2. National Trade Data Base, (2000), US Dept. of Commerce, Washington DC., U.S.A.
3. Stillwell, Dennis, (2000), Interview in New York City, NY, U.S.A.
Lund University, Lund, Sweden
The world is definitely getting smaller every day. For example, "every seven seconds a new ".com" company is loaded onto the Internet. However, over 85 percent of these .com companies are not on a search engine!"1 Without a search engine it is practically impossible to find them. This new phenomenon, e-commerce, is not new in many parts of the world. In the EU, business to business, known as B2B, interactions account for over 20 percent of all procurement.2 In 2002, it is predicted that between 40 to 50 percent of global companies will be conducting their B2B transactions, consumer marketing, supply chain management, and competitive intelligence over the Internet through their website.3
Academia has tried to keep up with this fast pace of change. Many universities have offered on-line/Internet courses to their distance education students with mixed results. Peter Drucker stated, in a 1997 article in Fortune magazine, that four out of five universities now offering on-line distance education programs would not be able to maintain the necessary technological advancements needed to remain competitive in this field. Drucker has been outspoken in the field of technological advancements in universities for many years. He maintains it is essential to establish a vision for technological advancement within the university to meet the challenges of e-commerce in the business world.
To survive in the 'new economy' environment where high technology drives changes in the global marketplace, 'old economy' companies and institutions need to adapt and change to survive. During the last decade, technology has expanded at an exponential rate. This technological explosion requires research and development expenditures by both academia and the private sector. More than 100 companies have joined to create one of Europe's largest research villages in Lund, Sweden. The University of Lund has committed their most valuable resource, their faculty, to IDEON, a research village, where academics and business executives meet and discuss technological challenges and innovations.
This research village gives academics and business executives alike the opportunity to discover new methodologies for technological applications (e.g. e-commerce, web rings, listservs, virtual businesses). Through scholarship and discovery, IDEON has presented a shining light for the world to follow. "We do it tonight, you apply it tomorrow!" has been the motto that has led IDEON to become a very successful research village. Research is important, however the application of that research is essential to the survivability of the global business enterprise. Universities through strategic alliances with businesses are together learning that emerging horizons must merge sometime in the future. The broad approach must be focused and directed to be effective in today's global marketplace. Papers, cases and contributions are solicited which address these challenges are solicited.
For more information or to express your interest in submitting a paper and participating in this session contact the session chair: Dr. Dan Kärreman, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, email dan.kaerreman@fek.lu.se or Peter Olson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lally School of Management & Technology, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A., email polson@rh.edu
1. Stillwell, Dennis, (2000), "How to Conduct Your Business in an E-commerce World," US Dept. of Commerce
2. National Trade Data Base, (2000), US Dept. of Commerce, Washington DC., U.S.A.
3. Stillwell, Dennis, (2000), Interview in New York City, NY, U.S.A.