Cost and Beneft Analyss for E-Servce Applcatons Je Lu and Guangquan Zhang Faculty of Informaton Technology Unversty of Technology, Sydney POBox 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australa {jelu, zhangg}@t.uts.edu.au Abstract Companes are adoptng Internet-based electronc servces (E-servces) attractng customers, sharng of busness nformaton, mantanng busness relatonshps and conductng busness transactons. Companes n the earler stages of employng E-servces have lttle nformaton and knowledge on ts potental organzatonal and relatonal mpacts. Through few years practce of E-servces, companes have obtaned related knowledge. They urgently need to assess the costs to move servce onlne aganst the benefts receved va adoptng E-servce, and dentfy the mpact of E-servce adopton n companes relatonshps wth ther customers as a result of nnovatve use of E- servces. The ntal objectve of the research s to explore the relatonshps between cost factors, beneft factors and customer satsfacton for an E-servce applcaton. A further objectve s to fnd a potental path for developng a customer orented E-servce applcaton from ts current mplementaton through dentfyng the types of changes takng place n the servce functons and operatons as a result of ncreased use of E-servces. Though conductng a survey, ths paper, as a stage report of the project, presents a research framework for E-servce evaluaton, dentfes man cost and beneft factors of E-servce and analyses the relatonshps between these factors. Fnally, a cost beneft relatonshp model s proposed. Keywords: E-servces, Evaluaton, Cost beneft analyss, Customer satsfacton, Assessment framework 1. Introducton The Internet s beng used as a platform through whch servces are delvered to busnesses and customers [3]. Companes are adoptng Internet-based electronc servces (E-servces) attractng customers, sharng of busness nformaton, mantanng busness relatonshps and conductng busness transactons. More recently, companes have started usng the E- servce as means to automate relatonshps between ther busness processes to allow customers to form allances, jonng ther applcatons, databases, and systems n order to share ther costs. E-servce applcatons n Australa have had rapd growth n past few years. Internatonal benchmarks consstently place Australa among the top ten countres n the world n the terms of adopton and use of E- busness (E-servce has been extraordnarly affected by the development of E-busness). Through assessng connectvty, busness envronment, E-commerce consumer and busness adopton, legal and regulatory envronment, supportng an E-servce, and socal and cultural nfrastructure, the US based Economst Intellgence Unt [6] publshed ts second set of Ebusness Readness Rankngs for over 60 countres n May 2001, Australa was placed 2 nd to the US [22]. As the results presented n 'The current state of play-june 2001' [22], 50% of Australan adults accessed the Internet n the 12 months to November 2000 and 37% of Australan households were connected to the Internet at November 2000 [21]. On busness onlne use, 56% of employng busnesses were connected to the Internet at June 2000 (an ncrease of 93% snce June 1998). On the aspect of busness E-servce actvty, the use of onlne bankng and shoppng by Australans has grown consderably. An estmated 13% of adults pad blls or transferred funds n the three months to November 2000 (an ncrease of 225% snce November 1999), and 10% purchased or ordered goods or servces va the Internet. The value of Internet-based E-servce n Australa at June 2000 was estmated to be $A5.1 bllon [22]. The ablty of E-servce to fulfll customers' demands for servce s helpng busnesses to reduce costs and obtan benefts. Servce s an mportant measure of success n compettve markets and the Internet marketplace wll be no excepton. As researchers noted, E-busness success s determned less by busness models than by delverng topnotch, repeatable servce that creates satsfed customers [19]. Recent reports concernng the qualty, usablty and benefts of E-servces have led researchers to express ncreasng nterests n conductng evaluaton for E- servces [9]. These studes used varous research methods, such as survey, case study and conceptual modellng, to conduct research n E-servce webstes or applcatons assessment, evaluaton frameworks, cost/beneft analyss and customer satsfacton measurement. Ng et al. [20] reported a desk survey of busness webstes and dscussed the benefts of Internet. Gagls et al. [7] presented a case study of E-commerce nvestment evaluaton by developng a model of E-
