have a huge impact on their sales over the next sev-

eral years.

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Study of E-Commerce in Business Education

Balachandran and Smith (2000) stated that e-commerce concepts, process- es, and procedures should be included in the business curriculum. They impled that e-commerce is one of the most relevant current trends. As an example, they suggested that security and privacy strategies are two items that need to be addressed by students as they study e-commerce practices of business. Similarly, Coomer (1998) wrote that business educators must con-

tinue to emphasize interpersonal, management, and workplace enhancement skills within the context of e-commerce. Coomer went on to stress the importance of “spiraling” these skills through e-commerce applications that move students from introductory technology to advanced critical thinking and problem solving.

Linda McGrew (2001) stated that business educators should incorporate e-commerce into curriculum plans for the 21st century. She emphasized (a) the number of venture capitalists seeking to invest in companies that are planning to go or are actively online and (b) the expansion of the World Wide Web in Europe and Asia. She suggested extend- ing basic business courses to encompass international business and global eco- nomics for assisting students to gain a more worldly perspective of both the workplace and the marketplace.

A search of the literature revealed an awareness of the need for business educators to be current regarding the rami- fications of e-commerce on company practices-and its influence on the workplace and marketplace. However, O’Neil (2001) stated that there has been little research published on what students are learning in business education classes, especially in programs in secondary school (grades 7 through 12) and community colleges. Therefore, we sought to obtain data from classroom business educators regarding the degree of integration of e-commerce topics into pre-existing courses in secondary schools, community colleges (or 2-year junior colleges), and 4-year collegiate programs.

Statement of the Problem

E-commerce strategies designed to harness the power of the Internet have brought about a dramatic revolution in the workplace. This revolution under- scores the importance of reshaping business and training education to be con- sistent with the changing infrastructure of business. Changes are occurring at a rapid pace, and business and training educators have additional responsibili- ties to make certain that technical skills and business knowledge are developed simultaneously.

Thus, we sought to test the following hypothesis:

H,: Business educators’ perceptions regarding the degree of infusion of e- commerce into current business programs do not differ significantly by gen-

der, region, size, or educational level.

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A second and important aspect of the

research was an attempt to determine how actively business educators are keeping themselves informed about e- commerce topicshssues in the marketplace. Therefore, we formulated our second hypothesis:

H,: Business educators’ perceptions regarding their personal involvement in e-commerce transactions and learning do not differ significantly by gender, region, size, and educational level.

Method

We sent survey instruments to 250 business educators in each of the South- ern, Western, Eastern, North-Central, and Mountain Plains regions of the National Business Education Associa- tion (NBEA). We selected these business educators at random from each membership region of NBEA. We assumed that, as members of their national professional association, such business educators would be committed to quality research and teaching and thus would likely be informed about the latest trends in business. Of the total 1,250 survey instruments distributed, 305 were returned. However, we dis- carded 18 of these because of incom- plete and/or confusing responses and ended up with a total of 287 surveys, for a 23% rate of return.

We broke down our collected data by respondent gender and size, location, and level of the business education program where each faculty member resided. According to Jupiter Communi-

cations

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(2001), the number of women online has surpassed that of men for the

first time. We selected this variable for study to determine if differences still occur between male and female business educators in interest in and knowledge about e-commerce. Similarly, as reported earlier by the National Federa- tion of Independent Businesses (2001 ),

small businesses (those hiring less than May/June 2002 291

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200 workers) have shown remarkable increase in use of the Internet over the past several years. In view of this notable trend, we decided to compare e- commerce integration and Internet use among business educators in small and large departments. Bryant (2001) noted that online education is becoming more prevalent at the secondary level, indicat- ing that educators at that level may have more flexibility regarding the integration of e-commerce topics into existing curricula. Given the flexibility associated with collegiate business programs, we expected to find a greater emphasis on e-commerce topics at the postsecondary compared with the secondary level. Thus we also investigated this variable to determine if the degree of integration is similar at the two levels.

To respond to items on the survey instrument, participants used a 5-point

rating scale ranging from 1

zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

(strongly disagree) to 3 (undecided) to 5 (stmng-

Zy agree). We collected our data during

the first

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3 weeks of January 2001.

Because of our sample-selection process and the structure of the survey

instrument, we conducted a Kruskal- Wallis statistical procedure on the respondent data. We used this procedure because we used a stratified random sample derived from the membership list of the National Business Education

Association to collect data.

