What's in store for online shopping
Article Abstract:
Some retailers are starting to debate the future of electronic commerce despite the forecasts of its continued growth. Visa International recently forecast that global electronic commerce, including business-to-business transactions, would grow to more than $1 trillion annually by 2003. At the enormous Mall of America near Minneapolis, a number of retailers are establishing Web sites with the belief that online commerce is the future of retailing, while others are just upgrading the technology that already exists in their operations. The growing reports of customer dissatisfaction with online shopping include complaints that customers can not find the product they want, their credit cards are rejected, the shipping costs are way too high and their merchandise sometimes arrives late. Analysts believe that while the Internet has, and will continue to, change the way products are sold, certain types of business will continue to do best through the traditional distribution channels for the foreseeable future.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1999
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Some firms, let down by costly computers, opt to 'de-engineer'; with its software clashing, Chrysler chucks NeXT and rediscovers phones: memories of the robot craze
Article Abstract:
An increasing number of US corporations are abandoning cutting-edge computer systems that fall short of expectations or fail to perform. Standish Group International's 1996 survey reported that 42% of 360 companies halted their corporate-technology projects before completion, and that such technology costs US companies around $250 billion per year. Many of the problems stem from a quickly-shifting business landscape, a growing number of complex software offerings and technology boosters who promise unrealistic results. Larger and more expensive technology projects tend to fail more frequently, as evidenced by Pacific Gas & Electric's commissioning of IBM to develop a system that would handle tasks such as customer billing. PG&E will maintain its 1970s-era keyboard strokes and menus rather than point-and-click features. Companies are searching for the most efficient amount of technology for completing the job, avoiding unnecessary features that make unstable systems more complex.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1998
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Overseas calling: American firms send office work abroad to use cheaper labor; Ireland and other nations use phones, computer links; U.S. labor leaders worry; another blow for M.B.A.s
Article Abstract:
There is considerable movement of data processing and other office jobs from the United States to countries where wages are low, the people speak English and there are up-to-date telecommunications facilities. Ireland is an example: Cigna Corp has hired 120 Irish workers to process medical claims, for which the workers will get about $11,000 a year; and McGraw-Hill Data Services-Ireland has a staff of 40 women, together with about a dozen part-time workers, who maintain circulation files for 16 McGraw-Hill Inc magazines. Barbados, Jamaica, the Philippines and Singapore are other popular locations for 'outsourcing.' This trend - moving US jobs overseas - is only starting now, but analysts say the US is likely to lose many white-collar jobs in the future.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1991
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