GGLOBALLOBAL C CORPORATEORPORATE W WEBEB S SITESITES: :

AANN E EMPIRICALMPIRICAL I INVESTIGATIONNVESTIGATION OFOF C CONTENTONTENT A ANDND D DESIGNESIGN

Stephanie S. RobbinsAntonis C. Stylianou

Department of Information & Operations ManagementThe Belk College of Business Administration

University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlotte, NC 28223

Phone: 704.687.2064Fax: 704.687.6330

e-mail: srobbins@email.uncc.edu astylian@email.uncc.edu

Original Paper Sent: March 15, 2001Request for Change: September 22, 2001

Revised copy Received: September 26, 2001Accepted with Modification: December 15, 2001

Keywords: Web content; Web design; Global Corporations

©Copyright 2001, S. S. Robbins and A.C. Stylianou. This material may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without permission of the authors.

GGLOBALLOBAL C CORPORATEORPORATE W WEBEB S SITESITES: :

AANN E EMPIRICALMPIRICAL I INVESTIGATIONNVESTIGATION OFOF C CONTENTONTENT A ANDND D DESIGNESIGN

Abstract

Globally accessible web sites enable corporations to communicate with a wide variety of constituencies and represent a resource for any organization seeking a broad audience. Developing an effective multinational Internet presence requires designing web sites that operate in a diverse, multi-cultural environment. This is not simple, given that the field of web site development has lacked standards and rules relating to content and design.

This study develops a conceptual model that differentiates web site content from design. The content component addresses the issue of what is included in the site and identifies the various types of information. The design component addresses presentation and navigational features. This conceptual web site content/design model was used to study the features of global corporate web sites to determine if content and design features have become globally standardized or if differences exist as a result of national culture and/or industry.

The majority of web site content features were found to be significantly different across various cultural groups. This, however, was not the case for design features. Furthermore, there appeared to be little association between content and design features and industry classification.

Keywords: Web content; Web design; Global Corporations

1. Introduction

Today, geographical considerations and time constraints are no longer a major

impediment to conducting business around the world. This change, in part, is the result of

the development of the Internet, coupled with the increasing use of network intensive

technologies by corporations. Thus, technology is transforming the way organizations

conduct business and communicate with constituent groups. With computer networking

and access to the Internet readily available, all sizes and types of companies have the

opportunity to operate in a multinational environment by using these media [5]. However,

the Internet provides a challenge to multinational corporations accustomed to traditional

methods of communicating and conducting business in national markets where they are

able to use different messages and brand images to reflect the language and cultural

patterns of each country. Companies wanting a multinational Internet presence must now

design web sites that are effective in a diverse, multi-cultural environment [7, 8].

Globally accessible web sites enable corporations to communicate with, and

disseminate information to, anonymous recipients who are actively seeking information.

Given this, corporations are able to shape and define their image and are able to create

information rich web sites with the ability to inform and educate individuals scattered

around the world.

1

The main objective of our research is to study the features of global corporate web sites

to determine whether content and design features have become globally standardized or if

differences exist as a result of national culture and/or industry.

2. Literature Review

Culture can be defined as a shared set of values that influence societal perceptions,

attitudes, preferences, and responses. In reviewing the literature (for overviews see Adler et

al. [1] and Ronen and Shenkar [24]), Hofstede’s typology of culture [6] is one of the most

widely accepted and frequently cited theories [26]. The question one must ask is whether

this typology is still valid. Hofstede believed that cultural values and cultural differences

between countries have existed for a long period of time and are stable. Subsequent

research confirming Hofstede’s conclusions includes Barkema and Vermeulen [2].

However, there are also those who would argue that Hofstede’s conclusions are not valid

for the long term [13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27]. These authors suggest that societal practices and

cultural values are converging and, as a result, cultural differences are no longer relevant

and Hofstede’s country clusters are no longer valid in explaining cultural differences.

While it is true that there does appear to be some convergence in terms of societal practices

(for example, the world consumption of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s hamburgers) it is not

clear if core cultural values are changing.