Findings

Business Educators Perceptions

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by

Region

Of the 287 respondents, 56 were at institutions in the Western region of NBEA, 54 were in the Eastern region, 56 were in the Southern, 65 were in the North-Central, and 57 were in the Moun- tain Plains. When asked about the emphasis being placed on e-commerce topics taught as part of business education courses, the business educators showed no significant region-based discrepancies in their perceptions (see Table 1). Generally, the respondents perceived that e-commerce topics related to its history, controversial issues, success factors of dot-com companies, advertising, e- fraud, government regulation, and protection of intellectual property were not being studied in-depth in current programs (all mean scores below 3.0).

When asked how much experience they had had making online purchases themselves, the respondents generally had ordered a product over the Web within the past 6 months (see Table 2).

We found no significant differences by region regarding this perception (mean scores of perceptions were over 3.0). However, when asked to what degree they had attempted to update themselves on e-commerce topics, the

respondents indicated that they had not participated in an e-commerce seminar or course within the past year nor read a book on e-commerce within the past 6 months (mean scores of perceptions were below 3.0). Finally, there was little

indication that business educators were operating their own online businesses at the current time.

However, there was a significant difference in perceptions relating to respondents’ confidence regarding their level of participation in electronic chat groups. Whereas educators in the South- em region indicated some confidence

concerning their use of chat groups ( m

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=

3.4), educators in the other 4 regions indicated a lack of confidence regarding

use of this tool (rn c

3.0).

Business Educators ’ Perceptions by

Gender

Of the respondents surveyed, 79 were men and 208 were women. There were no gender-based discrepancies among business educators’ perceptions regarding the teaching of e-commerce topics in classes.

[image:4.612.51.568.507.676.2]

There were no significant discrepancies between male and female respondents in their reports of personal involvement in e-commerce transactions or learning. Though both the male and female respondents indicated that

TABLE 1. Significance of Differences Among Business Educators’ Perceptions: Emphasis on Teaching E-Commerce Topics, by Region

Item

Mean scores by regiona WBITE EBEA SBEA NCBEA MPBEA

(n = 56) (n = 54) (n =56) (n = 64) (n = 57) K-Wb Prob.*

History of e-commerce

Success factors of dot-com businesses Controversial issuede-commerce

Advertising/Marketing/Web

Secure electronic transactions E-commerce applications E-commerce and fraud

E-commerce & government regulation E-commerce/protection of property

2.3 2.4 2.4 2.7 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.1 2.0

1.9 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.2

2.1 2.3 2.4 2.8 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4

1.8 1.9 2.2 2.6 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.0 2.1

2.1 4.6488 2.2 5.1735 2.4 1.1579 2.7 1.4725 2.3 4.1916 2.7 1.7847 2.5 2.3787 2.3 3.6316 2.2 2.2141

.3253 .2700 ,8850 .83 15 ,3807 .7753 .6665 ,458 1

.6965 Nore. Ratings were given on a scale ranging from 1 (srrongly disagree, no emphasis) to 5 (strongly agree, great emphasis).

aWBITE = Western Business and Information Technology Educators, EBEA = Eastern Business Education Association, SBEA = Southern Business Education Association, NCBEA = North Central Business Education Association, MPBEA = Mountain Plains Business Education Association. bKruskal-Wallis Statistic.

*Significant at the

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.05 level of confidence.

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TABLE 2. Significance of Differences Relating to Business Educators’ Personal Involvement in E-Commerce

LearningExperience, by Region

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Mean scores by region”

Item

WBITE EBEA SBEA NCBEA MPBEA

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(n =

56) (n = 54) (n = 56) (n = 64) (n = 57)

K-Wb Prob.*

Ordered product over Web within 6 months 3.7 4.1 4.2 3.9 3.7 5.8306 .2122

Read book on e-commerce within 6 months 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.2 1.9500 .7450

Have taken e-commerce seminar

within past year 1.7 2.1 2.2 I .9 1.9 3.1506 S330

Currently operate online business 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.4 3.6968 ,4486

Adept at discussing e-commerce issues 2.6 2.6 2.9 2.3 2.5 5.2023 ,2672

Confident using e-chat groups 2.3 2.6 3.4 2.5 2.6 11.4710 .0218*

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Note. Ratings were given on a scale ranging from I (srmngly disagree, no involvement) to 5 (strongly ugree. great involvement).

“BITE = Western Business and Information Technology Educators, EBEA = Eastern Business Education Association, SBEA = Southern Business Education Association, NCBEA = North Central Business Education Association, MPBEA = Mountain Plains Business Education Association. bKruskal-Wallis Statistic.

*Significant at the .05 level of confidence.

