After the introduction of Internet, cyber space has played a new role as a competitive advantage for shipping companies.
For traditional shipping industry, extended Internet meant to prosper in E-commerce. For example, Schedule confirmation, booking, bill of lading, cargo trace, and arrival notice etc. are the major cyber logistics services which make the computers work.
Particularly Korean shipping companies had to figure out how to be competent internationally through introducing and activating E-commerce as soon as possible.
Under this circumstance, this study searched main reasons that affect the embodiment for Korean shipping companies' E-commerce and could analyze the application and its standard of E-commerce positively. Based on the result drew upon, the purpose of this study was to suggest logical foundation and points which were necessary for establishing E-commerce of Korean shipping companies' development strategy and activation plan.
So as to do this, firstly, general inquiries in the document study were made into E-commerce for its outline with E-commerce concept, pattern, present condition and prospects for future. Moreover, deep study for proceeded researches should arrange and evaluate E-commerce related model studies and corroborations as well as an application of EDI and Internet by transaction cost theory, innovation diffusion theory, strategic management theory, and inter-organizational system, etc. so that this study could deduce its study models and useful points for the hypothesis.
Secondly, in empirical study, study models and hypothesis for empirical analysis were established based on logical foundations from the document study. The composition of questions, selection of samples, data collection and collected material analysis were confirmed and carried out.
Established research model and hypothesis were utilized in the previous studies or Korean shipping companies were examined using questions developed from the concept mentioned in similar studies. Then this study verified through analysis of 148 collected responses and used computer statistic packages, SAS(The SAS System for Windows v9.0) and LISREL(LISREL for Window v8.12a). For empirical study, general characters of the investigated objects were looked into first and adequacy and trust of each variable and measurement tool shall be analysed for their main causes. Cronbach's Alpha(α) coefficient was used for the analysis.
In order to do empirical analysis, two step analyses were adopted.
Firstly, this study examines the effects of shipping company character, shipping transaction character, and shipping environment character on the usage of E-commerce in shipping companies including service business and real transaction.
Secondly, this study examines the effects of usage of E-commerce on the performance in shipping companies including direct performance, indirect performance, and strategic performance.
In the empirical analysis, research hypotheses are being tested mainly by a structural equation model(SEM).
The results from a structural equation model(SEM), developed using LISREL(LISREL for Window v8.12a), provide a strong support for the hypothesized relations.
Parametric method like not only structural equation model(SEM) but also multiple regression analysis was used and the following would be summarized as follows:
(1) Both shipping company character and shipping transaction character didn't have positive effect on the service business usage's level of E-commerce in shipping companies, but the service business usage's level of E-commerce in shipping companies was found to link with shipping environment character. That was, higher government's promotion policy and exterior support, greater the service business usage's level of E-commerce.
(2) Also, both shipping company character and shipping transaction character had positive effect on the real transaction usage's level of E-commerce in shipping companies, but the real transaction usage's level of E-commerce in shipping companies was not found to link with shipping environment character.
(3) Futhermore, E-commerce's usage performance in shipping companies including direct performance, indirect performance, and strategic performance was found to link with service business usage's level of E-commerce.
But E-commerce's usage performance in shipping companies didn't have positive effect on the real transaction usage's level of E-commerce in shipping companies.
That was, higher the service business usage's level of E-commerce, greater the E-commerce's usage performance composed of direct outcome, indirect outcome, and strategic outcome.