372 L Chen and R Nath framework can guide a researcher in future research and provide practitioners with a systematic approach to identifying m-business opportunities in their industries 2 A framework for m-business applications At this infant stage of m-business, the lack of academic research and industry experience have left many practitioners in the dark when trying to identify m-business opportunities that will contribute to the business value in their organisations. Only a paucity of literature provide useful frameworks to assist businesses understand m-busines opportunities(e. g. [13, 14)), and no published study has offered any application-oriented framework. To partially fill this void, we present a framework for m-business applications. Besides the theoretical contribution, another purpose of this framework is to provide managers with a systematic approach to identifying m-business opportunities in their organisations. The framework consists of two components. In the first part, the value proposition of m-business applications is examined, and the business processes where m-business applications will bring the most value are identified. The second part of the framework is a technology-independent and application-oriented framework that will help managers device m-business applications that will meet the organisation,'s goals and objectives. The two components of the framework are discussed in the forthcoming ections. 2.1 Part 1: value proposition of m-business applications As a starting point of their pursuit, business managers must understand how m-business applications will contribute to the success of the company. The business value of m-business lies in its ability to provide users with time-sensitive data and the ability to transact from anywhere at any time. Therefore, it can be argued that the value of m-business is a function of the time-sensitivity of the data or transaction and the mobility information user. The value of m-business increases with increases in user mobility me-sensitivity of the required data or transaction. At one extreme, we have a travelling stock broker whose ability to have access to the most up-to-date stock quotes and market news at all times is essential to his or her effectiveness in the job. Stock quotes and news are highly time-sensitive as they are updated virtually every second As the stockbroker travels from place to place, being able to use one or more mobile devices to access the latest market information and to execute transactions is highly valuable. At the other extreme. in a situation where the information has little or no time-sensitivity(e.g. historical or periodical reports)or where decisions do not need to be made in real-time or where the user is mostly stationary, the value of wirelessly enabling such applications becomes minimal. Information can be delivered to the user using such as paper reports, newsletters, or electronic workstation. The value of m-business applications can be demonstrated using the diagram in Fl372 L. Chen and R. Nath framework can guide a researcher in future research and provide practitioners with a systematic approach to identifying m-business opportunities in their industries. 2 A framework for m-business applications At this infant stage of m-business, the lack of academic research and industry experience have left many practitioners in the dark when trying to identify m-business opportunities that will contribute to the business value in their organisations. Only a paucity of literature provide useful frameworks to assist businesses understand m-business opportunities (e.g. [13,14]), and no published study has offered any application-oriented framework. To partially fill this void, we present a framework for m-business applications. Besides the theoretical contribution, another purpose of this framework is to provide managers with a systematic approach to identifying m-business opportunities in their organisations. The framework consists of two components. In the first part, the value proposition of m-business applications is examined, and the business processes where m-business applications will bring the most value are identified. The second part of the framework is a technology-independent and application-oriented framework that will help managers device m-business applications that will meet the organisation’s goals and objectives. The two components of the framework are discussed in the forthcoming sections. 2.1 Part I: value proposition of m-business applications As a starting point of their pursuit, business managers must understand how m-business applications will contribute to the success of the company. The business value of m-business lies in its ability to provide users with time-sensitive data and the ability to transact from anywhere at any time. Therefore, it can be argued that the value of m-business is a function of the time-sensitivity of the data or transaction and the mobility of the information user. The value of m-business increases with increases in user mobility and time-sensitivity of the required data or transaction. At one extreme, we have a travelling stock broker whose ability to have access to the most up-to-date stock quotes and market news at all times is essential to his or her effectiveness in the job. Stock quotes and news are highly time-sensitive as they are updated virtually every second. As the stockbroker travels from place to place, being able to use one or more mobile devices to access the latest market information and to execute transactions is highly valuable. At the other extreme, in a situation where the information has little or no time-sensitivity (e.g. historical or periodical reports) or where decisions do not need to be made in real-time or where the user is mostly stationary, the value of wirelessly enabling such applications becomes minimal. Information can be delivered to the user using traditional channels such as paper reports, newsletters, or electronically to the user’s PC workstation. The value of m-business applications can be demonstrated using the diagram in Figure 1