Current State and Trends of E-Commerce in the Construction Industry: Analysis of a Questionnaire Survey Syed M. Ahmed Assistant Professor Department of Construction Management Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA Phone: 305-348-2730, Fax: 305-348-6255 E-mail: ahmeds@fiu.edu Irtishad Ahmad Associate Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Florida International University Miami, Florida USA E-mail: ahmadi@fiu.edu Salman Azhar Doctoral Candidate Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Florida International University Miami, Florida, USA E-mail: salman.azhar@fiu.edu Sachinkumar Arunkumar Graduate Student Department of Construction Management Florida International University Miami, Florida USA
ABSTRACT Information Technology (IT) revolution has been widely touted as having equal if not greater impact on us than the industrial revolution. The construction industry is now becoming increasingly reliant on new electronic technology as a viable means of doing business. The aim of this paper was to investigate this trend and predict the direction the industry is most likely to take in the future. The methodology employed was a nationwide detailed questionnaire survey targeting the major contractors, project/construction managers and the A/E/C firms. The results indicate that construction industry players are generally lagging in online purchasing of goods and services and online bidding. However, project management web sites are frequently used. Web-based customer assessment programs are also lagging behind other industries. It can be concluded that construction organizations are in general aware of the e- commerce potential but are not ready organizationally to embrace it wholeheartedly. 1. INTRODUCTION The application of electronic commerce has led to many changes in the way business is conducted. By definition electronic commerce or e-commerce is the purchasing or selling of goods or services and the transfer of funds in any way using the electronic communications in inter-company and intra-company business activities. There are two types of e-commerce: business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce involving companies selling products or services to individuals; and business-to-business e-commerce (B2B), in which companies sell to other businesses. E-business, as shown in Fig. 1, by contrast, is an umbrella term that includes e-commerce and refers to the use of the Internet and private intranet to transform a company s value chain (i.e. internal processes, supplier and partner interactions, and customer relationships) with the ultimate goal of creating value for customers. A firm with an effective e-business strategy develops the capabilities needed to improve the flow of information and business intelligence among partners, suppliers, employees and customers. It also aims to solve problems for all parties that comprise its extended value chain. In coming years, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is expected to increase dramatically, accounting for an ever-greater share of total e-commerce activity. Industry analysts conservatively estimate that e-commerce will reach $5.7 trillion by 2004 and one study predicts that 11 percent, or $141 billion worth, of construction industry spending will be online by 2004 (IDC, 2000). The use of e-commerce is mainly supported by advancements in information technology or IT, which makes the commerce possible. IT includes, the use of electronic machine and programs for the processing, storage, transfer and presentation of information (Bjork, 1999). This information is sent through what is known as the information super highway, which could be compared to a pipeline feeding off of e-commerce activity. The developments in this field are geared to speed the processing of data and information.
E-business Creating customers value by using networked computing to improve communications with and solve problems for customers, employees, suppliers and partners E-commerce Intranets Extranets Marketing and selling Improve internal Improve processes goods or services using processes and com- throughout the value network computing munication through chain via web-enabled and the web network computing network computing B2B E-commerce between businesses B2C E-commerce with individual consumers Fig 1: E-definitions (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2000) E-commerce is about more than just the procurement of products and services online. It is changing the business processes of the construction and real estate industries by delivering information technology solutions to an industry that still relies heavily on paper-reliant processes. E-commerce is also not just about customer payments, partner payments or online inventory queries. As companies transform themselves into e-businesses, they are beginning to manage procurement, supply chains and partner networks on-line (Moran, 2000). Web-based electronic commerce is an important, strategic business tool that is poised to significantly alter the way the construction industry does business, and it is coming on faster than anyone could have imagined. Companies that choose to ignore the growth of e- commerce as a viable way of doing business do so at their own peril, asserts Chuck Frey of the Construction Industry Manufacturers Association (CIMA, 1999). Using the Internet provides companies enormous advantages in deepening and securing relationships with any and all of its customers and suppliers. Advantages include being more accessible, providing better service and locking in key relationships. And, using the power of the Web enables entire teams to have the ability to manage complex power construction processes. To do this, however, the system needs to be open, so that a company can easily integrate with any of its partners' applications regardless of their platform. Solutions will be required to have built-in features such as content management, order management, dynamic pricing and
