1. According to the widely agreed definition by PricewaterhouseCoopers [1], E-business is the integration of systems, processes, organisation, value chains, and entire markets using Internet-based and related technologies and concepts (n1). The current period of economic change has saw net product go through a transition from production to service and information evolve into the fourth production factor next to labour, capital and natural resources. E-business is a major paradigm in what is often called the 'information society'.

2. One of the major challenges in the global information society is to ensure that e-business and other forms of information and communication technologies (ICT) are used to create economic opportunities. The need to develop national e-strategies (n2), and the growing disparities in knowledge between developed and developing economies, have received mounting attention in international bodies addressing the issue of the global 'digital divide' (cf., DOT Force (n3) with the Genoa Action Plan [4], UN Millennium Declaration (n4) [5], and UN ICT Task Force ).

3. E-business and other forms of ICT will not instantly cure the ills of an economy. Their importance lies less in the size of the ICT sector itself and more in the fact that a wide use of e-business and other ICT technologies increases the efficiency of work across the whole range of social activities [2].

4. E-business, especially e-commerce focusing on marketing and sales, will not take off in any economy unless both businesses and consumers are (a) educated about the opportunities and benefits offered by ICT and (b) trained in the use of the Internet. A demand for the new technologies and e-commerce is as essential as access to computers and the Internet. As the experience of several developing countries has shown, the main challenge is not connectivity but rather education and a desire to participate in the digital economy [6].

5. Education and awareness raising measures often aim to stimulate greater use of the Internet. For people who have never used a computer however, increasing awareness per se will achieve little. Education combined with training is fundamental to the wide and effective use of ICT technologies. A networked society is essentially a knowledge society. The realisation of any potential benefits from Internet and ICT use therefore, is directly dependent upon the ability to use information to create new knowledge [2].

6. Current business thinking (and related education) is still rooted in the industrial age however, and this, for the most part, means in capital-intensive manufacturing. The recent emphasis on service organisations represents a refinement of the industrial age models rather than a new approach. Attention is now focused on 'knowledge' and 'information resources'. Many traditional businesses currently recognise that they are more information-based than they ever thought they would be; they no longer treat information only as a production factor but as a saleable by-product [7].

7. Some business processes are fully automated; others are partially automated, while some merely require manual completion of otherwise automated work (man-machine-system). This is dependent upon the degree of co-operation between machines and humans. A fully automated enterprise-wide information system (machine-machine system) can hardly be realised [8] because not all business processes can be mapped in computer programs and thus automated. Wherever automation is not possible, information and communication systems have a support role in performing professional and managerial tasks. [9] This applies particularly to e-business systems that use global Internet standards to address processes and communication even beyond corporate borders.

8. In order to describe man-machine systems it is necessary to focus on the relationship of method to problem structure on one hand and to description (n5) on the other. To deal with a significant problem one has to analyse and structure it [10], i.e. analyse and structure the problem itself, not the system that will solve it. This is, for example, the task of requirements engineering in the systems development process.

9. Description is important because it is how managers, clerks, technicians, teachers, scholars, and students will communicate about, and work with, the systems that cause major changes in the organisation of corporations. It is the way people work together even beyond corporate borders, and how man and machine interact.

10. The human factor has to be taken into account. Technical descriptions may be universally similar - particularly since English became the common business language - human environments are not: different cultures do things differently.

11. Cultural differences between countries have strong effects on individual personality and behaviour, as well as on organisational culture ([11], [12], and [13]).

12. Korpela et al. (taken from [13]) suggest that, "The nuts and bolts of information systems are likely to be the same in industrialized and developing countries, but the uses and preconditions differ. In other words, the Software Engineering methods of technological implementation are likely to be the same in different countries, but the ISD (n6) methods and methodologies need to be adjusted from country to country to take the infrastructure, organizational, social and political differences into account."

13. E-business strongly influences the way corporations (both in the public and the private sector) work, behave, and interact. This is even more the case where there is no ready-to-go e-business solution - as experience has shown at great cost.

