Introduction:
One recent form of technical entrepreneurship is using the improvements in computer technology, especially the Internet, to conduct business, promote business or perform the process called entrepreneurship. This whole field has become known as cyberpreneurship, and varies from an organization which merely promotes itself by using an electronic brochure called a home page on the Internet, to companies and organizations which sell their products and services through the use of electronic mail on the Internet. Considerable mythology has quickly developed about firms that have experienced spectacular growth through their sales via the Internet, but it is mostly hype and most businesses using the Internet have reported very poor response to their home pages or difficulty in measuring that response. Many firms do not even track the number of users accessing their home page. Very little research has been done (and certainly not published) which actually measures success in terms of sales using the Internet or even user satisfaction. If we are to believe the futurists who predict that we will soon be conducting the vast majority of our business through some form of the Internet, a modicum of proof of its success is in order. That is the purpose of this paper.
The Internet
Most people alive today have probably heard of the Internet. In fact, if the propaganda is believed, most people have already surfed the Internet. At least most computer users have probably done so. It is becoming more and more common for firms and organizations everywhere to advertise and even sell their products and services via the Internet. In fact, inquiries to our MBA program have demanded that we at Western “get with it” and make all of our propaganda about our program (and maybe eventually all of our teaching material as well) available on the Internet. It is now possible to learn all about our program, apply to it and be rejected (or accepted) over the Internet without ever talking to a live person! Maybe soon you will be able to obtain your degree as well over the Internet, as one current Bell commercial now claims you can do with a PhD through Indiana University! View full article »
