Troubles in the M-Commerce Structures Research Paper

Introduction

For replying to the questions and issues on this case, it is necessary to sort out some technical details of the operations. As it is stated on the e-commerce web page, after processing a customers’ credit card the transaction goes through a series of complex stages. The money is transferred through the merchant account, and then it is deposited into the business’s checking account within 2 to 3 business days. The fact is that, before the options of the m-commerce, and the solutions of the difficulties closely linked with it became available, collecting funds for purchases and orders performed “on the road” required people to either pay by cash, check or write down their credit card information so people were able to process the transaction later. (MerchantSeek, 2007) Originally, this way can not be regarded as the best solution, as the cash and checks may be lost, credit card information can get into the wrong hands even despite the security measures taken. The management teams of the m-commerce companies state that they had performed everything possible and even impossible for securing the data of their customers, still, nobody is insured against losses and system breakdowns, especially making orders on the run – away, which is considered to be the least protected.

What Happened to the $7.1 Million

Originally, the variants may be numerous: simple and surprising, caused by negligence or unforeseen obstacle. The most evident and probable reason for disappearing this sum is the breakdown of the system. Originally, it is known that Sherry Ann Sloth (a buyer for Dunckley’s) has programmed her PDA for the automatic actions to simplify her participation in the bidding. Thus, the breakdown could appear in her own PDA, as there could be a program bug, caused by the inability to process several orders or such a huge sum. Ann’s payment data was lost or stolen, so, all the order data could be changed, which caused the breakdown of the previously adjusted order-payment-delivery system (Dholakia, 2002).

The problem may originate from the e-commerce system. Originally, there should be a bot protection setup for preventing automatic registration. The actions by Ann’s PDA could be regarded as the appearance of a robot instead of an alive customer, and the actions were blocked. Still, as the bids went on, the order could be accepted and then restricted. It may be either the mistake of the bot banning system or incompatibility of the bot banning system with the order processing system.

Investigation

The investigation process of this case should be started from the software systems check. It has been stated that the software system breakdown is the most obvious reason for this failure, which caused a serious problem with one of the users. After the systems will be checked and adjusted, there will be a strong necessity for increasing the data security level and the authorization system. (Chan, 2001)

The next step of the investigation process is the testing of the on-the-run ordering system. Mobile systems are often subjected to attacks, interference, or disturbances. Anyway, mobile systems require constant improvement, thus, unplanned testing and problem solving will be rather helpful.

It is stated in the case that due to the large price tag of the two odd lots, Sherry waited at her office until she received confirmation of delivery. The delivery never arrived. Since the auction warehouse was already closed for the day, Sherry had to wait until it reopened at 10 AM to find out what happened to her shipment. It should be stated, that customer care service should also be deeply checked and restructured, as it has revealed very slow reaction, and, caused essential discomforts for the users of the e-commerce system (Sadeh, 2002).

Management Recommendations

Originally, the main recommendations were given in the “investigation” part of the paper. Thus, there is a strong necessity in arranging frequent tests of every system and structure engaged in the commerce procedure: technical, financial managerial, HR, etc. Taking into account the fact, that all the systems are subjected to failures, and it is rather difficult to be insured against them, the compensation mechanism should be elaborated and implemented. This mechanism will have to take into account all the breakdowns, failures, or misunderstandings caused by the personnel of the company, and, compensate all the financial and moral inconveniences, which customers experienced.

To prevent such a case from happening again, it will be necessary to arrange the system of personal authorization of the users by sending them paper mails and notifications in the case of troublesome issues.

Conclusion

Finally, it should be stated that similar troubles are rather rare in the m-commerce structures, as the leading team makes everything possible to secure the system from breakdowns. Nevertheless, the actions by the customers, which are not provided by the system may cause unforeseen results and bugs in the software.

References

1. Chan, Henry, Raymond Lee, Tharam Dillon, and Elizabeth Chang. E-Commerce: Fundamentals and Applications. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
2. Dholakia, Nikhilesh, Wolfgang Fritz, Ruby Roy Dholakia, and Norbert Mundorf, eds. Global E-Commerce and Online Marketing: Watching the Evolution. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2002.
3. MerchantSeek. Mobile Commerce Wireless Payment Processing Guide. 2007.
4. Sadeh, Norman. M-Commerce: Technologies, Services, and Business Models. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002