The Diffusion and Utilization of E-Commerce: The Comparative Characteristics of Ten Countries and Regions

ABSTRACT

The following report analyzes the results of the survey conducted by The Center for Research on Information Technology (CRITO) on the worldwide diffusion of electronic commerce. In this survey, conducted over the phone from February to April of 2002, the same questions about the status of e-commerce implementation were asked to corporate representatives of ten countries and regions: Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, and the US. Not only was this survey able to ascertain the level of e-commerce implementation in each of these countries, but it was also able to understand more clearly, through international comparison, the special characteristics of Japanese corporations in this regard.

The responses concerning the adoption of the IT that forms the infrastructure of e-commerce - e.g., e-mail, public websites, intranets, and extranets - showed, for instance, that e-mail had been adopted by almost 100% of the companies in almost all of the countries and regions, and that there was, thus, not a big spread between them. They also showed that Japan, rather than trailing behind in terms of technological adoption, was ahead, even above the US, in terms of the adoption ratio of technologies such as the Internet. The comparison of all ten countries and regions demonstrated that Japan is on the advanced side in terms of the corporate adoption of e-commerce.

When differentiating the Internet utilization of Japanese corporations by operation, the survey showed that in the procurement field, for example, while there are many cases in which Internet functions like EDI are used to exchange data with previously established business connections, there is still little effort to capitalize on the open nature of the internet, and to use it in developing new business connections. It is necessary for Japanese corporations, particularly in the case of purchasing indirect goods such as office equipment and maintenance tools, to cease being so insistent on their established and already known suppliers, and think a little more seriously about reducing costs by using the Internet to find new suppliers and business opportunities.

The distinct characteristics of Japanese companies are clearly visible in their responses to the questions concerning the disincentives and the impact of e-commerce. In Japan, a high proportion of companies, superceded only by China, pointed to the fact that the "Internet is not thought of as a management strategy" as an important disincentive. In Japan, moreover, where a strong emphasis is placed on the impact of efficient operations, the proportion of companies that said they would use the Internet to "improve customer service," or "improve the company's competitive position" was low compared to other countries. It is important for Japanese companies to begin utilizing the Internet in a strategic context, and not just as a tool to improve their operations.

A comparison of all ten countries and regions made it clear that, on the whole, everyone is headed in the same direction as the US, and moreover, that the gap between them and the US is shrinking. There are, nonetheless, characteristic differences among the countries. In France, for example, though it is an advanced country, the utilization of the Internet has been delayed due to the proliferation of a pre-existing technology. Thus, given the diversity that countries exhibit despite their unified direction, it would be very meaningful to continue, on a regular basis, gathering information on the status of e-commerce implementation from a global perspective.