What’s on the web

Citation

(2006), "What’s on the web", Strategic Direction, Vol. 22 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2006.05622cag.001

What’s on the web

Classified informationwww.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the US Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system and is reshaping the way the North American changing economy is perceived. NAICS was developed jointly by the USA, Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America. The web site has a huge amount of information (much of it in the form of hyperlinks) on the classification system itself, business analysis and a separate product classification section. Very useful for both those in the region and those companies outside who trade or work with them.

Commercial advicewww.ecommerce-guide.com

iWORLD’s guide to Electronic Commerce is a simply brilliant way to find out more about buying, selling and marketing on the web. This site contains a great deal of information concerning the relationship of commerce to the internet and has many links to sites with useful business information. The “eBiz FAQ” section is particularly useful with a series of hyperlinks entitled “everything you need to know to start your own successful e-business”, “selling on eBay – how to make money in the online marketplace”, “PayPal payments and more”, “what’s new in secure payments for your online store” and “shopping cart software – solutions to close, process and track your online sales”.

There is also a good discussion forum. The site is a little cluttered but well worth a visit.

Women’s workwww.advancingwomen.com

Another US site, concentrating specifically on women and business, is also worth a visit. It went live on the internet in 1996 and “was the first organization to fuse the power of the Net with the compelling agenda of women seeking the most effective means of advancing their career”. Since 1996, Advancing Women has been one of the top women and diversity career sites on the Net. Advancing Women also offers a special section for those women seeking executive careers in the $60K-$750K+ range. Unsurprisingly, the users are almost all women, job seekers in every category with a particularly strong presence in fields which traditionally have fewer women, such as IT, engineering and other technical fields.

Money worries overwww.moneyextra.com

This is a useful United Kingdom site for financial information with masses of links and sections on mortgages, loans, shares, pensions and much more. There is an excellent “compare and buy” search facility that is easy to use and very effective. You can compare leading bank accounts and interest rates, find the best ISA or look at the best offers from over 190 credit cards. One warning – you might spend too long here, it is very seductive.

And finally

Visit this for an amusing few minutes but also ponder on the serious underlying theme – and the power of the net, for good or ill. “Ripoffreport.com will bring many problems the honest attention they deserve. When people are victimized, we will provide them with a forum to share their opinions and experiences with others.”

Modelled on the Better Business Bureau, this is the home of the Bad Business Bureau. Ripoffreport.com is a consumer-oriented forum which identifies bad businesses. And unlike the Better Business Bureau, all of the unedited, uncensored complaints are public to millions world-wide.

Run by an ex-businessman, Ed Magidson, the operation offers disgruntled consumers, mostly but not exclusively in the USA, the opportunity to report their complaints free of charge by filing a Rip-Off Report. The information is then posted within 24 hours, making it available for other consumers to see and for the “bad business” in question to post a reply. The site offers a wide variety of topics and categories that you can search and, although a majority of the reports deal with businesses, they can be made about any government agency, individual, or product that someone is dissatisfied with.

As Magidson says, “I expect and hope this site will be the last site any business wishes to be listed on.”

Contact uswww.emerald insight.com

For a particularly interesting and useful site you could always try our own! And if you have any favourite (or otherwise) sites that you would like us to review on these pages, please drop us an e-mail and we will submit them to our usual rigorous analysis.