More recently, with the advent of the Internet and related networking and

communication technologies, many have speculated that the ubiquitous nature of these

2

technologies has a homogenizing effect and contributes to cultural convergence [3, 4, 12,

25]. Corporate web pages represent an organization's window into this connected, global,

electronic world. If indeed the Internet is having a homogenizing effect, this should be

evidenced in corporate web pages when examining content and design features.1

Content and Design. While there have been numerous guides (for example the Yale

Style Guide) to creating web pages, the field of web page development has not yet devised

a specific set of standards or rules that identify essential elements that web users have

come to expect [11, 18, 19]. The reason given for this phenomenon is the dynamic nature

of the medium. However, today the architecture of corporate web sites appears to have

incorporated a number of common features. These include: search capabilities and site

maps that recognize the diversity of audience interest, a feedback mechanism, privacy

policy statement, security information, and location information. Comprehensive web site

content and design models and empirical studies validating them are not readily available.

One exception is a study undertaken by Huizingh [9]. This study is one of the few

empirically based investigations relating to this topic in the literature. The sample was

made up exclusively of companies found on Yahoo and the Dutch Yellow Pages.

Although it was believed that this sampling frame would provide a good mix of

international companies, the sources contained mostly companies from the US and the

Netherlands. While Huizingh recognized the global nature of the web and e-Commerce,

1 This could be a fallacy – companies are often wrong when it comes to cultural factors; e.g., some time after the war a cake company tried marketing cake mixes in Japan – totally ignoring the fact that the Japanese home seldom is equipped with an oven! The marketing project failed. Equally some oil/gas company used bright white pumps in their new station forgetting that white has been a typical funeral color in China!

3

the sample was not a true representation of global organizations; this therefore was a major

limitation of his study. In addition, a non-standard classification of industries was reported,

making it difficult to evaluate completeness or to duplicate the results. Although most of

the components are based on literature, the construction of the overall framework was not

systematic. In addition, the prominent inclusion of perception makes operationalization

and systematic measurement problematic. It is difficult to argue that the “subjective

estimates” of the perception-related items by a few graduate students is worthy of

generalization. Furthermore, the study did not consider the effects of culture on the content

and design of web sites.

Our research is an extension of Huizingh's work and has been designed to overcome

many of its weaknesses. The sampling frame was designed to be global in nature, a

standard classification of industries is used, the perception component has been eliminated,

and the effects of culture are explored. The framework is also expanded to include a more

comprehensive set of content and design features, based on current practices and literature.

3. Research Model

Corporate web sites include both content and design features. The dimensions included

here are based on the those discussed in the literature as well as an evaluation of 90 web

sites reviewed for content and design commonalities. For this research, content and design

components were measured objectively (e.g., the web site either contained the dimension

4

or did not, or, in the case of the speed dimensions, was measurable); Table 1 provides an

overview of the model used.

TABLE 1 - GLOBAL WEB SITE CONTENT AND DESIGN FEATURES

CONTENT FEATURES DESIGN FEATURES

Corporate Information Presentation Biographical Sketches Animation History Frames Message from CEO Graphics Mission Statement Sound Organizational Charts Video Press Releases Navigation Vision Statement Hyperlinks to Other Sites

Communication / Customer Support Protected Contents Corporate Phone Number Search Engine E-mail Opportunity Site/Map/Index Frequently Asked Questions Security Headquarters Address Secure Access On-line Chat with an Expert Speed

Currency Download Time of Home page Current Content Download Time Between Pages Last-updated Indicator Tracking

Financial Information Use of Cookies Annual Report Financial Highlights

Employment Opportunities Employment Overview Job Openings

Social Issues Cookie Disclosure Cultural Sensitivity Language Translation Privacy Issues Social Responsibility

3.1 Content Features of Corporate Web Sites

5

Content features of web sites include: corporate information, communication/customer

support, currency, financial information, employment opportunities, and social issues.

Corporate information contains general company information. It provides background

information of the company and its people. The communication/customer support feature

includes the way to contact the company and allows stakeholders to find answers to

questions. Currency relates to the currency of the content of the site, i.e., how often the

site is updated. Financial information contains material of interest to clients and investors.

Employment opportunities include general overviews of employment within the

corporation and lists of current job openings. The social issue feature addresses an array

of topics ranging from the disclosure of the company’s use of cookies to social

responsibility issues, such as support of various worthy causes (such as charities). Content

features are used to create a public image and help strengthen relationships with a

corporation's constituent groups.