14. Management will only implement those systems that help to gain competitive advantages, in the private sector, or increase efficiency and transparency, in the public sector, and then within an appropriate cost/benefit ratio. This necessitates, as a precondition, an understanding of how the system will affect ones own processes. In order to gain this understanding in education, training and literature, descriptions and methodologies are readily available.

15. Methodologies and descriptions in e-business fields, especially in information systems development [13], are 'Western' (n7) inventions. As such, the rules are often seen as universal; recent research [14] has shown however that the application of the rules is not.

16. Beyond the development of information and communication systems and the related customising processes, we see similar differences in organisational hierarchies and behaviour. Rohitratana [15] suggests, that Thai values must be taken "into consideration because no system is run in a vacuum. It needs people to operate and become involved with the system in order to control the operational process. Since the people who use the system carry values, perceptions and attitudes influenced by their own culture, it would be beneficial to consider their cultural perspective in order to overcome many possible difficulties that may occur during and after the implementation period." Thanasankit [13] regards the most influential Thai values as Pu Yai, Kreng Jai, Face Saving, and Bun Khun.

17. With Pu Yai, superiors or authority-power figures will usually have the power to make decisions. Subordinates believe in the certainty of the knowledge, wisdom, or experience of the Pu Yai, and that this is what qualifies them to make decisions beyond the realm of the subordinates. In contrast to 'Western' firms, the decision-making system in Thailand delegates upwards [16], this avoids confrontation with superiors or colleagues where to be involved in a decision-making process might engage subordinates with unwanted responsibilities [15] and increased uncertainty [14].

18. Klausner [17] defined Kreng Jai (thoughtful, respectful) as "to be considerate, to feel reluctant to impose upon another person, to take another person's feelings (and 'ego') into account, or to take every measure not to cause discomfort or inconvenience for another person." According to Klausner, the difference in the closeness of the relationship dictates the degree of Kreng Jai. Komin [18] suggests "a Thai knows how far he/she can go in displaying the degree of Kreng Jai in accordance to different degree of status discrepancy, degree of familiarity, and different situations. It is a basic rule of Kreng Jai."

19. Face Saving, the criticism avoidance value [13], plays a major role in avoiding conflict and criticism at all times. Komin [18] suggests, "The 'face' is identical with 'ego' and is very sensitive. Since the Thais give tremendous emphasis on 'face' and 'ego', preserving one another's 'ego' is the basic rule of all Thai interactions both on the continuum of familiarity-unfamiliarity and the continuum of superior-inferior, with difference only in degree." Face saving will affect the quality of all projects where subordinates do not wish to challenge their superiors' ideas.

20. The concept of Bun Khun, described as "indebted goodness as a psychological bond between someone who, out of sheer kindness and sincerity, renders another person the needed help and favour and the latter's remembering of the goodness done and his ever-readiness to reciprocate the kindness" [16], also plays a major role at all levels within the social hierarchy of Thailand. It creates a behavioural pattern that enables people at different social levels to interact in a friendly manner [16]. Thanasankit mentions, [13] "Bun Khun would thus impact significantly in requirements engineering when the actual user's requirements may not be the same as their superiors'. None of the subordinates would want to contradict their superiors and thus their declaration of requirements would be the ones accepted."

21. Each of these values frames the hidden context of e-business projects and, thus, influences the development of descriptions for organisational behaviour and process engineering, as well as related education and training for students, civil servants, and management.

22. E-business is still young in Thailand, as it is elsewhere. Nonetheless, many enterprises (large enterprises and SMEs), NGOs, and public institutions in Thailand have already gained practical experience. This experience does need to be analysed, documented, and structured, in order to better understand the implications of cultural differences.

23. It is necessary to understand the actual potential benefits and limitations of e-business, as opposed to the hype or myth, if competitive advantages are to be realised across countries and cultures.

24. The proposed research into e-business in Thailand, focussing as it does on the impact of Thai culture on e-business, and the implications for education, business and government, will contribute to a better understanding of how opportunities and advantages can be targeted, planned, implemented, and realised. It will increase the understanding of Thai culture in 'Western' countries and, thus, reduce uncertainty for potential investors and decrease implementation risks through the support of international consultancies by adapting their concepts and proceedings.

