Based upon a review of the current literature and a series of interviews held with major transportation customers, the paper puts forward a framework for the evaluation of e-business investments within the railway industry. The research reported here is aimed at developing a flexible interface that enables the decision maker to assess and evaluate a wide variety of complex interacting variables. An attempt is being made to include the complex interaction between the implementation of the new technology and the changing organisational setting. A model is proposed using fuzzy logic to handle incomplete and uncertain knowledge; as well as to combine criteria within a conceptual model from which ‘real-worth’ evaluations can be performed. The paper deals with the proposed framework in detail. The use of empirical data, which was obtained from transportation customers to help define the main framework factors, is also discussed. Finally, the paper summarises the main implications for rail freight of customer’s perceptions and stated needs in the e-business domain. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E211825.
Abstract