3.2 Design Features of Corporate Web Sites

Design features of corporate web sites include: presentation, navigation, security,

speed, and tracking. Presentation relates to the visual appearance or general attractiveness

of the site. Navigation features allow the site visitor easy access to information of interest,

both internal and external to the site; they also provide the organization the ability to

develop sections of the site with restricted access; e.g., protected content available only to

customers or employees by using a password. In addition, security is a feature valued by

customers ordering products over the Internet. The speed feature relates to the amount of

time that visitors to the site have to wait. Finally, cookies are used to track the behavior

6

and interests of visitors. Design features allow the corporation to develop an attractive,

fully functional site.

4. Methodology

Companies included in this study were selected from the list of the 500 largest global

corporations published annually by Fortune Magazine. This source was used because such

companies provide leadership in the use of information technology [14, 15, 16, 17], are

leaders in their industry, have the resources to develop and maintain fully-featured web

sites, and represent a true global mixture of organizations. The corporate headquarters

location was used to assign each corporation to an appropriate country cluster, according to

the taxonomy developed by Hofstede. This classification scheme was used because it

recognizes cultural differences between countries and helps to ensure a truly global

representation of corporations.

Hofstede classified countries into the following six clusters based on cultural

commonalities and similar histories:

Anglo Cluster. These are countries descended from the British Empire and

generally speak English. Counties include Australia, Canada, Great Britain,

Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and USA.

Nordic Cluster. These countries that share the influence of the Hanseatic League

and include Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

7

German Cluster. These countries speak German and include Austria, Israel,

Germany, and Switzerland. Israel is included because of the large number of

northern European Jews who immigrated to Israel in the 30’s and after World War

II.

Latin Cluster. These countries descended from the Roman Empire and include

Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.

Asian Cluster. These countries share the influence of the Chinese majority and

include Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore.

Japan. Japan is an independent cluster because its culture and development is not

similar to any other country.

The sample was composed of the fifteen largest corporations in each cluster with a total

of 90 observations. Table 2 shows the country representation.

TABLE 2: CLUSTER/COUNTRY REPRESENTATION

Cluster HQ Country Frequency Percent

Anglo United Kingdom 2 2.2 USA 13 14.4 Nordic Finland 1 1.1 Netherlands 9 10.0 Norway 1 1.1 Sweden 4 4.4 Latin France 11 12.2 Italy 3 3.3 Venezuela 1 1.1 German Germany 12 13.3 Switzerland 3 3.3 Asian India 1 1.1

8

Korea 12 13.3 Malaysia 1 1.1 Taiwan 1 1.1 Japan Japan 15 16.7

Total 90 100.0

As shown in Table 3, all four of the major SIC Industrial Divisions were represented in

the sample. Specifically, the corporations came from twenty different industries. In all but

two of those industries, one or more of the top three companies (as classified by Fortune

magazine based on revenues) were represented in the sample. The mean revenues for the

90 corporations were $50 million and the mean number of employees was 137 thousand.

TABLE 3: INDUSTRY REPRESENTATION BASED ON

SIC CLASSIFICATION

Industrial Division N %

Manufacturing 50 55.5 Transportation, Communications,

Electric, Gas, and Sanitary Services 10 11.1 Wholesale Trade 14 15.5 Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate 16 17.7

Total 90 100.0

For each corporation, demographic data was collected from public sources, the

company's web site, and Fortune Magazine. Content analysis was used to explore the

content and design components of each web site and to determine the web site practices of

these global corporations (see Kaasarjian [10] for a discussion of the content analysis

methodology). A total of 3,240 components (36 X 90 web sites) were examined. The

presence, absence, or value of each content and design component was recorded.

9

5. Findings and Discussion

Analyses of variance were conducted to examine the significance of each of the

specified content and design features. Country cluster and industrial division (based on

SIC classification) were used as the dependent variables and the content and design

features were used as the independent variables.

As shown in Table 4, the majority of content features in each of the content categories

are significantly different between the cultures. There are enough differences among the

web sites of the global corporations examined to support their clustering into groups based

on national culture (Hofstede’s country clusters).