international payment and trading capabilities. Those businesses that are the most flexible, open (databases, servers and storage devices) and have the quickest response time will win. 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE PAPER The objective of this paper is to present the findings of a research study on the current status of adoption and implementation of e-commerce in the U.S construction industry. Of particular interest is to investigate the usage of e-commerce in online purchasing of goods and services, online bidding, project management, web-based customer assessment and online training programs for employees. Lastly, the aim of this paper is to assess the organizational readiness of the construction companies, construction managers and A/E/C firms with regards to e-commerce and the barriers to implementation in the construction industry 2.1 Scope and Methodology The methodology for the project was carried out by sending questionnaires to all the major participants of the construction sector like the contractors, construction management/project management firms, and the A/E/C. The questionnaires were sent to approximately 500 firms representing the players mentioned above throughout the United States. The companies and the firms were selected from the University database and also from other trade associations like the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The questionnaire was uploaded on to the web in November 2001 and the companies were given the URL address of the website. A Web questionnaire was selected as the viable format as it is easier to fill the questionnaire than sending paper questionnaires which is time consuming and the response rate is lesser compared to the web questionnaire which has a higher response rate because of the ease of response. 3. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES A total of approximately 500 questionnaires were sent to all the major parties involved in a project namely the contractors, construction management/project management firms and the A/E/Cs in the United States. 71 completed responses were received till March 2002. Among the 71 responses received, 29 were from contractors, 20 from CM/PM firms and 22 from A/E/Cs. The rate of response was 14%.
3.1 E-mail as the Method of Communication To find the extent of usage of email as the method of communication in the firms, we can see from Table 1, that 54% of the responses said they use email quite frequently to communicate with other parties. 44.5% said they use mainly email and only 1.5% said that they do not use email very often. Table 1: Email as the method of communication How often does your company use email as the method of communication? Not very often Quite frequently Mainly Contractors 1 18 10 CM/PM Firms - 11 9 A/E/C - 7 11 Owners - 2 2 Total Percentage 1.5% 54% 44.5% 3.2 Internet as a Sourcing Tool for Goods and Services In Table 2, we see that only 38% of the firms frequently use Internet to source goods and services, whereas 55% of the firms use it sometimes. 7% of the respondents said they never use Internet to source goods and services. From the above table, we can therefore determine that Internet is growing rapidly as an alternative for sourcing goods and services. Table 2: Internet as a sourcing tool for goods and services Does your company use Internet as a sourcing tool for goods and services? No, never Sometim es Yes, frequently Contractors 2 15 12 CM/PM Firms 2 16 06 A/E/C 1 08 09 Total Percentage 7% 55% 38% 3.3 Online Purchasing of Goods and Services From the survey results shown in Table 3, we can see that 70% of the respondents use Internet sometimes to purchase goods or services. Only 19% said that they frequently use Internet to purchase goods and services online and 11% said they never use Internet to purchase goods or services online. We can therefore conclude that construction firms are lagging behind in their usage of Internet to purchase goods and services.
Table 3: Online purchasing of goods and services Does your company purchase goods or services online? No, never Sometimes Yes, frequently Contractors 4 21 4 CM/PM Firms 2 16 6 A/E/C 2 13 3 Total Percentage 11% 70% 19% 3.4 Registration on any Business-to-Business website From the survey, it can be observed in Table 4 that only 34% of the respondents are registered on business-to-business websites and the majority (62%) of the firms are not registered on any business-to-business websites. 4% of the respondents did not answer the above question. Table 4: Registration on any business-to-business websites Is your company registered on any business-to-business Yes No N/A web sites? Contractors 11 18 - CM/PM Firms 06 18 - A/E/C 07 8 3 Total Percentage 34% 62% 4% 3.5 Company Turnover In Table 5, we can see that 56% of the firms have a turnover of less than $100 million. 23% of the firms have a turnover between $100m and $500m, and 21% of the firms have a turnover of more than $500 million. This shows that the majority of the firms who participated in this survey are average sized or midsize companies. Table 5: Company Turnover What is your company turnover? < $100 m $100m - $500 m > $500 m Contractors 17 6 6 CM/PM Firms 15 6 3 A/E/C 08 4 6 Total Percentage 56% 23% 21%
3.6 Performing Web-Based Market Research Table 6 shows the web-based market research performed by the companies to increase profit and productivity. 53% of the respondents said that they do not perform web-based market research and 3% did not answer that question. Only 44% of the companies said that they perform web-based market research. 3.7 Bidding Online Table 6: Performing Web-based market research Does your company perform web-based Yes No N/A market research? Contractors 11 18 - CM/PM Firms 12 12 - A/E/C 8 8 2 Total Percentage 44% 53% 3% When asked whether they bid online for projects, 79% of the companies said no. Only 14% of the companies said they bid online. 7% did not respond to the question. From Table 7, we can see that companies are lagging behind in using Internet to bid work, as compared to other industries where the usage of Internet in bidding is far greater. Does your company bid online? Table 7: Bidding Online Yes No N/A Contractors 5 23 1 CM/PM Firms 4 18 2 A/E/C 1 15 2 Total Percentage 14% 79% 7% 3.8 Project Management or Project Collaboration Websites From Table 8, we can see that 59% of the companies do use project management or project collaboration websites to manage their projects. This shows that in the area of project management, the companies are well established in their e-commerce implementation. 34% of the respondents said that they do not use project management or project collaboration website to do business, and 7% did not respond to the question.