Notes:   

(n1) E-Business is used in this paper as the generic term, covering all process-oriented approaches of doing business on the Internet or supported by Internet technologies, such as e-commerce (essentially limited to marketing and sales), e-procurement, e-SCM (supply chain management), e-CRM (customer relationship management), e-government, and others.

(n2) UNCTAD identified 51countries which have e-commerce strategies or are in the process of formulation such strategies: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Scotland (UK), Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vietnam, Zimbabwe. [2]

(n3) The Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force), mandated by the Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society, which was adopted at the G8 Heads of State on the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in July 2000, proposed the nine point Genoa Plan of Action. The first action point highlights the development of national 'e-strategies'. [3]

(n4) The United Nations Information and Communication Technology Task Force was established in March 2001 on request of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This initiative is intended to lend a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge the global digital divide, foster digital opportunity and thus firmly put ICT at the service of development for all.

(n5) ‚Description' is used in this paper as a generic term, covering the building of functional, procedural, and explanation models as well as the development of how-to tutorials and alike.

(n6) Information Systems Development (the author).

(n7)‚Western' means highly industrialized and developed countries, such as USA, but also European Union member states like, e.g., Germany and the United Kingdom.

References   

[1] PricewaterhouseCoopers (1999). E-Business - made in Switzerland (PDF, 1.553 MB). Assessment and outlook through the eyes of Swiss CEOs. Zurich.

[2] UNCTAD (2002). Electronic Commerce Strategies for Development: The Basic Elements of an Enabling Environment for E-Commerce (PDF, 20 KB). Geneva, 10-12 July 2002: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Trade and Development Board. Commission on Enterprise, Business Facilitation and Development. Expert Meeting on Electronic Commerce Strategies for Development.

[3] G8 Heads of State (2001). Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society (PDF, 24 KB). Kyushu: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

[4] DOT Force (2001). Digital Opportunities for All: Meeting the Challenge (PDF, 81 KB). Report of the Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force) including a proposal for a Genoa Plan of Action. No place of publication indicated: Digital Opportunity Task Force.

[5] UN (2000). United Nations Millennium Declaration. New York.

[6] ILO (2001). World Employment Report 2001: Life at Work in the Information Economy. Geneva.

[7] Brynjolfsson, E. and Hitt, L. (1995) Information Technology as a Factor of Production: The Role of Differences among Firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 3, 183-200.

[8] Hansen, H. and Neumann, G. (2001). Wirtschaftsinformatik I. Grundlagen betrieblicher Informationsverar-beitung. Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius.

[9] Mertens, P., Bodendorf, F., König, W., Picot, A. and Schumann, M. (2001). Grundzüge der Wirtschaftsinformatik. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag.

[10] Jackson, M. (1995). Software Requirements & Specifications. A lexicon of practice, principles and prejudices. New York: ACM and Addison-Wesley.

[11] Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organisations Across Nations. London: Sage.

[12] Hofstede, G. (1996). Cultures and Organisations. Hightstown, NJ: MacGraw-Hill Education.

[13] Thanasankit, T. (2002). Requirements engineering--exploring the influence of power and Thai values. European Journal of Information Systems, 11(2), pp. 128-141.

[14] Thanasankit, T. and Corbitt, B. (2002) Understanding Thai Culture and its Implication on Requirements Engineering Process Management During Information Systems Development. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 7, 103-125.

[15] Rohitratana, K. (1998). The role of Thai values in managing information systems; a case study of imple-menting an MRP system. In C. Avgerou (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Working Conference of IFIP WG 9.4--Implementation and Evaluation of Information Systems in Developing Countries (pp. 188-201). London/Bangkok: London School of Economics and Political Science and Asian Institute of Technology.

[16] Holmes, H. and Tangtongtavy, S. (1995). Working with the Thais. Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd.

[17] Klausner, W. (1981). Reflections on Thai Culture: Collected Writing. Bangkok: Suksit Siam.

[18] Komin, S. (1990). Psychology of The Thai People: Values and Behavioural Patterns. Bangkok: NIDA National Institute of Development Administration.