Interesting highlights include:

The discrepancy between the widely available employment overviews and the

open disclosure of specific job openings in Anglo sites and their relatively

infrequent presence in Latin and Asian country sites.

The minute percentage of Anglo sites with language translation capabilities

compared to much wider availability everywhere else.

The large gap between the explicit treatment of privacy issues on Anglo sites

versus the rest of the world.

10

On the other hand, the results from the ANOVA suggest that web design features are

more globally standardized (see Table 5), perhaps because of the pervasiveness of the

underlying technologies. The fact that “Secure Access” and “Use of Cookies” are

significant could be attributed to differences in national laws and customary business

practices across the world.

With regards to web content and design differences across SIC categories (Tables 6

and 7), the results are much less significant. Some content differences are indicated in the

categories of Corporate Information and Social Issues. In design features, the use of

frames was the lone significant feature.

TABLE 4: ANOVA RESULTS BY COUNTRY CLUSTER – CONTENT FEATURES

* Significant at .1 level ** Significant at .05 level

*** Significant at .01 level

Category ComponentAnglo Nordic Latin German Asian Japan ANOVA Results

% F P

Corporate Information

Biographical Sketches 40 67 33 33 27 7 8.35 .005***History 100 80 80 66 93 60 4.12 .045**

Message from CEO 13 7 20 20 27 47 6.70 .011**Mission Statement 46 80 33 40 53 47 .45 .503

Organizational Chart 13 40 40 27 13 47 .54 .464Press Releases 100 100 100 93 80 73 11.73 .001***

Vision Statement 33 07 7 20 53 20 .89 .348

Communication

Corporate Phone Number 67 53 47 60 60 53 .09 .759E-Mail 87 100 93 87 100 80 5.00 .003***FAQ 67 13 7 47 20 13 4.67 .033**

Headquarters Address 33 53 60 53 60 67 2.82 .096*On-line Chat 0 0 0 7 0 0 .08 .772

CurrencyLast-updated Indicator 73 53 67 73 47 67 .20 .658

Current Content 100 88 100 100 71 70 2.06 .030**

Financial Information

Annual Report 93 100 100 80 60 87 5.81 .018**Financial Highlights 93 100 87 73 80 67 6.95 .010***

11

Employment Opportunities

Employment Overview 93 60 27 53 47 13 17.11 .000***

Job Openings 80 60 20 33 20 7 26.24 .000***

Social Issues

Cookie Disclosure 20 0 0 0 7 0 3.27 .074*

Cultural Sensitivity 80 20 27 33 13 7 17.23 .000***

Language Translation 7 60 100 73 100 87 7.65 .000***

Privacy Issues 73 13 20 13 13 7 16.00 .000***

Social Responsibility 93 73 73 60 73 73 1.44 .234

TABLE 5: ANOVA RESULTS BY COUNTRY CLUSTER – DESIGN FEATURES

* Significant at .1 level ** Significant at .05 level

*** Significant at .01 level

Category ComponentAnglo Nordic Latin German Asian Japan ANOVA Results

% F P

Presentation

Animation 73 60 53 73 100 27 .80 .372Frames 93 100 100 80 100 80 2.25 .137

Graphics 100 93 93 93 100 87 .88 .351Sound 7 7 0 27 13 7 .51 .477Video 13 13 13 27 13 13 .03 .867

Navigation

Hyperlinks to other sites 73 93 80 67 73 73 .63 .428

Protected Contents 27 7 20 20 13 7 1.03 .312

Search Engine 87 47 73 73 27 40 8.07 .006***

Site/map/index 67 40 60 60 60 33 .97 .328

Security Secure Access 40 0 0 0 7 0 10.60 .002***

Speed

Lengthy Download - Between Pages

47 60 47 47 73 53 .46 .501

Lengthy Download - Home Page

7 33 33 20 27 27 .51 .478

Tracking Use of Cookies 60 40 27 27 33 13 6.50 .013**

TABLE 6: ANOVA RESULTS BY SIC CODES – CONTENT FEATURES

* Significant at .1 level ** Significant at .05 level

*** Significant at .01 level

Category ComponentManufacturing Transportation Trade Finance ANOVA Results

% F PCorporate

InformationBiographical Sketches 38 60 29 13 2.35 .129

History 84 80 71 75 1.17 .283Message from CEO 24 20 21 19 .21 .650

12

Mission Statement 50 40 50 56 .06 .801Organizational Chart 18 20 57 50 10.45 .002***