TABLE 3. Significance of Differences in Business Educators’ Perceptions

Regarding Emphasis on

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Teaching E-Commerce Topics, by Size of

Program

Mean scores by size (no. of courses)

Item

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s 5 6-10

2 11 K-W”

(n = 60) (n = 107) (n = 56) (n = 120) hob.

History of e-commerce 1.8 1.9 2.3 15.2310

.0005*

Success factors of

dot-com businesses 1.9 2.0 2.5 16.5038 .0003*

Controversial issues/

e-commerce 2.1 2.2 2.6 11.7512 .0028*

AdvertisingiMarketing/Web 2.3 2.5 3.0 9.7283 .0077*

Secure electronic transactions 1.9 2.1 2.3 3.9964 .I356

E-commerce applications 2.1 2.3 2.6 8.8974 .0117*

E-commerce and fraud 2.1 2.3 2.6 9.1663 .0102*

E-commerce and

government regulation 2.0 2.1 2.4 7.3024 .0260*

E-commerce/protection

of property 1.8 2.0 2.5 18.7025 .0001* Note. Ratings were given on a scale ranging from 1 (srrongly disagree, no emphasis) to 5

(srrongly agree, great emphasis). aKruskal-Wallis Statistic.

they had ordered products over the Internet, the majority in both groups had neither read an e-commerce book within the last 6 months or taken an e-commerce seminar within the past year. Few individuals from both groups indicated that they currently operated an online business themselves. Both the male and the female respondents tended to feel that they were not very adept at discussing e-commerce issues or confident

in their ability to participate in a electronic chat group.

Business Educators’ Perceptions by Size of Business Education Program

Sixty respondents taught in small business education programs (programs in which 5 or fewer courses were taught in depth), 107 taught in midsize schools (schools in which 6 to 10 courses were

taught in depth), and 120 taught in large business education programs (those in which 11 or more subjects were taught in depth).

Size of business education depart- ment appeared to influence the perceptions of business educators regarding the emphasis placed on e-commerce topics in business education classes. There were significant differences in degree of disagreement in responses to certain items on the survey instrument (all mean scores were below 3.0). Com- pared with business educators in smaller departments, those affiliated with large business education departments tended to perceive a greater lack of emphasis on e-commerce topics (with one exception; see Table 3). All three groups of business educators held the perception that secure electronic transactions were not emphasized enough in their current programs.

With one exception, there were no significant discrepancies in the respondents’ reports regarding their personal involvement in e-commerce transactions or learning (see Table 4). General- ly, business educators stated that they had made online purchases over the Web within the past 6 months (means = 3.9, 3.7, 4.1, respectively by group). However, the majority did not believe that they had been actively engaged in

learning about e-commerce topics over the past year. The data in Table 4 show that the respondents did not tend to read May/June 2002 293

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books on e-commerce, participate in e- commerce seminars, operate their own online businesses, or feel confident participating in electronic chat groups. The only significant difference in perceptions related to adeptness in discussing e-commerce issues. Compared with business educators in smaller departments, those in larger departments felt somewhat more positive about their

ability to discuss e-commerce issues.

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Business Educators

' Perceptions by

Educational Level

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of Institution Sixteen of the respondents taught in

middle schools, 170 in secondary

schools, 43 in 2-year community colleges, 38 in 4-year collegeshniversities, and 20 in other institutions (special training programs, etc.). Educational program level was related to some significant discrepancies among the perceptions of the business educators. Regarding the teaching of e-commerce topics, business educators in community colleges perceived that their programs emphasized e-commerce history and issues, secure electronic transactions, and protection of intellectual property on the Web to a somewhat greater degree than did the other groups (see Table 5). All groups of respondents tended to indicate similarly that their

programs lacked emphasis on teaching success factors of dot-com companies and e-commerce-related advertising, fraud, and government regulation.

In our investigation of perceptions regarding personal involvement in e- commerce transactions, we found a significant discrepancy in perceived level of involvement between middle-school

business educators

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( m = 2.9) and those at the other levels ( m > 3.8, see Table 6 ) .

However, all respondent groups reported similar lack of involvement in e- commerce-related activities such as having read an e-commerce book with-

in the last

6 months or having taken an

e-commerce seminar within the past

TABLE 4. Significance of Differences Relating to Business Educators' Personal Involvement in E-Commerce LearninUExperience, by Size of Program

Mean scores by size (no. of courses)

5 5 6 -10 2 11

Item ( n = 60) (n = 107) ( n = 120) K-W" Prob. Ordered product over Web within 6 months 3.9 3.7 4.1 1.9969 .3684

Read book on e-commerce within 6 months 2.4 2.1 2.5 4.1967 .I227

Have taken e-commerce seminar within past year 1.9 1.8 2.0 3636 .6494

Adept at discussing e-commerce issues 2.4 2.4 2.9 9.8254 .0074*

Confident using e-chat groups 2.9 2.4 2.9 3.5220 .1719

Currently operate online business 1.5 1.3 1.3 2.1234 .3459

Note. Ratings were given on a scale ranging from 1 (stmngl.y disagree, no involvement) to S (strongly agree, great involvement). "Kruskal-Wallis Statistic.