Table 8: Using project management or project collaboration websites to do business Does your company do business using any project management or Yes No N/A project collaboration websites? Contractors 17 11 1 CM/PM Firms 15 7 2 A/E/C 10 6 2 Total Percentage 59% 34% 7% 3.9 Maintaining Project Specific Websites for Communication When we asked the respondents if they use project specific websites to share information with other members of the project, 59% said yes. 34% said no, and 7% did not respond to the question as shown in Table 9. This again strengthens our argument that in the area of project management, the companies use e-commerce to communicate and to share information about the project with other members of the project. Table 9: Maintaining project specific websites to communicate with other parties of the project Does your company have project specific websites to share information with the Yes No N/A other parties of the project? Contractors 17 11 1 CM/PM Firms 15 7 2 A/E/C 10 6 2 Total Percentage 59% 34% 7% 3.10 Web-Based Customer Assessment Programs In Table 10, we can see that 75% of the companies do not have web-based customer assessment programs. Only 15% of the respondents said that they have web-based programs to access customer satisfaction. 10% did not answer the question. Table 10: Web-based customer assessment programs Does your company has web-based customer assessment Yes No N/A programs? Contractors 4 23 2 CM/PM Firms 4 17 3 A/E/C 3 13 2 Total Percentage 15% 75% 10%
3.11 Online Training Programs for Employees E-commerce can be used to provide training for company employees. There are many webbased courses, which are available on the Internet, that company employees can make use of which have the following advantages: (1) the employees do not have to take these courses through traditional means which are expensive, (2) the employees can access these courses from any place, (3) they can study these courses in their free time. 44% of the companies said that they provide training to their employees using online training programs. 52% said no, and 4% did not respond to the question. Therefore we can see that majority of the companies or firms do not take advantage of these web-based online courses to train their employees. Table 11: Online training programs for employees Does your company provide training to employees using Yes No N/A online training programs? Contractors 14 15 - CM/PM Firms 08 16 - A/E/C 09 06 3 Total Percentage 44% 52% 4% 3.12 Managing Inventories over the Internet 89% of the companies said that they do not manage inventories over the Internet. Only 4% of the respondents said that they manage inventories over the Internet, and 7% did not answer the question. This shows that companies still use the traditional method of managing their inventories. Table 12: Managing inventories over the Internet Does your company manage inventories Yes No N/A over the Internet? Contractors 1 27 1 CM/PM Firms - 22 2 A/E/C 2 14 2 Total Percentage 4% 89% 7% 3.13 Updating Company Websites A company website acts as an online brochure for a company, which an outsider opens to get information or updates about the company. A company which updates and maintains their website regularly doesn t have to spend a lot of dollars on marketing. Having a good and wellinformed company website saves a lot of money on advertising. A good company website also
results in increased sales and thereby more profits, as clients first go through a company s website to know about the Contractor, CM/PM or the A/E/C before giving the project to that company or firm. From the survey, we see that 32% of the companies update their website on a monthly basis, and 13% of the respondents said that they update their websites every 2 months. 37% of the companies update their websites every 3 months and 18% of the respondents did not answer the question. From the table, we can conclude that only a small percentage of the companies understand the importance of updating and maintaining their websites. Table 13: Updating company websites How often do you update your company websites? Monthly Every 2 months Every 3 months N/A Contractors 11 3 10 5 CM/PM Firms 08 2 10 4 A/E/C 4 4 6 4 Total Percentage 32% 13% 37% 18% 3.14 Registration with ASP (Application Service Providers) for managing B2B solutions In Table 14, we see that 79% of the companies are not registered with any Application Service Providers for managing their business-to-business solutions. Only 10% are registered with ASPs, and 11% of the respondents didn t know what ASP was. This shows that unlike other industries where companies often register with ASPs to conduct their B2B solutions, construction industry lags in conducting their B2B solutions using Application Service Providers. Table 14: Registration with ASP for managing B2B solutions Is your company registered with any ASP for managing Yes No N/A your B2B solutions? Contractors 4 23 2 CM/PM Firms 2 18 4 A/E/C 1 15 2 Total Percentage 10% 79% 11% 3.15 E-Commerce in bringing Fundamental Change to Business in the next Two years When asked whether they thought e-commerce would bring fundamental change to their business model in the next two years, the majority of the respondents (62%) said yes. This shows that although companies lag behind in their usage of e-commerce to improve their businesses, they are familiar with the importance of e-commerce and the fundamental change it will bring to their business. 32% of the respondents said that they do not believe that e-