Press Releases 96 100 86 75 6.13 .015**Vision Statement 14 20 43 38 6.59 .012**

Communication

Corporate Phone Number 56 60 64 50 .00 .959E-Mail 90 100 93 87 .14 .936FAQ 28 30 21 31 .00 1.00

Headquarter Address 54 50 57 56 .03 .860On-line chat 2 0 0 0 .72 .400

CurrencyLast-updated Indicator 66 60 57 63 .86 .592

Current Content 91 100 75 90 .25 .620

Financial Information

Annual Report 88 100 86 86 .94 .335Financial Highlights 82 100 79 81 .00 1.000

Employment Opportunities

Employment Overview 52 50 36 50 .34 .562Job Openings 44 40 14 31 2.63 .109

Social Issues

Cookie Disclosure 6 0 0 6 .24 .625Cultural Sensitivity 38 30 21 13 4.36 .040**

Language Translation 54 80 79 63 .68 .568Privacy Issues 30 20 14 13 2.99 .087*

Social Responsibility 86 60 64 56 8.07 .006***

TABLE 7: ANOVA RESULTS BY SIC CODES – DESIGN FEATURES* Significant at .1 level

** Significant at .05 level*** Significant at .01 level

Category ComponentManufacturing Transportation Trade Finance ANOVA Results

% F P

Presentation

Animation 62 70 50 81 .59 .445Frames 100 90 86 75 12.82 .001***

Graphics 96 90 93 94 .30 .582Sound 14 0 7 6 1.41 .238Video 18 10 7 19 .20 .652

Navigation

Hyperlinks to other sites 80 100 64 63 2.10 .151Protected Content 14 20 14 19 .17 .677

Search Engine 58 70 50 56 .05 .819Site/map/index 56 50 36 63 .08 .781

Security Secure Access 8 20 7 0 .44 .510

Speed

Lengthy Download - Between Pages

62 40 57 38 2.62 .109

Lengthy Download - Home Page

20 20 43 25 1.13 .290

Tracking Use of Cookies 36 30 21 38 .16 .689

13

6. Limitations

This study relied exclusively on Hofstede’s typology of culture. This work is one of

the most widely accepted and frequently cited cultural theories and subsequent research

has both confirmed and questioned his theory. It was not the intent of this study to

redefine it. Rather, we chose to use Hofstede’s work as a framework in which to answer

the research questions. Future research may use multiple typologies in addition to

Hofstede’s and seek to compare and validate them in the current environment.

The use of Hofstede’s clusters, did not allow us to classify five (four Chinese and one

Russian) of the 500 companies in the sample. While we could have attempted to modify

the clusters to account for these countries, we decided to avoid making such possibly

unreliable changes. Future research may benefit from the use of multiple typologies or a

focus on deriving a new, more comprehensive (and more reflective of the current world)

typology.

The dynamic nature of web sites suggests that our study is limited, because web sites

were visited at only one point in time. A longitudinal approach would overcome this

limitation. In addition, it would allow one to observe the way web site design and

development is evolving as technology, business practices, and cultural patterns change.

This study relied on the presence or absence of certain content and design features to

deduce cultural differences. Although this is a valid first step, perhaps stronger

14

conclusions may be drawn by also examining the way that various features are

implemented. Therefore, future research projects should be designed with an eye to

capturing more subtle cultural differences that may exist in web sites.

7. Conclusion

A conceptual model has been presented that differentiates web site content from

design. The content component of the model addresses what is included in the site and

identifies the various types of information found. The design component addresses

presentation and navigational features. This conceptual web site content/design model

expands on Huizingh's framework and addresses several of its weaknesses. This model

was then used to study the features of global corporate web sites to determine if content

and design features have become globally standardized or if differences exist as a result of

national culture and/or industry. In contrast to Huizingh's results, our data indicates that

web site content is significantly different across national cultures and, to a much lesser

extent, across various industries (as organized by SIC code). Also in contrast to Huizingh's

results, only very minor differences were found by national culture or by industry with

regards to web site design.

