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The purpose of this research is to show through a case study how the extranet has been used by one specific company to significantly reduce operating costs. The activities of the company are analyzed within the framework of the value chain concept developed by Porter. This, it is felt, will provide a greater insight into how the extranet can be used to improve profit margins. Prior research in this area has either been of a conceptual nature (explaining theoretically how the extranet should be employed) or of a survey nature (examining, by means of a survey instrument, the benefits accruing to companies that have adopted the extranet). This study is different in that it examines in detail, by means of a case study, how the extranet influences a retail company’s chain of activities and reduces the attendant costs thereon.

In the last decade, information technology has proven to be the major enabler that has helped multinational corporations to integrate their worldwide operations. However, studies show that many of these foreign subsidiaries, especially in less‐developed countries, under‐utilize their information systems, thus not making a significant contribution in improving the performance of organizations. Previous research, which investigated the factors that motivated individuals in accepting information technology, were conducted in developed countries. Since less‐developed countries differ culturally from developed countries, it is important to identify the factors which motivate individuals in these countries to accept as well as use information technology. This study seeks to investigate this issue. A comprehensive questionnaire on microcomputer acceptance and its resulting impact was collected from 88 users in six banks in Nigeria. The results suggest that social pressure is an important factor affecting microcomputer usage.

This study looks at the usage of the internet for personal use during office hours. The study hopes to establish whether this unauthorized usages leads to work inefficiency.

A sample of 126 employees from the Penang Free Trade Zone area was conveniently selected to respond to a structured questionnaire. As this is only a preliminary study, a proper sampling frame was deemed not necessary. The purpose of the study was to get a feel of the current situation before proceeding on a larger scale.

The results indicate that the problem of personal web use during office hours is prevalent and this leads to work inefficiency. The personal web use was divided into four categories (personal downloading, personal information research, personal communication and personal e‐commerce). The regression results indicate that three of the usage are positively related to work inefficiency. Personal downloading (β=0.315, p< 0.01), personal information research (β=0.259, p<0.01), personal e‐commerce (β=0.280, p<0.05) whereas personal communication (β=0.038, p>0.05) was not significantly related to work inefficiency. This finding empirically confirms the previous notion that personal web usage leads to work inefficiency.

The research shows gross ignorance on the part of the employees about what is acceptable and what is not in terms of acceptable internet usage in the work place. The main limitation is that the sample was limited to a certain state in Malaysia and future research may want to cover a bigger geographical area.

The employers have to embark on a campaign to educate the employees on the policy of acceptable use in their respective companies to arrest this phenomenon.

Not many papers have been written looking at this issue and especially in the context of a developing country like Malaysia.