Macro issues in electronic commerce: the cultural divide

Electronic commerce is reliant on technology; has a goal of adding value; and offers potential global linkage of stakeholders. These three characteristics mean that e-commerce will be vulnerable to the effects of diverse infrastructure, culture and demography of different countries. Understanding the likely impact of e-commerce and the barriers to its widespread adoption, therefore, requires understanding of the effects of complex cross-cultural issues intertwined with underlying macro issues. These issues are explored in the context of three perspectives: technical, legal and regulatory, and socio-economic. It is argued that the future of e-commerce depends on the way the macro challenges are met. Moreover, at the micro-level, effective decision-making by firms about their participation in e-commerce has to take account of the resulting macro environmental constraints.