An Integrated E-Marketplace Framework: A Case Study of Wood-based Products Industry in Malaysia

Rapid growth and expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) have set the pace for an electronic revolution leading to adoption of e-marketplace within the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Locally, this growth in ICT promises to further bolster the SMEs' position as the engine of growth for the Malaysia economy. However, there are various challenges and issues in setting up an e-marketplace in developing countries which appear to impede the growth of e-marketplace. In this paper, the realities of e-business adoption in Malaysian wood based products industry are discussed. This leads to the proposal of an integrated e-marketplace framework. This framework integrates different types of business mechanisms to facilitate in the trading of wood-based products in Malaysia. These mechanisms comprise of a third-party intermediary portal, mobile agent-based multi-attribute reverse auction and an e-negotiation feature that incorporates the use of the short messaging system service.