The International Nature of Electronic Commerce

1
The International Nature of Electronic Commerce

• Any business that engages in electronic commerce
  instantly becomes an international business.
• When companies use the Web to create a corporate
  image, or build a community, they are
  automatically operating in a global environment.

2
The International Nature of Electronic Commerce

• Businesses engaging in electronic commerce must
  be aware of the differences in language and
  customs that make up the culture of any region in
  which they do business.
• The barriers to international electronic commerce
  include language, culture, and infrastructure
  issues.

3
Language Issues

• Researchers have found that
• Customers are more likely to buy products and
  services from Web sites in their own language
  http//www.bol.com
• Localization
• Translation that considers multiple elements of
  local environment
• About 70 of the content available on the
  Internet today is in English.
• More than 50 of current Internet users do not
  read English.
• The most-used non-English languages for U.S.
  companies are Spanish, German, Japanese, French,
  and Chinese.

4
Language Issues

• Global Reach offers Web site globalization
  services and maintains current information about
  languages on the Web.
• One approach is to have a Web server that can
  detect the default language setting of the
  browser and automatically redirect the browser to
  the set of Web pages created in that language.
• Another approach is to include links to multiple
  language versions on the home page. Yahoo China
  from Yahoo Home
• Firms that provide Web page translation services
  include Alis Technologies, Berlitz, Rubric, Ltd.,
  ScanSoft, Transparent Language, and Worldpoint
  Interactive.
• Idiom Technologies sells software that automates
  the process of maintaining Web pages in multiple
  language versions.

5
Cultural Issues

• Important element of business trust
• Anticipate how the other party to a transaction
  will act in specific circumstances
• Culture
• Varies across national boundaries
• Varies across regions within nations
• The combination of language and customs is often
  called culture.
• Some errors stemming from subtle language and
  cultural standards are culture issues.
• Entre

6
Cultural Issues

• On the Web, designers must be very careful when
  choosing icons that represent common actions.
• Even colors or Web page design elements can be
  troublesome.
• A site that strongly reflects a cultural design
  preference is the Bol.com, which is an online
  bookstore for several different countries.
• Softbank has devised a way to introduce
  electronic commerce to a reluctant Japanese
  population.
• Nike realized that it had to create special Web
  pages for foreign customers. One such site is
  the Nike Football site.
• Some parts of the world have cultural
  environments that are extremely inhospitable to
  electronic commerce initiatives.
• The Peoples Republic of China and Singapore are
  wrestling with the issues presented by the growth
  of the Internet as a vehicle for doing business.

7
Infrastructure Issues

• Internet infrastructure includes
• Computers and software connected to Internet
• IBM Tools
• Communications networks over which message
  packets travel
• Regulations in some countries have inhibited the
  development of the telecommunications
  infrastructure or limited the expansion of that
  infrastructure.
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and
  Developments (OECD)
• Statements on Information and Communications
  Policy
• Deal with telecommunications infrastructure
  development issues
• Flat-rate access system
• Consumer or business pays one monthly fee for
  unlimited telephone line usage no available in
  many countries.
• Contributed to rapid rise of U.S. electronic
  commerce
• Targets for technological solutions
• Paperwork and processes that accompany
  international transactions

8
Web Resources

• Globalizing your web site
• http//www.onlinewbc.gov/docs/market/International
  Business.html
• http//www.godfrey.com/idea_base/global.asp
• http//www-306.ibm.com/software/globalization/rss/
  index.jsp
• http//www.zeromillion.com/business/ib/globalize-w
  ebsite.html
• Avoid culture clashes when going global
• http//www.entrecs.com/org23.asp?orgid23storyTyp
  eIDsitelang1sid
• Language Issues
• http//www.schreibernet.com/sti/basics/globalizing
  -your-website-part1.htm
• Infrastructure Issues
• http//www-306.ibm.com/software/globalization/lotu
  s/overview.jsp