commerce will bring fundamental change to their business model. 6% did not answer that question. Table 15: E-commerce in bringing fundamental change to business in the next two years 3.16 E-Commerce Performance Measurements Do you think e- commerce will bring fundamental change to your business Yes No N/A model in the next two years? Contractors 20 8 1 CM/PM Firms 15 8 1 A/E/C 9 7 2 Total Percentage 62% 32% 6% Although most companies that participated in our survey plan to use a variety of performance measurements, contractors and CM/PM companies are using the broadest range of them (see Table 16). Table 16: E-commerce performance measurements E-commerce Performance Measurements Contractor CM/PM A/E/C Increase in customer satisfaction 3 8 3 Revenues generated from new customer/market 3 3 4 Ability to act as truly customer-driven enterprise 2 2 2 Enhanced ability to seize new growth or profit opportunities 4 3 2 Increase in market share 1 3 1 Additional revenue generated from current customers/markets 5 1 - Reduced operating costs 11 8 6 The A/E/C firms use the least range of measurements to determine e-commerce performance. Across the participants, the majority said they intend to gauge their e-business efforts based on reduced operating costs, increase in customer satisfaction, revenues generated from new customer/market and enhanced ability to seize new growth or profit opportunities.
3.17 Organizational Readiness for E-commerce Organizational structure and management play a crucial role in how a company performs in the new economy. Through our survey, we found that most executives believe their companies aren t as prepared as they should be. As Table 17 shows, all the participants in the survey said that they are retraining their employees to help them in implementing their e- commerce vision. The companies are also convinced that conducting business on the web is changing their company culture dramatically. A vast majority of the companies surveyed do not believe that the web will require their company culture to become more entrepreneurial. Table 17: Organizational readiness for e-commerce implementation Organizational readiness for E-commerce Implementation Contractor CM/PM A/E/C We are retraining our current employees to help us implement our e- commerce vision 9 13 6 Embracing a web-based business model will create the need for reorganization within our company 4 6 4 We are acquiring people with specialized e- commerce skills 5 3 - The web will require our culture to become more entrepreneurial 4 3 2 Conducting business on the web is changing our company culture dramatically 7 3 6 The experience of the firms undergoing e-business transformation suggests that unless management implements the organizational changes necessary to operate as an e-business, there is little likelihood that the new strategy will succeed. Companies readiness for e- business also depends on the availability of employees with specialized e-business skills. 3.18 Barriers for E-Commerce Implementation in the Company When asked about the obstacles to implementing e-commerce strategy, executives responded that the greatest barriers are human, organizational and technological. As Table 18 shows, companies lack employees with e-business skills, on both the technical and business sides. Companies have made huge investments in IT over the years, but the Internet requires a new set of skills. The problem seems especially severe among CM/PM firms and contractors. Many companies are unclear about how their customers view the web. Almost all companies reported being unsure of which customers prefer to do business over the Internet. This was of
special concern among contractors, CM/PM, and A/E/Cs. Overall, contractors and CM/PM agreed to all the constraints which effect e-commerce implementation in their companies. From Table 18, we can also see that all participants agreed that they worry about the security of the Internet. They also said that customers/clients/subcontractors and suppliers are resisting the web. The change fatigue factor was also agreed by a large number of participants as one of the barriers for e-commerce implementation in their company. Risk of alienating third-party distributors was the least agreed upon factor by all the companies. All companies also agreed that key managers in their companies are not fully aware of various e- commerce issues. Table 18: Barriers for e-commerce implementation in the company Barriers for e-commerce implementation in the company Contractor