commerce busness value. Tang et al. [25] proposed a conceptual model to demonstrate the ratonale of the buyer-suppler nteracton wth the nformaton servce provder's medaton n the E-commerce envronment. Lee et al. [13] created a framework for evaluatng the busness value of Internet-based B2B E-servce through fve propostons. Helander and Khald [11] used a system model to llustrate the relatonshps between three subsystems n E-commerce: store envronment, customer and web technology. Drnjak, Altmann & Joyce [5] nvestgated the perceved benefts of nvestng n E-servce applcatons. More recently, Hahn et al [10] summarzed three major tradtonal approaches to E-commerce webste evaluaton: testng, nspecton and nqury, and presented a value-drven framework for E-commerce webste evaluaton. However, exst evaluaton models and frameworks from lterature have orentaton ether from a web customer perspectve or web suppler perspectve only. The project ntends to explore the relatonshps between customer perspectve and suppler perspectve for specfc E-servce applcatons. Ths project attempts to develop a conceptual framework to evaluate E-servce applcatons by dentfyng the relatonshps among E- servce functons, customer satsfacton for E-servce applcatons, busness benefts receved va adoptng E- servce and costs to move servce operatons to onlne. It wll then dentfy the types of changes takng place n the servce functons and operatons as a result of ncreased use of E-servce, examne the mpact of ncreased sharng of nformaton va onlne collaboraton between companes and ther customers on management approaches. The research results wll be exp ressed nto a factors relatonshp model. Based on the model, recommendatons for developng and mantanng E-servce applcatons wll be proposed, whch wll have the potental to mprove the compettveness, flexblty and strategc plannng of companes engagng n E-servce by reducng costs, ncreasng benefts and makng E-servce actvtes better. Ths paper, as a stage report of the project, descrbes the research framework n Secton 2. Research methodology used n the study s gven n Secton 3. Secton 4 analyses man cost beneft factors and ther relatonshps for the development of an E-servce applcaton, and then expresses the fndngs nto a cost beneft relatonshp model. 2. Research Framework Based on the pervous works shown n Lu at el [17], Lu [15, 16] and a broad range revew of lterature (such as [5] [8] and [23]), four categores are dentfed to compose a conceptual research framework for assessng E-servce applcatons. The four categores are E- servce functon (F), E-servce cost (C), E-servce beneft (B) and customer satsfacton (S)(FCBS). E- servce functon concerns wth the capablty and qualty of E-servces. E-servce cost concerns wth the costs of adoptng E-servces. E-servce beneft concerns wth the benefts receved through employng E-servces. Customer satsfacton s about the results of ndvduals takng outcomes that have been receved. Each category conssts of a set of factors. The number, types and functons of E-servces ncrease day by day and E-servces are typcally delvered ndvdually. In E-servce functon category, typcal functon factors nclude general nformaton publcty, emal requre, delvery of customzed nformaton, advertsng products and prce, onlne orderng/bookng and on-lne transacton. These functons also mply the levels of E-servce complexty. For example, onlne payment has hgher level than only advertsng products. Each E-servce applcaton may contan several or all of these functons. Drnjak, Altmann & Joyce [5] lsted a number of beneft tems wthn three categores of web applcatons and ther rankngs. These tems nclude: provdng access 24 hours a day and seven days a week (24*7), effectve promoton of the company together wth the products and servces t produces, enhance qualty and speed of customer servce, create compettve advantage and subsequently avod compettve dsadvantage, entce shoppers and encourage customer nteracton, supportng core busness functons whch are ntegral to busness strategy, provde new busness opportuntes, ncrease market presence and facltate on-lne purchasng. The research also ndcated that the tem access 24*7, effectve promoton of the company, enhancng customer servce, supportng core busness functons, and provdng new busness opportuntes have relatvely hgh rankngs. Lu [16] lsted 21 beneft factors and dentfed eght factors as the core beneft factors through a survey conducted n New Zealand. They are: accessng to a greater customer base, broadenng market reach, lowerng of entry barrer to new markets and cost of acqurng new customers, alternatve communcaton