*Significant at the .OS level of confidence.

TABLE 5. Significance of Differences in Business Educators' Perceptions Regarding Emphasis on E-Commerce

Topics, by Educational Level of

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Institution

Mean scores by level Middle Secondary Community/

school school 2-year college College Other

Item (n = 16) ( n = 170) (n = 43) (n =38) (n = 20) K-W" Prob. History of e-commerce

Success factors of dot-com businesses

Controversial issuede-commerce

AdvertisinglMarketingrWeb

Secure electronic transactions E-commerce applications E-commerce and fraud

E-commerce and government regulation E-comrnerce/protection of property

1.9 1.9 2.3 2.7 1.9 2.2 2.6 2.3 2.0

1.9 2.1 2.2 2.6 2.0 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.1

2.5 2.2 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.6 3.1 2.8 2.4 2.5 2.7 2.1 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.5

2.2 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1

1 1.7626 7.1871 8.447 I

5.1416 8.7463 8.1574 6.0923 7.9625 12.1819

.0192*

. I263 .0765* ,273 1

.0678* ,0860 .I924 .0930 .O 160*

_ _ _ _ _ ~ ~~~ ~

Note. Ratings were given on a scale ranging from I(srrongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

aKruskal-Wallis Statistic.

*Significant at the .OS level of confidence.

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TABLE 6. Significance of Differences in Business Educators' Personal Involvement in E-Commerce Learning

Experience,

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by Educational Level of Institution

Mean scores bv level

Item

Middle Secondary Community/

school school 2-year college College Other

(n =

16)

( n = 170) ( n = 43) (n = 38) ( n = 20) K-W" Prob.

Ordered product over

Web within 6 months 2.9 3.8 4.4 3.8 4.5 12.8906 .0118*

Made online purchase $loo+

within 6 months 2.9 3.0 3.7 3.0 3.8 7.8734 ,0963

Read book on

e-commerce within 6 months 2.2 2.1 2.9 2.4 2.5 8.5432 .0736

Taken e-commerce

seminar within past year 2.1 1.9 2. I 1.9 1.8 3571 .9306

Currently operate online business 1.3 I .3 1.4 1.2 1 .5

zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

1.4122 ,8421

Adept at discussing

e-commerce issues 2.4 2.4 2.9 2.9 2.9 8.3972 ,0781

Confident using e-chat groups

3.1 2.4 3.3 3.0 2.6 11.2155 .0242*

Note. Ratings were give on a scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree, no involvement) to 5 (strongly disagree, great involvement). "Kruskal-Wallis Statistic.

year. All groups perceived a lack of adeptness in discussing e-commerce issues, with mean scores below 3.0. Business educators at the community college and university levels apparently felt significantly more confident regarding their ability to use electronic chat groups than did business educators at the other levels (see Table 6).

Conclusions

The findings of this study indicate that business educators are not infusing e-commerce topics sufficiently into existing curricula to prepare their students for roles in companies where e- commerce is an integral part of operations. With a few exceptions, the educators surveyed apparently held similar perceptions regardless of their gender, region of their institutions, and size and level of their programs. Therefore, we accepted the null hypothesis that there were no significant differences that correlated with these four factors among business educators' perceptions regarding the degree of infusion of e- commerce into current business programs. Although there were rare signif-

icant discrepancies in perceptions, par- ticularly associated with size of program and educational level of institution, the differences related to the degree of lack of integration of e-commerce into current programs.

We can also conclude that the business teachers surveyed were not active in reading e-commerce books or enrolling in e-commerce seminars and did not feel confident participating in electronic chat groups or leading dis- cussions on e-commerce issues. There- fore, we accepted the null hypothesis that there are no significant differences correlating with the four factors investigated among business educators' personal involvement in e-commerce transactions.

The lack of sufficient preparation of recent graduates in business education programs at the secondary and postsecondary educational levels will be felt by

trainers in business and industry. Corpo-

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rate trainers will need to take up the slack in consolidating the requisite knowledge base of new employees who have not been sufficiently trained in business school programs.

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