Business Practices on the World Wide Web: A Comparison of Japanese and U.S. Web Sites.

Rapid developments in the area of telecommunications and information technologies have brought about dramatic changes in the way organizations conduct business and have influenced the way organizations seek to gain competitive advantages in their industries. Among the most prominent of these developments is the World Wide Web (WWW or "web ") and its impact on how business--in this case, electronic commerce (EC)--is conducted. One question that arises is: "Is the web's impact on electronic commerce uniform around the world?" This paper reports on a research study that sought insight into this question by comparing the web-based business practices of both Japanese and the U.S. The results of content analysis and statistical data analysis provide support for country differences between Japan and the U.S. on several web site characteristics.