channel to customers, ncreasng servces to customers, enhancng perceved company mage, ganng compettve advantages, and potental for ncreasng customer knowledge. Based on the two research results, 16 man E-servce beneft factors are dentfed and used n the study. Lu [16] also tested 19 cost factors and dentfed eght core costs factors: expense of settng up applcatons, mantanng applcatons, nternet connecton, hardware/software, securty concerns, legal ssues, tranng and rapd technology changes. The eght cost tems are used n the study as cost factors. E-servce s alterng the way n whch busnesses operate and nteract wth customers. One of the major challenges companes face today s to meet ncreasng
customer demands, ncludng effcent processes and mproved customer servces. The judgment on the qualty of servce has been shfted from the busness to the ndvdual customers. Customer satsfacton has become one of the domnant factors to E-servce success [4]. As Terry & Standng [26] observed 'whle there s no drect measure for the success of an nformaton system, emp rcal researchers have commonly used user satsfacton as the dependent varable'. A successful E-servce s one that attracts customers, makes them feel the servce s trustworthy, dependable, relable, and satsfactory [14] [12]. Generally there are three types of customer measures to be used: the relatve mportance of attrbutes, dmenson of customer satsfacton and added customer value [1]. Attrbute mportance means every servce attrbute contrbutes dversely to the overall satsfacton of the customers. Dmenson of customer satsfacton means every dmenson of satsfacton gets ts own score, whch then can be compared to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the applcatons. Added customer value s generated through dvdng the busness overall customer satsfacton by the scores of all busnesses competng n a certan market. Ths project apples a composton of the three types of customer measures n customer satsfacton category. It ncludes nformaton content satsfacton, usablty satsfacton, securty satsfacton, convenence satsfacton, effcency satsfacton and flexblty satsfacton. Each of the factors may mply more detal crtera. For example, usablty satsfacton nvolves user satsfacton n nformaton up-to-date, clear language style and lnks to approprate resources. E- servce webste format desgn, facltated browsng, search engne provded, accessng speed and customer control of a transacton process [24] are consdered as sub-crtera for convenence satsfacton. Fgure 1 shows the factors of E-servce functon, cost, beneft and customer satsfacton, called FCBS research framework. factor F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 E-servce functons (F) Descrpton Contact detal Emal request Report Basc product catalogue Internal lnk Customer support Product catalogue wth prce/db search Delvery of customzed nformaton Lnkng to external product/servce provder Onlne bookng/orderng Onlne payment/transacton factor C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 E-servce costs (C) Descrpton Expense of settng up E-servce Mantanng E-servce Internet connecton Hardware/software Securty concerns costs Legal ssues costs Tranng costs Rapd technology change costs factor S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 Customer satsfacton (S) Descrpton Informaton content sat sfacton Usablty satsfacton Securty satsfacton Convenence satsfacton Effcency satsfacton Flexblty satsfacton Overall satsfacton factor B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 E-servce benefts (B) Descrpton Buldng customer relatonshps Broadenng market reach Lowerng of entry barrer to new markets Lowerng the cost of acqurng new customers Global presence Reducng nformaton dssemnaton costs Reducng advertsng meda costs Reducng operaton (transacton) costs Reducng transacton tme Reducng delvery tme Gatherng nformaton to create customer profles Customer and market research faclty Cooperaton between companes to ncrease servces Enhancng perceved company mage Realzng busness strateges Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages Fg. 1 FCBS research framework wth factors
