DMCA
THE E-READINESS OF THE AUSTRALIAN TIMBER INDUSTRY
BibTeX
@MISC{Blake_thee-readiness,
author = {Jacqueline Blake and Hervey Bay Queensland and Wayne Pease},
title = {THE E-READINESS OF THE AUSTRALIAN TIMBER INDUSTRY},
year = {}
}
Share
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
OpenURL
Abstract
This paper explores the issues surrounding the e-readiness of the Australian timber and wood products industry. A business organisation’s e-readiness is a measure of its e-business environment, and a collection of factors that indicate how amenable a business is to information communications and technologies (ICT) based opportunities. A survey tool was developed and used to assess a number of factors including the extent of usage of ICT within the Australian timber sector, the sector’s general business environment, the degree to which e-business is being adopted by the sector, the availability of services to support e-businesses, and the extent to which the business organisations within this sector are moving to ebusiness. This paper presents an overview of the statistical analysis of the survey responses. The analysed data provides a snapshot of the current level of e-business capacity within the timber sector. The analysis of the survey data also identifies barriers, real or perceived, that limit the move by the timber sector to e-business. This timber sector is characterised by two tiers. Tier 1 players are few in number, being national/global players well versed in strategy, management practices and ICT. Tier 2 players on the other hand tend to be small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operators. SMEs are characterised by lower levels of resources generally, including financial resources, technical expertise and tend to focus on operational issues rather than taking a strategic view. In Australia, the tier 2 players also tend to be located in regional and rural areas. The survey results indicated that there is a considerable lag in the use of ICT within tier 2 operators.
Keyphrases
australian timber industry timber sector business organisation analysed data strategic view management practice e-business capacity statistical analysis australian timber sector current level survey tool technical expertise considerable lag financial resource national global player wood product industry medium enterprise australian timber e-business environment survey result survey data rural area sector general business environment operational issue information communication
