Many business analysts have discussed the concept of the ...

[KimWrice]

Many business analysts have discussed the concept of the first-mover advantage. What are some of the disadvantages of being a first mover?

Question 2

Name and briefly describe the two business activities that were the earliest implementations of electronic commerce.

[T4T]

Answer to Question 1

First movers must invest large amounts of money in new technologies and make guesses about what customers will want when those technologies are functioning. The combination of high uncertainty and the need for large investments makes being a first mover very risky. As many business strategists have noted, It is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Answer to Question 2

Since the mid-1960s, banks have been using electronic funds transfers (EFTs, also called wire transfers), which are electronic transmissions of account exchange information over private communications networks. Initially used to transfer money between business checking accounts, the use of EFTs gradually expanded to include payroll deposits to employees accounts, automatic payment of auto and mortgage loans, and deposit of government payments to individuals, such as U.S. Social Security System remittances.

Businesses have also used a form of electronic commerce, known as electronic data interchange, for many years. Electronic data interchange (EDI) occurs when one business transmits computer-readable data in a standard format to another business.