3. Research Methodology Ths study focuses on two man ndustry sectors: Toursm/Travel and IT/Communcaton servces n Australa. Ths study needs to conduct a company (Eservce provder) orented survey and a customer orented survey respectvely. It then explores the relatonshps among survey results by usng statstcal analyss method. Why the project develop two surveys s that t needs to get customer satsfacton from customer sde and company cost beneft assessment from company sde. The statstcal analyss ams to fnd useful aggregaton results n nvestgate dependency and correlaton relatonshps between factors shown n the research framework. The surveys assume that respondents represent ther colleagues and should not be asked drectly about hypotheses. In order to dentfy company sample a web search was frst conducted. The purpose of the web search s to fnd whch companes have adopted E-servces on an approprate level and get volunteers from these companes. A total of 100 webstes were randomly selected from the company webstes regstered n the Yellow Pages Onlne (NSW, Australa) http://www.yellowpages.com.au, under Toursm/Travel and IT/Communcaton categores, condtonal on ther reachng for an approprate level of E-servce development. The sample companes nvolved a number of ndustry sectors: Accommodaton, Communty Servces, Informaton Technology, Retal, Transport, Attractons and Travel Agents. A company-orented questonnare survey was conducted n the sample companes from February to March 2002. As a pre-test survey, an ntal questonnare was sent to three subjects amed gettng responses' feedback. Based on the pre-test results, the questonnare was refned. The fnalzed questonnare was then posted/emaled/faxed to the 100 selected sample companes. Out of 34 questons n the questonnare, eght tems are related to E-servce functons and development, 10 are related to the costs of settng up and mantanng E-servce applcatons and 16 are related to busness benefts of E-servce applcatons. A total of 50 responses were obtaned and the results shown n ths paper s based on 48 completed responses. All questons lsted n the questonnare use fve-pont Lkert scales or gvng a statement that s responded by choosng or not choosng. Ths survey attempts to dentfy why companes adopt E-servce applcatons, how do evaluate an E-servce applcaton, what are the man beneft factors and what knds of benefts have been obtaned, what are the major costs and barrers towards E-servce applcatons, and how the relatonshps are changng between E-servce costs and benefts. Fnally, a customer-orented survey was conducted n September 2002 to dentfy customers' major facltators and barrers n relaton to receve E-servces, customers satsfacton n nformaton content, usablty, securty, convenence, effcent and flexblty for E- servces. By the length lmtaton, the paper only shows the results conducted n the company orented survey. 4. Data Analyss 4.1 Why do companes adopt E-servce applcatons? The survey results show that the 48 companes sampled have employed Internet dong E-servce for 3.1 years on average. There are 49% of the companes sampled ndcate the reason to develop E-servces s 'currently t s the way to do busness', 27% ndcate that ther compettors are adoptng E-servces, 41% menton that ther customers want E-servce based busness relatonshps, and 73% explan that dong E-servces s a part of ther organzaton s strateges. Some companes gave more reasons for dong E-servces such as ths s 'another way to reach new customers', 'onlne knowledge management' and 'E-servce s a costeffectve soluton'. One company ndcates the reason s that 'we are an Internet technology company'. 4.2 Are companes satsfed wth ther current E-servce applcatons? Out of the 48 sampled companes, about 26% of sampled companes thnk that ther E-servce applcatons are very successful, 36% of successful, 28% of moderate, 8% of very lttle and only one company marked not benefcal. The result shows that most companes are satsfed wth ther E-servce development. The data shows that about 40% of E-servce applcatons were developed by n-house staff, 20% by web developers or contractors, and 39% by both nternal and external people. Through comparng the successful level n the three groups of webstes, there s no sgnfcant dfference n satsfacton levels for E- servce applcatons developed among dfferent groups. Ths survey also explored the barrers when company adoptng an E-servce applcaton. 35% of companes sampled ndcate that 'lack of staff expertse' s one of man barrers. 33% ndcate 'dffculty n ntegratng web wth nternal applcatons' s a man barrer. 'Expense of settng up E-servce' s marked as one of man barrers by 41% of companes. 'Expense of mantanng E-servce', 'Lack of adequate tranng', 'Lack of web capable busness partners', 'Resstance to structural changes wthn your company', and 'Securty problems assocated wth usng E-servce' are marked as barrers by 16%, 12%, 6%, 14% and 16% of companes respectvely. Ths result shows that expertse, technque, and expenses are stll man barre rs for E-servce development.
