U.S.-Japan Joint Seminar: Cross-Cultural Study in e-Business

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State MS

Investigators

Abstract

0135238 Shim This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on a cross-cultural study of Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) and Mobile Commerce "M-Commerce." to be held in Niigata and Tokyo, Japan from April 1-5, 2002. The co-organizers are Professor Jung P. Shim of Mississippi State University and Professor Takuro Munizawa at Niigata University in Japan. Participants will also be attending from Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. The Internet/Web has become one of the most important mediums for the sharing of business information between firms and their customers (B2C). While E-commerce and M-commerce have received considerable attention, virtually all the studies dealing with E-Commerce and M-Commerce have given cursory attention to the cross-cultural study. In Japan, the recent increase of handy-phones (mobile phones) and Internet users are remarkable. Over seventy percentage of Japanese are using mobile phones and half of them use the internet/web. In addition, new "I-Commerce" handy-phone systems enable the end users to connect to e-mail, view homepages, and do e-trading and e-commerce. Several surveys estimate that Internet/Web users are growing exponentially. "Forrester Research" estimates the worldwide E-Commerce market will grow to $3.2 trillion by the year 2003. Emerging technologies (e.g., voice over Internet Protocol, video streaming and synchronized multimedia integration language) are opening the way E-Commerce is transacted. These technologies could have significant implications for the E-Commerce and M-Commerce market. The seminar may also have important implications for individuals in both the academic and professional communities. The project advances international human resources through the participation of many junior faculty, postdocs, graduate students and an undergraduate student. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation. The researchers plan to publish results of the seminar proceedings on the World Wide Web.