Electronic Commerce Implementation: a Knowledge-Based Analysis

Knowledge and knowledge management are increasingly coming to be recognized as a central issue in innovation studies. In considering the future prospects of electronic commerce, analysis of knowledge-flows occurring in its implementation and use may provide insights into the particular innovation process represented by such applications. Electronic commerce involves several different types of knowledge (from technical or codified knowledge to practical or tacit knowledge), with complex processes of knowledge transfer and conversion occurring between the different actors involved (such as interconnecting partners, service providers, third parties, public bodies). Based on the results of recent empirical studies by the authors on different kinds of electronic commerce applications (including EDI, on-line catalogs, and others), this paper discusses the utility of a knowledge-based approach for investigating the prospects and limitations of electronic commerce, the diffusion processes, and the relations occurring between the actors involved.