It s found that companes that mark ther E-servce applcatons as very lttle beneft' or not benefcal' almost mark 'expense of settng up web-based E-servce applcatons' and 'dffculty n ntegratng web wth nternal applcatons' as man barrers. Ths fndng means obvously that such companes must overcome barrers n settng up and ntegratng E-servces to obtan deal benefts. 4.3 What functons are provded n E-servce webstes? Totally 11 functon factors lsted n Fgure 1 were tested. The results show that over 90% of sample companes provded contact detals, reports, basc product catalogue and nternal lnks. About 40% of companes offered onlne bookng and 67% made product catalogue wth prce/db search avalable. Only three companes kept sendng nformaton to customers and only seven allowed onlne payment. What factors/functons are more mportant to onlne customers n ther decson to purchase at a webste? The survey shows that 51% of comp anes sampled thnks 'guarantees transacton securty' s an mportant factor. 49% of ndcate 'guarantees servces or products offered' s mportant. 67% of ndcate 'provdes useful nformaton' and 59% of expresses ther concerns on 'provdes user-frendly navgaton to nformaton'. There are 59% of companes markng 'provdes fast servce' and 35% of 'provdes lower cost than tradtonal methods'. About 33% of companes mentons that Table 1: Ideal ratng for beneft factors 'provdes more optons to customer servces or products selecton' s one of mportant factors. 4.4 What are the man benefts for adoptng an E-servce? The questonnare s desgned to cover proposed factors at an approprate level and wth an approprate form. The respondents were asked to ndcate ther present benefts assessment and deal ratng for each of the beneft factors. The current beneft assessment s regardng to the assessment of the status of respondents E-servce applcaton, comparng wth where they would deally lke t to be. The deal ratng for beneft factors s tested on a 5-pont scale. Here 1 means not mportant at all, and 5 very mportant. For example, f a company consders that one of the most mportant benefts s to enhance perceved company mage, the company would score perhaps 5 on the Ideal Ratng of factor 'enhancng perceved company mage'. Table 1 shows the result of deal ratng for beneft factors. It s found that B14 (Enhancng perceved company mage), B16 (Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages), B1 (Buldng customer relatonshps), B2 (Broadenng market reach), B15 (Realzng busness strateges) and B4 (Lowerng the cost of acqurng new customers) receved hgher scores respectvely. These factors are thus dentfed as major beneft factors. That means busnesses have a hgher expects to get benefts on these aspects. Ideal ratng B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 1 0 0 3 1 5 5 3 5 5 5 4 2 4 1 1 1 2 2 4 6 2 7 3 4 3 2 4 5 4 5 2 3 2 3 8 9 9 9 12 6 9 9 6 9 4 11 6 3 8 5 4 10 12 15 16 5 16 15 13 14 6 16 12 11 9 10 8 5 27 21 12 18 17 16 15 15 19 19 15 15 18 30 23 29 NA 0 47 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 AV 4.3 4.1 3.6 4.0 3.5 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.9 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.8 4.4 4.1 4.4 4.5 What benefts have been obtaned through developng an E-servce applcaton? Companes are all nterested n maxmzng busness value of E-servces. They have made busness strateges to address the requrements of nteroperablty, qualty of customer servce, evoluton and dependablty. They expect to know what factors are affectng E-servce benefts and how E-servce can ncrease real busness benefts, by comparng ts costs wth those of the assocated nvestments. In order to complete such analyss, ths study not only explores whch beneft factors are more mportant to busness beneft and also seeks to fnd n whch aspects companes have obtaned hgher benefts, and whch one s lower. The 5-pont scale s also used for present beneft assessment: 1-low beneft, 5-very hgh beneft. For example, f a company consders that currently E-servce only buld very basc customer relatonshps but the company would deally prefer to buld more closed relatonshps wth customers. Then the company would score perhaps 3 on the present beneft assessment for B1. The assessment result shown n Table 2 ndcates that companes have obtaned hgher benefts on B14 (Enhancng perceved company mage), B16 (Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages), B1 (Buld customer relatonshps) and B2 (Broadenng market reach).
