Hatem El-Gohary
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BOOK REVIEW
The third edition of this book makes an important contribution to the literature by a well-known
author, and fills an acknowledged void in the field of E-Business. It provides a versatile introduction to
E-Business and E-Commerce, and covers a wide range of applications as well as a valuable selection of
real-world cases.
Throughout this book, Dave Chaffey is able to target students studying E-Business and E-
Commerce at undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as practitioners. His main aim is to provide
a comprehensive guide to all aspects of deploying E-Business and E-Commerce within organizations,
and illustrate these principals in practice.
The book is divided into three parts. The first four chapters introduce and describe the main
concepts of E-Business and E-Commerce, as well as the fundamentals, infrastructure and environment
of this phenomenon. The second part is perhaps the most valuable, and makes a strong contribution to
knowledge with a comprehensive guide to E-Business and E-Commerce in terms of strategy and
applications. The final three chapters deal specifically with the implementation of E-Business and E-
Commerce.
In the introduction the author provides a clear explanation of the concepts, definitions,
significance of E-Business and E-Commerce and its different applications from a consumer and
business perspective. This is followed by an outline of the E-Business infrastructure, namely: The
World Wide Web, the Internet, Intranets, Extranets, HTTP Protocols and managing E-Business. The
last chapter in this section is dedicated to E-Business and E-Commerce environments.
However it is in the second part of this book that David Chaffey makes the most important
contribution to this topic. Here he deals with strategy and applications of E-Business and E-Commerce
in a logical but robust manner. Through a quite simple presentation, the author is able to illustrate the
main topics of strategy definition, E-Business strategy, strategic analysis, strategic objectives and
strategy implementation. In chapters six and seven supply chain management and E-procurement are
discussed in some depth, followed by a practical insight into E-marketing and customer relationship
management in chapters eight and nine.
The last part of the book is devoted to the implementation of E-Business and E-Commerce in
terms of change management (the concept, types of change, planning of change, HR requirements,
approaches to managing change and risk management), as well as the analysis and design of E-
Business and E-Commerce (analysis for E-Business, process modelling, data modelling and design for
E-Business). This is particularly useful for practitioners in view of the rapidly changing and volatile
nature of this technology in a highly competitive, global business environment. The book ends with a
thorough analysis of E-Business applications, maintenance of E-Business systems and how to measure
the effectiveness of E-Business applications with web analysis tools.
The style of presentation makes this topic accessible since each section has learning outcomes,
management implications and clear links to other chapters. Moreover, each chapter provides
appropriate definitions, clear discussion, chapter-by-chapter references, further readings and useful web
links. In fact the companion website (a bank of online resources), is an excellent additional resource for
the target student audiences to get the most from both the book and their course. Similarly, it makes the
book ideal for managers and practitioners of E-business or E-commerce at most levels.
From the reviewer point of view, the book covers a wide range of E-Business applications and
offers a valuable selection of real-world cases. These in-depth cases, about global organisations and
regional companies practice, are assisted by the clarity of presentation and the author’s experience (as
an E-Business consultant and lecturer), providing a bridge to link leading edge research and
professional practice. This is an aid for effective learning and helps to achieve the aims of the book.
To sum up, the book is comprehensive and, a delight to read. It contains a lot of useful information
in its 663 pages and demonstrates that the author is a recognised specialist in this field. The extensive
list of references underline the importance of his contribution to this field. He has done a masterful job
in first digesting an enormous amount of material and then organizing it in an efficient way to make a
clear and readable treatise on E-Business and E-Commerce. This is no easy task where science and
technology are constantly changing and converging in a complex business environment.
In summary, the book will be beneficial to students, academicians and practitioners involved in E-
Business and E-Commerce implementation. The reviewer believes that this is an exciting book and will
provide a classic reference text in this field. In short the author is to be congratulated since he has set a
high standard for other writers to follow in this fascinating area.
I highly recommend E-Business and E-Commerce Management.