CM/PM A/E/C a. Technology Constraints: Lack of required IT staff capability 4 11 2 Scarce funding for IT implementation 2 7 5 Lack of appropriate technological infrastructure 3 6 6 b. Customer-related constraints: Don't know which customers prefer to do business over the web 11 10 9 Customers/Clients/Subcontractors/Suppliers worry about the security of the internet 11 10 5 Customers/Clients/Subcontractors/Suppliers are resisting the web 7 4 3 c. Organization-wide constraints: Scarce supply of people with experience in e-commerce 9 9 1 Key managers do not fully understand the issues 6 6 8 Lack of company-wide agreement on e- business strategy 2 6 4 "Change fatigue" exists throughout the company 4 2 2 Need to evolve into a "24 x 7" company 2 - - Risk of alienating third-party distributors 1 - -
4. CONCLUSION The Internet is changing the construction industry, gradually but certainly. Companies are contracting by e-mail, surfing the Net for supplies and equipment, and considering online techniques to project management. The pace is slow but steady as companies approach the move differently. Some blindly race online and others embrace it with trepidation. E- commerce is likely to impact all facets of the construction supply chain and project life cycle. The survey results indicate that while Internet is being widely used in the construction industry, business to business (B2B) or business to customer (B2C) type applications have not received much acceptance yet. There are indications however, that e-commerce would be the way to do construction business in the near future. An overwhelming majority of the respondents believe that e-commerce will bring fundamental changes in construction over the next two years, although their investment and commitment in e-commerce is not significant. It can be concluded that construction organizations are in general aware of the e-commerce potential but are not ready organizationally to embrace it wholeheartedly. The usual apprehension of testing something new is there along with the difficulty of changing organizational rules and norms. In addition e-commerce requires commitment to considerable investment despite the fact that the return on this investment is intangible as well as long-term. E-commerce is likely to impact all facets of the construction supply chain and project life cycle from briefing, feasibility, scheme design, design, construction, facilities management to refurbishment and demolition. Wireless technologies and communications will reach across the whole industry and benefit everyone. E-commerce s ability to introduce efficiencies into the construction industry will be its greatest contribution. Also, better relationships will develop due to the increases of information exchange and communication. And construction is founded on these relationships and is advanced by their strength. In the 21 st century companies large and small will benefit from the creation of electronic commerce. Though large organizations will be able to afford greater investment and may reap greater returns, proportionally as much benefit can be achieved in small organization. If one thing is sure, the benefits will take place directly from the resources directed to and invested in E-commerce and Information Technology. IT and E-commerce will advance the construction industry and will aid in a rehabilitation of a less than advanced, to highly advanced, state-of-the-art status. Regardless of the approach, all companies should keep in mind a few pointers to reduce the risks and ease the transition: 1. Don t forget the old rules: While the Internet may make doing business faster, easier and even cheaper, it does not change the old precautions read the contract, understand the risks and buyer beware.
2. Anticipate problems: Even the best technology will fail sometimes, companies must plan for this by including liability provisions in contracts, and establishing contingency plans for project participants and requiring security precautions in online transactions. 3. Invest in good infrastructure and training: Project web sites and extranets can streamline an operation, but only if a company has the technology and employee knowledge base to use it. As the industry moves online, unforeseen legal and practical issues undoubtedly will emerge, not to mention the concerns that will accompany the significant cultural and behavioral changes the Internet will bring to the industry. However, companies that understand and anticipate the risks of e-commerce will thrive in this new environment and become leaders of the revolution. It would appear that the industry is still in the learning curve, and that the old bricks and mortar way of making a profit will not be soon replaced with the mystical allure of the Web. Those who eventually prosper on the web will be the individuals and firms with solid backgrounds in construction and business, and who have a business plan calling for a profit during this lifetime instead of the next (Berning & Dively-Coyne, 2000).