Beneft assessment Table 2: Current beneft assessment B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 1 2 1 6 4 9 5 6 7 7 7 10 9 7 1 3 2 2 7 6 13 14 10 8 7 7 10 9 7 12 8 5 7 8 3 16 21 18 14 8 17 13 18 12 13 10 17 12 12 18 15 4 14 12 7 9 13 12 15 8 10 8 14 3 13 12 12 12 5 9 8 3 6 8 5 6 7 9 9 5 5 6 17 7 10 NA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 AV 3.4 3.4 2.7 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.1 2.9 2.6 3.1 3.8 3.3 3.5 4.6 What are the man cost factors for adoptng an E-servce applcaton? Same as beneft factor dentfcaton, ths study dentfes major cost factors by 5-pont scale: 1- not mportant at all, 5- very mportant. For example, f a company thnks the cost of mantanng an E-servce s not mportant t should mark the degree of mportance as 1 or 2. Table 3 shows that C2 (Mantanng E- servces) s the most mportant factor and C5 (Securty concerns costs) s the second as they receved a hgh average value (3.9, 3.7). Ths fndng mples that companes have had or would have hgher nvestment on these mportant cost tems. Table 3. Weghts of cost factors weght C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 1 4 1 4 2 3 8 4 4 4 5 2 6 7 8 5 7 6 9 4 2 4 3 10 7 12 13 7 10 10 15 13 17 4 13 15 11 16 10 11 17 14 20 12 5 14 17 12 9 18 10 5 10 8 9 N/A 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 AV 3.6 3.9 3.4 3.6 3.7 3.3 3.2 3.5 3.6 3.3 4.7 What costs are hgher than estmated n developng an E-servce applcaton? Ths study also explores whch tems cause a hgher cost, and whch one lower. Here 1 means very low cost, and 5 very hgh. The assessment result s shown n Table 4. It s found that there are hgher costs on C9 (tme spent on E-servce development) and C1 (expense of settng up E-servce) n the sampled companes. Table 4. Current cost assessment cost C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 1 6 6 15 5 7 9 9 8 6 6 2 5 10 13 7 9 12 9 7 3 8 3 10 12 11 16 9 11 15 9 13 14 4 17 16 7 12 13 8 10 19 14 14 5 9 3 1 7 7 4 2 3 10 4 N/A 0 0 0 0 2 3 2 1 1 1 AV 3.4 3.0 2.3 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.7 3.0 3.4 3.0 4.8 What cost factors affect E-servce benefts? In order to exam the relatonshps between ndvdual cost and beneft factors, a number of hypotheses are desgned [18]. Ths paper only presents three hypotheses and dscusses related test result detals. H1 : There s a sgnfcant dfference n the beneft 'Broadenng market reach' (B2) for dfferent groups of companes that have dfferent levels n the cost of 'Mantanng E-servce' applcatons (C2). H2 : There s a sgnfcant dfference n the beneft 'Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages' (B16) for dfferent groups of companes that have dfferent levels n the cost of 'Mantanng E-servce' applcatons (C2). H3 : There s a sgnfcant dfference n the beneft 'Enhancng perceved company mage' (B14) for dfferent groups of companes that have dfferent levels n the 'Legal ssues costs (C6). Let Mantanng E-servce (C2) be an ndependent varable wth fve levels, 'Broadenng market reach' (B2) and 'Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages' (B16) be dependent varables. Let 'Legal ssues costs (C6) be an ndependent varable wth fve levels, 'Enhancng perceved company mage' be a dependent varable. Three one factor fxed effects ANOVA models (1), (2) and (3) were bult to determne the effect of the ndependent varables on the dependent measures n ndvduals. [ Broadenng_market_ reach] = α + [ Mantann g_e-servce ] +ε [ Ganng _ compet _ advantages ] = α + [ Mantanng E-servce ] + ε [ Enhancng _ perceved _ company_ mage] = α + [ Legal_ssues_costs] + ε (1) (2) (3)
