Globalization has created a highly competitive business environment in which corporations, large and small, all over the world are being forced to evolve a global vision, to generate new business strategies in order to survive.
Information is becoming increasingly important in every kind of business for many reasons including the ever-increasing speed with which business is being conducted, the need to monitor and follow competitors, changes in demographics, the increasing complexity of the business environment and the high levels of competition.
Information is particularly important in today's highly complex and dynamic world of international business. The need for accurate information is much more critical (and the resources available for its collection much lower) in the early stages of the decision making process such as when a company is attempting to decide which country to target and/or what product/service to introduce. Typically, once a company has actually started operations in or decided to focus on a specific country, the resources and infrastructure (internal and external) will be available to generate accurate and reliable information.
For country selection, many companies first employ some form of scanning technique, comparing countries on the basis of a few broad variables. In order to do this, decision makers need access to diverse kinds of information. This includes market size, geographic, language and market similarities, degree of red tape, costs, resource availability, barriers to entry, foreign exchange mechanisms, competitive monetary and political risk, to name but a few.
Information of this nature typically needs to be obtained from a variety of sources including individualized reports, specialized studies, on-line information services, service companies, governmental agencies, international organizations and trade associations.
There is usually a trade-off between the quality of information and the cost of its acquisition. The monetary cost of business research is relatively easy to measure. However, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to actually estimate or measure the time spent in collecting information. But it would appear that the time cost can be very high, particularly in the area of international business, because of the wide range of information needed, the number of sources that have to be tapped to get it and the effort that has to be put in to ensure authenticity of data.
Thus, there seems to be a need for a resource to deliver authentic and accurate information specifically aimed at the needs of decision makers involved in international business.
This thesis documents the execution and testing of a prototype of a solution to address the above need.
WorldInfo, the proposed solution, is an on-line information resource accessible through the World Wide Web intended specifically for use by those involved in decision making relating to the to design, development, manufacturing and marketing of products and services for global markets.
WorldInfo addresses some of the problems with conventional on-line information sources which include:
The medium of the World Wide Web was chosen as means for information delivery because of the rapidly growing reach and increasing universality of access to the Internet. However, the WorldInfo prototype attempts to go beyond existing Internet based information resources by addressing their limitations in terms of:
WorldInfo is intended to be a commercial service which will generate its revenue from payments by users for the information it provides. The key features of the concept are:
A prototype was built which resides on the Web server at the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD). The objective was to provide functionality adequate to give users a realistic sense of the content, structure and interaction.
Messages of invitation providing background information about the project were posted to mailing lists dealing with relevant subjects such as International Business, Design and Management Information Systems.
Two questionnaires provided for feedback: an Entry Questionnaire which visitors filled in prior to visiting the prototype and an Exit Questionnaire that they filled in after visiting. The Entry Questionnaire requested background information and details of information needs and sources as well as the problems faced with existing sources. The Exit Questionnaire requested ratings of the prototype in terms of overall feasibility, content, usefulness, structure and navigation.
Feedback from the Entry Questionnaire tended to confirm the need identified by the researcher and the problems with existing information sources. Ratings of content and usefulness as well as comments received indicated that the information structure and scheme of the prototype works well and is appropriate for the intended user group. Likewise, the feedback on organization and navigation indicate that the WorldInfo prototype is fairly effective in this area too.
The primary area of debate is the commercial feasibility of the concept and further work needs to be done on this aspect. Another direction for further work is on enhancing the implemented functionality of the prototype in order to create a more realistic user experience.