Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-txr5j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-16T12:28:17.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can Regional Communities Successfully Participate in the Smart State? The Case of Maranoa Online Regional Community Portal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Jane Summers  and
Meredith Lawley
Get access

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the initial planning and implementation of an emerging e-model, community portals, in a regional Queensland community, focusing on the adoption of this model by the two key stakeholder groups of businesses and consumers. Our study was undertaken in two stages: an initial exploratory stage utilising depth interviews with businesses and focus groups of consumers to identify key reasons for participation, followed by a survey of all businesses and households in the region. Two key implications for successful planning and implementation of regional community portals include the need to focus on not only the establishment and start up phase of the portal but also on the longer term growth and development of the portal and secondly, the importance of considering and addressing the needs of all stakeholder groups at initial planning and implementation phases, rather than focussing on one stakeholder group. Overall the results question the viability of regional community portals if they are to be self-funding, hence necessitating a commercial focus.

Type
Special Theme: Queensland: The Smart State
Information
Queensland Review , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , May 2003 , pp. 123 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999a, Use of the Internet by Householders, Catalogue No. 8147.0, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999b, Use of Information Technology on Farms, Australia, 1998-99, Catalogue. No. 8134.0, Canberra.Google Scholar
Ajzen, I., 1985, ‘From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behaviour’, Action Control: From Cognition to Behaviour, Kuhl, J. and Beckman, J., eds, Springer Verlag, New York, 11–39.Google Scholar
Ajzen, I., 1991, ‘The Theory of Planned Behaviour’, Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 50: 179–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajzen, I., and Fishbein, M., 1980, Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behaviour, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.Google Scholar
Carr, J. H., 2000, ‘Technology Adoption and Diffusion’, Available at: www.tlc.nlm.nih.gov/resources/publications/sourcebook/adoptiondiffusion.html Visited 17 May 2000.Google Scholar
Dann, S, and Dann, S. 2001, Strategic Internet Marketing, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Davis, F. D., 1986, ‘A Technology Acceptance Model for Empirically Testing New End-User Information Systems: Theory and Results’, Doctoral Dissertation, MIT Sloan School of Management.Google Scholar
Davis, F. D.,Bagozzi, R. P. and Warshaw, P. R., 1989, ‘User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models’, Management Science, 35, August 8: 982–1003.Google Scholar
Department of Innovation and Information Economy, 2002, Available at: www.iie.qld.gov.au/publications/comminfo/ecomm.pdf Visited 2 December 2002.Google Scholar
Dholakia, U., and Rego, L., 1998, ‘What Makes Commercial Web pages Popular? An Empirical Investigation of Web Page Effectiveness’, European Journal of Marketing, 32 (7/8): 724–736.Google Scholar
Evans, P., and Wurster, T. S., 2000, ‘Getting Real about Virtual Commerce’, Harvard Business Review, November-December, 85–99.Google Scholar
Hagel, J., 1999, ‘Net Gain: Expanding Markets through Virtual Communities’, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 13 (1): 55–65.Google Scholar
Hamel, G., 2000, Leading the Revolution, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, USA Google Scholar
Hardaker, G., and Graham, G., 2001 Wired Marketing: Energizing Business for e-Commerce, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.Google Scholar
Hasan, H., and Tibbits, H., 2000, ‘Strategic Management of Electronic Commerce: An Adaptation of the Balanced Scorecard’, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, 10 (5): 439–450.Google Scholar
Heun, C., 2000 ‘The Landlords of Cyberspace’, Information Week, 07/24/2000 796:RB18Google Scholar
Hitchman, S., 1999, ‘Portals Provide Potential to Raise Customer Satisfaction’, Australian Banking and Finance, September 15: 10.Google Scholar
Kent, M. L., 1999, ‘Does Your Web Site Attract or Repel Customers?’ Public Relations Quarterly, Winter 98/99, 43(4): 31–34.Google Scholar
MOL 2001, ‘About Us’, available at: www.maranoa.org.au/aboutus.htm Visited 19th December 2001.Google Scholar
NOIE, 2000, ‘Community sector projects’, available at: www.noie.gov.au/projects/access/community/publicinternetacccss Visited 11th January 2001.Google Scholar
NOIE 2002, ‘Ecommerce Across Australia’, available at: www.noie.gov.au/projects/framework/progress/ecomaust.hlm Visited 12 December 2002Google Scholar
O'Keefe, R., O'Connor, G., and Kung, H. 1998, ‘Early Adopters of the Web as a Retail Medium: Small Company Winners and Losers’, European Journal of Marketing, 32(7/8): 629–643.Google Scholar
Rogers, E. M., 1995, Diffusion of Innovations, 4th edn., The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Szymanski, D., and Hise, R., 2000, ‘E-satisfaction: An Initial Examination’ Journal of Retailing, 76(3): 309–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S., and Todd, P. A., 1995, ‘Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models’, Information Systems Research, 6(2): 144–176.Google Scholar
Turban, E., and Gehrke, D., 2000, ‘Determinants of E-commerce Website Success; Website Design: Experts vs Consumers’ Human Systems Management, 19(2): 111–129.Google Scholar
Venkatesh, V., and Brown, S., 1998, ‘Attitudinal Investigation of Personal Computers in Homes: Adoption Determinants and Emerging Challenges’, CSI Working Paper, Available at: www.slis.indiana.edu?CSI?wp98-01.html Visited 26 August 2000.Google Scholar
Yellow Pages Australia 2000, Small Business Index: Survey of Computer Technology and E-Commerce in Australian Small and Medium Business. May.Google Scholar