5. REFERENCES 1 B. C. Bjork (1999). Information Technology in Construction: Domain Definitions and Research Issues. International Journal of Computer Integrated Design & Construction, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 3-16. 2 The Economist Intelligence Unit (2000). E-business Transformation. Research Report 3 Paul W. Berning and Shaye Diveley-Coyne (2000). E-Commerce and the Construction Industry: The Revolution is Here. www.constructionweblinks.com 4 Construction Industry Manufacturers Association (1999). Rapid Changes in Internet Technology Will Affect Construction Industry Customer Manufacturer Interactions. www.cimanet.com 5 Brian Moran (2000). The Reality of E-commerce and Real Estate. www.buildonline.com
Appendix A - Copy of the Questionnaire
Department of Construction Management 10555 West Flagler Street, EAS 2952 Miami, Florida 33174 Telephone (305) 348-2730 Fax (305) 348-6255 Overview The purpose of this questionnaire survey is to investigate the status of E-Commerce in the construction industry and in particular finding the extent of usage in the different activities of construction. The results of this questionnaire will provide us with the status of e-commerce implementation in the construction industry. All the information gathered here will be kept strictly confidential and will be used only for research purposes. Your cooperation is important for us and we will gladly provide you with a copy of our results, which are expected to be beneficial for the construction industry. Please check your appropriate answer for the following questions and state your comments if necessary. 1. Name of your company: 2. Address of your company: 3. Your Name and Position: 4. From where do you access the Internet? Only at home Only at work At home and at work 5. How often does your company use email as the method of communication? Not very often Quite frequently Mainly 6. Does your company use the Internet as a sourcing tool for goods and services? No, never Sometimes Yes, frequently 7. Does your company purchase goods or services online? No, never Sometimes Yes, frequently
8. Is your company registered on any business-to-business web sites? Yes No 9. What B2B Construction web sites have you heard of, or are registered on (if any)? 10. What is your company turnover? < $100m $100m - $500m > $500m 11. Please check the mode or method of performing these activities? Materials control: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Purchasing: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Scheduling: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Bill of quantities: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Costing & Budgeting: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Technical calculations: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Invoicing: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Specifications: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized Bookkeeping: Mostly manual Partially computerized Highly computerized 12. Does your company perform web-based market research? Yes No 13. Does your company bid online? Yes No 14. Does your company do business using any project management or project collaboration web sites? Yes No 15. Does your company has project specific web sites to share information with the other parties of the project? Yes No 16. Does your company has web-based customer assessment programs? Yes No
17. Does your company provide training to employees using online training programs? Yes No 18. Does your company manage inventories over the Internet? Yes No 19. How often do you update your company website? Monthly Every 2 months Every 3 months 20. Is your company registered with any ASP (Application Service Providers) for managing your B2B solutions? Yes No 21. Do you think e-commerce will bring fundamental change to your business model in the next two years? Yes No 22. What do you think will be the expected pay off by implementing e-commerce in your business? Circle any one. (Rating from 1 to 7 with 1 being the lowest and 7 being the highest) a. Opportunity value: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 b. Market expansion: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 c. Efficiency: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 d. Advantage creation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 e. Effectiveness: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 23. What do you think are the primary e-commerce performance measures? (Check all that applies) Increase in customer satisfaction Revenues generated from new customer/market Ability to act as truly customer-driven enterprise Enhanced ability to seize new growth or profit opportunities Increase in market share Additional revenue generated from current customers / markets Reduced operating costs 24. What is your organizational readiness for e-commerce implementation? (Check all that applies) We are retraining our current employees to help us implement our e-commerce vision Embracing a web-based business model will create the need for reorganization within our company We are acquiring people with specialized e-commerce skills
The web will require our culture to become more entrepreneurial Conducting business on the web is changing our company culture dramatically 25. What do you think are the barriers for e-commerce implementation in your company? (Check all that applies) a. Technology constraints Lack of required IT staff capability Scarce funding for IT implementation Lack of appropriate technological infrastructure b. Customer-related constraints Don t know which customers prefer to do business over the web Customers/Clients/Subcontractors/Suppliers worry about the security of the internet Customers/Clients/Subcontractors/Suppliers are resisting the web c. Organization-wide constraints Scarce supply of people with experience in e-commerce Key managers do not fully understand the issues Lack of company-wide agreement on e-business strategy Change fatigue exists throughout the company Need to evolve into a 24 x 7 company Risk of alienating third-party distributors --- End of Questionnaire --- ---Thank You Very Much ---