The ANOVA results show that the 'Broadenng market reach' and 'Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages' are sgnfcantly dfferent across dfferent groups of the cost of 'Mantanng E-servce' (p<0.05 n Table 5 and 6). The fndngs mean that the E-servce applcatons where company spent more tme on mantenance wll contrbute drectly to the beneft factors 'Broadenng market reach' and 'Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages'. The result supports H1 and H2. However, Table 7 shows that the 'Enhancng perceved company mage' s not sgnfcantly d fferent across dfferent groups of the cost of 'Legal ssues costs'. It s not support H3's clam. Table 5. Summary & ANOVA results for the effects on Broadenng market reach (B2) Cost 2 groups Cont Sum Ave F P-value C2=1very low 6 21 3.5 2.7 0.0461 C2=2 10 27 2.7 C2=3 12 43 3.5 C2=4 16 55 3.4 C2=5very hgh 3 14 4.6 Table 6. Summary & ANOVA results for the effects on Ganng and sustanng compettve advantages (B16) Cost 2 groups Cot Sum Ave F P-value C2=1 verylow 6 16 2.7 5.3 0.0015 C2=2 9 27 3.1 C2=3 12 36 3 C2=4 16 67 4.2 C2=5 veryhgh 3 14 4.7 Table 7. Summary & ANOVA results for the effects on Enhancng perceved company mage (B14) Cost 6 Cont Sum Ave Source of df MS F P-value groups varaton C6= 1 very low 9 34 3.78 Between Groups 4 2.7 2.4 0.0643 C6= 2 12 40 3.38 Wthn 38 1.1 Groups C6= 3 10 43 4.3 C6= 4 8 36 4.5 C6= 5 very hgh 4 12 3 By usng ANOVA model to test other hypotheses, a set of relatonshps between cost and beneft factors are explored. The results are presented n a cost beneft relatonshp model (Fgure 2). The lnes n the model express dependency relatonshps between related factors. beneft B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 relatonshps cost C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 Fg. 2. Relatonshps between cost and beneft factors 5. Further Research Ths study s applyng Structural equaton modelng method [2] to analyze the relatonshps between multple cost beneft factors. Ths study has just completed a customer orented survey. Data analyss s beng completed to test those hypotheses that relevant to customer satsfacton. For example, n order to explore whether or not customer satsfacton s dependent on cost tem 'mantanng E- servce, let customer_satsfacton be an ndependent varable and mantanng_e-servce a dependent varable, then test the effect of customer satsfacton on the mantanng E-servces n ndvduals. Through testng more hypotheses, fndngs wll be presented nto an ntegrated E-servce factor relatonshp model (Fgure 2 s a part of the model) whch nvolves all the relatonshps among the four groups of constructs shown n FCBS research framework: E-servce functons, costs, benefts and customer satsfacton, wth knds of relatonshps: dependent, correlated and non-correlated. The relatonshp model s ntended as a mechansm for clearly dentfyng optons, opportuntes and ther mplementatons for E-servce development. The fndngs shown n the relatonshp model wll have the potental to help companes to mprove the compettveness of companes engagng n E-servces by reducng costs, ncreasng benefts and mprovng E- servce qualty. Based on the fndngs, the project wll propose recommendatons for desgnng, mantanng and mprovng E-servce to take full advantages of Internet. #Ths research s supported by an UTS IRG 2002
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