تصمیم گیری های پذیرش تجارت الکترونیک B2B در تایوان: تعامل عوامل نهادی فرهنگی و دیگر

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce has become an important initiative among firms in the last few years. This study is based on data derived from over 20 interviews with CEOs, CIOs, and MIS managers in electronics and textile companies in Taiwan. This study contributes to existing literature by describing the degree to which various organizational, industrial, governmental and cultural factors influence B2B e-commerce adoption decisions in Taiwan. It is one of the first studies investigating the interaction of B2B e-commerce adoption decision factors and provides insights into the impact of Chinese culture on B2B adoption. Results indicate that organizational, industrial, governmental, and cultural factors do indeed influence B2B e-commerce adoption decisions. In addition, the nature of the cultural influence is dictated by industry conditions.

In recent years, many firms have been undergoing profound transformations in the pursuit of reducing costs and providing better services to customers. Whole value chains between firms and their customers and suppliers are being re-engineered. Inter-organizational systems have been an essential part of managing these changing relationships. In addition, the increasingly internationalization of products and companies has created the need for cross-border inter-organizational relationships that rely on B2B e-commerce systems. Although some research has begun to address adoption of information technology (IT) in general and e-commerce in particular in emerging economies (e.g., India [19], Singapore [61], Malaysia [42], Mexico [27], Brazil [63], and South Korea [43]), there are still many research questions left unanswered. Despite previous theoretical arguments suggesting that organizational, governmental, industrial and cultural factors have a similar impact on IT and B2B e-commerce adoption, very little empirical research has looked at the extent to which this is true [24] and [57]. In addition, little research has investigated the magnitude of all these factors on B2B e-commerce adoption in emerging economies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we delineate some salient features of organizational, industrial, governmental, and cultural factors that support or hinder the decision to adopt B2B E-commerce systems in Taiwanese companies. Second, we describe the magnitude of the results as they apply to B2B e-commerce adoption decisions in two different industries in Taiwan.

Consistent with previous studies on IT adoption in Taiwan, there is strong evidence that organizational, industry, and governmental factors influence B2B e-commerce adoption by Taiwanese companies. Our results go further, however, in showing that culture also provides an explanation for the degree of B2B e-commerce adoption in particular industries. We do not claim that cultural factors are a main driver of adoption decisions but it is clear that cultural factors can help us better understand how the confluence of organizational, industry and governmental factors do indeed influence decision making. One cannot view cultural institutions as independent from organizational, industrial and governmental factors. It is clear in the case of the textile industry that culture itself hampered the degree to which companies have decided to engage in B2B e-commerce. In the case of the electronics industry, it was clear from the number of times that the interviewees mentioned industry factors that competitive pressures overrode cultural tendencies. In addition, under different industry and government pressures the same cultural values that might be a source of resistance in one circumstance may promote implementation of B2B e-commerce systems in another. In other words, research investigating the role of culture in IT adoption decisions may find no effects of culture until one differentiates between different industries. We investigated organizational and extra-organizational factors in two different manufacturing industries: electronics and textiles. It would be interesting to explore the extent to which other manufacturing industries are affected by these factors. We expect that older, more traditional industries may interpret their national culture in ways that lead to inhibiting B2B e-commerce adoption decisions. It would also be interesting to explore whether service industries are influenced by these factors. Service industries have grown rapidly in the last two decades and in 2001 they accounted for 68% of the world’s GDP [3]. Meanwhile we have seen strategic moves in B2B e-commerce by large service companies in the US financial industry [11]. This is evidenced by the emerging outsourcing taking place in India and active usage of the Internet by service sector companies in Latin America [66]. We expect that organizational considerations of business strategy, restructuring of business relationships with manufacturing industries, industrial standards set by leading companies, and increased deregulation and competition within industries will impact B2B e-commerce adoption in the service sector. This paper also has important implications for those interested in studying B2B e-commerce adoption in other countries. Although Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) differ significantly, there are lessons that can be drawn from a study of Taiwan about the impact of Chinese culture on B2B adoption that is relevant for the PRC. The results of our interviews with members of Taiwan’s electronic industry show that Chinese culture, given the right combination of industry, government, and organizational pressures, can be very supportive of B2B e-commerce initiatives. But as our interviews of the Taiwanese textile industry have shown, Chinese culture can be a barrier to automation under different combinations of organizational, industrial, and governmental forces. It has been assumed in the West that every position that can be automated should be automated [45]. The case for automation is not as evident in the PRC and other emerging economies where human labor is cheap relative to enterprise software solutions. More importantly, companies in the PRC are under pressure to put as many people to work as possible [4]. Thus, even if computer solutions are implemented between a PRC company and its customers and suppliers they may be worked on by an army of clerks rather than being routed through an enterprise software network. Although Chinese culture tends to be very respectful of power differences, there is also a great distrust of the government in the PRC [26] thus it is important that all four factors discussed in this paper (organizational, industry, government, and culture) be understood when exploring the speed and form of B2B e-commerce adoption in the PRC. We can also see the importance of understanding the interaction of government, industry, organizational, and cultural factors on B2B e-commerce adoption in other emerging economies such as Ghana. Ghana’s government has an initiative to make its textile industry competitive in the world economy. B2B e-commerce adoption has the potential to make the Ghanaian textile industry more responsive to global merchandisers which could give Ghanaian textile companies an advantage over textile companies from other countries [18]. Ghanaian culture is relatively collectivistic such that group members care deeply about one another. Okoli [49] found that high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance in Ghana did not impact e-commerce adoption. However, the presence of “technology champions” did drive information technology adoption [49]. Once one company demonstrated economic success, institutional industry forces mandated that the company be imitated by others. Thus, the challenge the Ghanaian government faces is how to promote “technology champions” in the textile industry while not stifling innovation – a common predicament of African governments [70]. This challenge is made extra difficult given the high degree of collectivism in organizations whereby individuals are not often willing to stand up for something on their own. We can also see how a comprehensive understanding of these four factors informs our understanding of B2B e-commerce adoption in developed countries such as the United States. Unlike Taiwan, both the electronics and textile industries in the United States have been rapid adopters of B2B technology. Also, we can see the adoption of B2B e-commerce by large customers has driven the adoption of B2B by their suppliers [53]. In the United States, the electronics industry has also been more advanced than the textile industry in terms of linking ERP systems between organizations [62]. The US government has not directly mandated or financed B2B adoption as the Taiwanese government has. The culture in the United States is, under Hall and Hall’s framework [32], relatively low context. Because of its low context culture, US procurement officers are willing to automate relationships at the potential expense of individual personal-based relationships. In the individualistic culture of the United States, a “technology champion” who is not the CEO often drives the adoption of information technology. This is very different from Chinese cultures where technology adoption is more of a collective effort driven by a confluence of government, industry, and management initiatives. Our results have important public policy implications. Government policies to spur B2B need to take into account organizational, industrial and cultural factors when making decisions. The same government policy may have different results depending on the culture and industry in which it is enacted. As countries, such as the PRC, try to encourage B2B e-commerce adoption, there is a need for more research into the interaction of industry, culture, and government factors. We have seen from the Taiwanese electronics and textile industries that Chinese culture can be either resistant to or supportive of B2B e-commerce given the right political and economic forces. We encourage further studies that investigate the interplay of organizational, government, industry, and cultural factors.