The Internet-Driving Forces and Barriers of Managers within French Companies

Transcription

1 The Internet-Driving Forces and Barriers of Managers within French Companies

2 Context A research domain that has experienced a dramatic increase Nevertheless, studies essentially deal with the consumers point of view Questions still remaining about managers attitudes towards the web

3 The research questions What are the driving forces and barriers of managers within French companies concerning the creation of a web site? Is it possible to make a typology according to managers feelings towards the web?

4 Methodology Exploratory qualitative study from qualitative focused interviews with managers, based on scenarios Textual statistics (counting & Correspondence Analysis on the vocabulary used), then thematic analysis

5 Sample Number of interviews: 26 companies Criteria of variation size of the company various business sectors various degree of development of a web site Interviewed people : the manager, most of the time

6 Progress of the interviews Feelings towards the web Presentation of 3 scenarios showing possible schemes of communication through the web: towards consumers towards suppliers (supply chain) towards other companies (B2B)

7 Progress of the interviews Complementary questionnaire Company characteristics (size, sector, export orientation, degree of development concerning the web ) Individual characteristics of the manager (age, type of education, diversity of the job functions, attitude towards innovation/technology/web )

8 Textual statistics : principles Postulate: differences in vocabulary correspond to (express) differences of perception Need to «clean up» the interviews CA objectives: show the associations (+ & -) between words/segments

9 Textual statistics : first results Words frequency final apporteurs support 1 disais super mode de internet bien autre moins VRAI service ma voit certains ligne clair facile filiales prenez

10 Textual statistics : CA

11 Textual analysis : CA first factor: two opposed strategies Sales & product-distribution objective : company & product s point of view Personalized relationship with the customer, based on a 1-to-1 communication

12 Textual analysis: CA 2 nd factor: two opposed conceptions Organization/process within the company Customer relationship

13 Textual statistics: typology GROUPE 1 GROUPE 3 GROUPE 2

14 Textual statistics: typology Manager s profile Company s profile Vocabulary used Not used Vocabulary 1 non innovative, not comfortable with computers Not in the media, few customers/ suppliers Systems, distribution, orders, price, network, EDI, company Consumer, France, minitel, web, client, Visa card, buy distributor 2 Innovative, comfortable with computers Media lots of furnishers & customers Consumer Visa card, people, site, introduce, buy, business, sell Costumers, access Network, computer System, company security distribution 3 Likes the web, but not comfortable with computers Services, modern activity sector Customer, security, Internal, , phone, contact, adress Product, distribution, order, people sell, consumer EDI, furnishers

15 Thematic Analysis: Principles Build an exhaustive typology (i.e. coding scheme) Each interview is cut in semantic units Assign a code to each unit Statistics

16 Thematic Analysis: Coding Scheme Based on Our experience Thinking Interviews reading Compromise: parsimony/ exhaustiveness/ consistency 17 categories, bundled in 3 main themes

17 Thematic Analysis: Coding Scheme Customer contact Marketing Productivity 1. Access to new customers 2. Better Knowledge of the C rs 3. Improve C rs satisfaction 4. Importance of the physical contact with the C r 5. Site content 6. Customer s maturity toward internet 7. Product/ Brand 8. Price 9. Communication 10. Distribution 11. Competitors 12. Expected consequences 13. Feasibility & interest 14. Operations security / reliability 15. Strong practical implications for the company 16. Benefits vs existing 17. Logistics

18 Thematic Analysis: Coding 7 interviews coded by two of the authors: Agreement = 80.6 % Reliability =.89 (Ir of Perrault & Leigh 1989) remaining interviews coded by one of the authors

19 Thematic Analysis: statistics Basic statistics CA Typology

20 Thematic Analysis: statistics Nombre de citations Frequencies par interview (8 1ères cat.) contenu du impli site concrètes pour produit & marque systèmes Hors sujetsatisfaction sécurité distribution existants clients fiabilité

21 Thematic Analysis: CA 1 st factor : Opposition between distribution & logistics and questions related to consumers 2 nd factor : Opposition between consumer satisfaction and the company s commercial strategy

22 Thematic Analysis: typology Manager s profile Company s profile Most cited themes Least cited themes 1 - Media Distribution, product & brand communication, logistics feasibility 2 Doesn t like computers Services, not media Consumer satisfaction, security/reliability, competitors product & brand, distribution, feasibility 3 Not innovative Traditional sector, not services feasibility, consumer s maturity, what other people do Distribution, site content, communication

23 Comparing both methods Some resemblances But some differences

24 Conclusion

25 Limitations Exploratory analysis, based on a reduced number of companies, not enough diversified not enough small companies sector of communication over-represented Unequal quality of the interviews Are data obsolete as of now?

26 Future research NO there is nt