Operations Research Management Science Today - February 2003 - Cyberspace

<BODY bgcolor="#ffffff" link="cc0000" vlink="cc0000" text="#000000"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br>   <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=480><tr valign=top> <td width=10><img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 hspace=4 border=0></td> <td width=470> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B><I><A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top">OR/MS Today</A> - February 2003</I></B></font><BR> <hr size="1"> <img src="cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <font face="times new roman, times"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>Cyberspace</B></FONT><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <FONT SIZE="+2"><B>Internet:<BR> The Straight Story</B></FONT><BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>By ManMohan S. Sodhi</B></FONT><br> <hr size="1"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br>    I adapted the title of this column from the award-winning 1999 David Lynch movie, "The Straight Story," based on a true story. It is about a 73-year-old man, Alvin Straight, who drives a lawnmower with a makeshift trailer more than 300 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin to see his brother, who he has not spoken to in 10 years and who has recently suffered a stroke.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Straight could get to see his brother faster, cheaper and easier using other means. The justification lies in his destination being as noble as his difficult journey, ennobling those he meets en route. What can we say about our destination and our journey as a society? The Internet is an embodiment of a faster, cheaper, better journey, but should we not concern ourselves with the destination, and not just commerce but also values?<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=3><B>E-Commerce</B></FONT><BR> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> E-commerce was the focal point over the last few years so let us start there. Indeed, B2C e-commerce is doing well enough but troubles loom ahead. Access to the Internet among American adults has grown steadily since 1997, but online revenues in different categories were beginning to stabilize in 2001 [1]. True, in July 2002, non-travel and non-auction revenues grew by 20 percent compared to July 2001, while online travel grew 32 percent [2]. But, in the United Kingdom, the number of online shoppers in 2002 was the same as in 2001 although revenues increased by 10 percent. Research indicates that Internet shopping is for cash-rich, time-poor people, with 55 percent of sales going to those in the 35-45 age group [3]. As online commerce grows so will barriers. For instance, North Carolina laws could ultimately require eBay users to take training in "hygiene, personal appearance, and body language" [4].<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> B2B e-commerce seems a happier story, but there are bigger troubles ahead as well. Although many public exchanges fell by the wayside, private exchanges are proliferating as large companies have set up private exchanges with their customers or suppliers for efficient order creation and tracking [5]. However, in the future, integration across customers and/or suppliers may be a big challenge because, ultimately, we have to create public exchanges rather than multitudes of private one-to-one links or company-centered networks.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=3><B>Values</B></FONT><BR> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> Regardless of the Internet, there are concerns about where we might be headed as a society. Besides threats to the Western security from the outside, there may be threats to Western values from within pertaining to justice, torture and war. These have nothing to do with the Internet but everything to do with our destination. For instance, despite all of the talk about bringing Wall Street companies to justice, the same companies and the same people are still in charge.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> The politicians, having already gained public attention for the votes, now need the same companies and the same people for raising funds. Far more troubling, a Harvard Law School professor has recently come out with justification of torture. The <I>Washington Post</I> has revealed the outsourcing of "interrogation" by the United States to allies with fewer constraints regarding human rights. "War is peace" logic is skillfully perpetuated. In contrast, in Lynch's movie, war is pain, regret and tears. Straight, a war veteran, feels sorrow not just for all his buddies that were killed, but also for the Germans he killed who were "getting younger and younger as the war rolled on." In the electronic age, to many, war is a video game to light up a city "like a Christmas tree" as a U.S. pilot put it during the (first) Gulf War. But for those in the city under attack, it was definitely not Christmas!<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> If such a destination is fine with us, the Internet can help us get there cheaper, faster and better as indicated by weaker privacy and cheaper gratification. In times of crises, civil liberties are the first target and privacy the first among those. As Scott McNeally said, "There is no privacy on the Internet." This may not bother many people who "have nothing to hide." Although a U.K. government scheme to let many government departments access and monitor Internet traffic met resistance, yet even here, as in the United States, it may be a losing battle. In any case, the government can always outsource Internet monitoring to other countries and to private companies. While being a rich source of knowledge, the Internet also provides cheap sex, thrills and money if that is what we want. E-mail can connect people but, in the United States, about half of all e-mail now is spam. Many teenagers use the Internet primarily for gaming and related discussion groups.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> If we are not worried about where we might be headed, we should go with the flow. If Alvin Straight also thought like that, he would have got on the Internet and sent his brother a thoughtful e-mail, or even a quick "get-well-soon" e-card!<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=3><B>References</B></FONT><BR> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> <OL> <font size=1> <LI> Mount, I., "Not Down, Not Out," <I>Business 2.0,</I> December 2001. <LI> Greenspan, R., "E-commerce Continues to Post Gains," <I>Internet.com,</I> Aug 19, 2002, <A HREF="http://ecommerce.internet.com/news/news/print/0,,10375_1448961,00.html" TARGET="_new">http://ecommerce.internet.com/news/news/print/0,,10375_1448961,00.html</A>. <LI> Voyle, S., "Internet Fails to Attract New Shoppers," <I>Financial Times,</I> p. 3, Jan 6, 2003. <LI> Delbianco, S., Tavilla, M., "The State of eCommerce 2002: Beyond the bubble, Beware the Barriers," <I>The Netchoice Report,</I> Oct. 2002, <A HREF="http://www.netchoice.org" TARGET="_new">www.netchoice.org</A>. <LI> Hoffman W., Keedy, J., and Roberts, K., "The Unexpected Return of B2B," <I>McKinsey Quarterly,</I> No. 3, 2002, pp. 97-105.</font> </OL> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><I><B>Dr. Sodhi</B> is a member of the operations management faculty at Cass Business School in London. He welcomes your comments at <A HREF="mailto:M.Sodhi@city.ac.uk">M.Sodhi@city.ac.uk</A>.</i><BR>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=5 border=0><br>  <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"> <CENTER><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></CENTER><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="tocfr.html" Target="_top"><I>Table of Contents</A><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top"><I>OR/MS Today</I> Home Page</A><br>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <b><i>OR/MS Today</i></b> copyright © 2003 by <A HREF="http://www.informs.org/" target="_new">the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences</a>. 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