15

References

1. Adler, N. J., R. Koktor, and S.G. Redding. (1986). From the Atlantic to the Pacific century: Cross-cultural management reviewed. Journal of Management, 12:295-318.

2. Barkema, H. G. and F. Vermeulen. (1997). What differences in the cultural backgrounds of partners are detrimental for international joint ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, 845:864.

3. CPSR (1997). One planet, one net: Principles for the Internet era. http://www.cpsr.org/program/nii/onenet-draft00.html.

4. Deen, Thalif. (1999). Globalization threatens third world cultures. http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/hdrpoor.htm. (July 12) 1-2.

5. Gerber, C. (1993). Booming commercial use changes fact of the Internet. Infoworld, 15:1-36.

6. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences. International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage.

7. Horwitt, E. (1997). Europe: cultural, language barriers challenge the continent. Computerworld, (September 29) 31:SA21-23.

8. Horwitt, E. (1997). Global warming to the Internet. Computerworld, (September 29) 31:SA16-20.

9. Huizingh, E.K.R.E. (2000). The content and design of web sites: an empirical study. Information & Management. 37:123-134.

10. Kassarjian, H. (1977). Content analysis in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. 4 (June) 8-18.

11. Kirsner, S. (1998). Must-haves. CIO Web business Magazine. http://www.cio.com...ive/webbusiness/080198_main_content.html.

12. Lee, Erik Chia-Yi. (1998). Cultural recognition and the Internet. http://noc.aic.net/inet98/5e/5e_l.htm.

13. Levitt, T. (1983). The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review, 61(3):92-102.

16

14. Li, E.Y., Mcleod, R., and Rogers, J.C. (1993) Marketing information systems in the Fortune 500 companies: past, present, and future. Journal of Management Information Systems. 10:165-192.

15. Liu, C., and Arnett, K.P. (2000) Exploring the factor associated with Web site success in the context of electronic commerce. Information & Management. 38:23-33.

16. Liu, C., Arnett, P., Capella, L.M., and Beatty, R. C. (1997) Web sites of the Fortune 500 companies: Facing customers through home pages. Information & Management. 31:335-345.

17. Mclead, R., and Rogers, J.C. (1982) Marketing information systems: uses in the Fortune 500. California Management Review. 25:106-118.

18. Nielsen, J. (1999). The top ten new mistakes of web design. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html.

19. Nielsen, J (1999). When bad design elements become the standard. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/991114.html.

20. Nordstrom, K. A. (1991). The internationalization process of the firm. Searching for new patterns and explanations. Institute of International Business, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm.

21. Ohmae, K. (1985). Triad power: The coming shape of global competition. New York: The Free Press.

22. O’Reilly, A. (1991). The emergence of the global consumer. Directors & Boards, 15(2):9-13.

23. Roberts, Karlene H. and Boyacigiller, Nakiye. (1984. Cross-national organizational research: The grasp of the blind men. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings, editors. Research in Organizational Behavior. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.

24. Ronen, S. and Shenkar O. (1985). Clustering countries on attitudinal dimensions: A review and synthesis. Academy of Management Review, 10:435-454.

25. Rothkopf, David. (1997). In praise of cultural imperialism? Effects of globalization on culture. Foreign

26. Sondergaard, M. (1994). Hofstede’s consequences: A study of reviews, citations and replications. Organization Studies, 15:447-56.

17

27. Triandis, Harry C. (1982). Review of culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Human Organization, 41:86-90.

18

Bio Sketches

Dr. Stephanie S. Robbins is Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She received her Ph.D. in Management from Louisiana State University. Her research focus is in the area of strategic and global information systems and the issues associated with system integration. Dr. Robbins has published in journals such as: Information & Management; the Journal of Computer Information Systems; Journal of Systems Management; Behavioral Science; Journal of Academy of Marketing Science; as well as numerous international, national, and regional conference proceedings.

Dr. Antonis C. Stylianou is Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He holds an MBA and a Ph.D. from Kent State University. Dr. Stylianou has published in the Communications of the ACM, Management Science, Decision Sciences, Information & Management, and other journals. His current research interests include the application of total quality management techniques in the IS function, the impact of information technologies (IT) on organizational efficiency, and eCommerce and eBusiness related issues.

19