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eobf_E 7/5/06 3:00 PM Page 232

Electronic Mail

cent of all e-commerce activity in the United States was security, and access. Other issues relating to e-mail include
B2B, with a figure of 75 percent for the United Kingdom organization, etiquette, junk mail and fraud attempts,
in 2004. legal matters, and trends.
Businesses have found the Internet the ideal platform
for conducting supply-chain management, fostering com- SPEED OF DELIVERY
petition in suppliers, and reaching their sophisticated One of the biggest attractions of e-mail is the speed with
business buyers. This is especially the case since in today’s which a message may be sent. When a message is sent
economy what firms are mainly selling to each other is from a computer in Houston, Texas, it arrives instantly in
information, not just in the case of services such as bank- London and New Zealand. E-mail has been a true factor
ing and digital applications, but even when the product in making the global business environment a smaller
concerned is a physical product; the real value added place. A virtual team can communicate across the globe.
comes from optimizing price and specification, as Sending an e-mail message across the ocean before leaving
opposed to the physical transfer of the product. That is work one day can result in a response from another time
the role of the huge B2B marketplaces created by large zone before one’s next workday begins.
companies, or even entire industries, which can be Postal mail requires several days for a message to
roughly described as eBay’s for businesses (indeed, many arrive and additional time for a response. The speed of
firms have simply outsourced to eBay itself).
delivery of e-mail has had negative effects as well as posi-
SEE ALSO E-Marketing tive ones. For example, those sending the message expect
a very fast response. Frequently if the response is not fast
enough, a second message is sent asking why there has
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Electronic commerce. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2006, from been no response. So, patience in communication has
Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ become an issue. Because a fast response is demanded,
Electronic_commerce sometimes the response is rushed, incomplete, and less
Metcalfe’s useful equation. (n.d.) Retrieved November 11, 2005, tactful and or politically polished than it should be.
from Killer-apps Web site: http://www.killer-apps.com Advantages of e-mail are the elimination of telephone tag
/contents/booktour/metcalfes_useful_equation.htm plus the convenience of reading and responding to e-mail
Postel, V. (2004, April 22). Selection in ranks above price among at the recipient’s convenience.
the benefits of shopping online. The New York Times, p. C11. As the popularity and expectations for e-mail have
U.K. National Statistics. (2006, February 9). Information and increased, so have the daily demands to read and respond
communication technology activity of UK businesses, 2004. to e-mail. Many employees find that they spend hours
Retrieved February 17, 2006, from each day responding to their e-mail.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy
/ecommerce_report_2004.pdf
Instant Messaging. Instant messaging (IM) is frequently
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2005, May 11). E-stats.
viewed as the upstart, even speedier cousin of e-mail.
Retrieved February 17, 2006, from http://www.census
.gov/eos/www/papers/2003/2003finaltext.pdf Those who use IM often employ abbreviations and codes
The U.S. government’s framework for electronic commerce. to quickly get their messages across. The advantage of IM
(1997). Retrieved March 1, 2006, from http://www is the interactive nature of the messages, which work
.technology.gov/digeconomy/framewrk.htm much like a written telephone call. While early IM sys-
VisaEurope. (2003, May 20). Online spending in Europe dou- tems were not always linked to the corporate communica-
bles [Press release]. Retrieved February 17, 2006, from tion paths, IM was considered the same as a conversation.
http://www.visaeurope.com/pressandmedia/press154 Employees were not necessarily careful with what they
_pressreleases.html said or how they said it. Now, however, companies have
the ability to capture IM if they wish, so it is no longer a
quick, safe way to complain about the boss or colleagues.
Miklos A. Vasarhelyi
Michael Alles
PRIVACY
Mail from the U.S. Postal Service comes with a guarantee
of privacy. If a third party opens mail intended for some-
ELECTRONIC MAIL one else without the addressee’s permission, that person
Electronic mail (e-mail) is mail that is sent electronically has committed a crime punishable by law. No such pri-
from one electronic mailbox to another. E-mail differs vacy exists in e-mail. Courts have held that employees
from postal mail in the areas of speed of delivery, privacy, sending e-mail on company computers, with company

232 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION