ICT and e-Business in the Pulp, Paper and Paper ... - empirica

Pulp, paper and paper products
Perceived overall significance of e-business
As in the previous surveys, e-Business W@tch asked companies for a concluding
assessment whether e-business constituted a "significant part or some part of the way
they operate, or none at all". In the P&P industry, companies representing about two
thirds of the sector's employment feel that e-business constitutes at least some part of
their operations. Only 17% said that it was a significant part (see Exhibit 5-1).
Exhibit 5-1: Perceived overall importance of e-business for company operations
0 20 40 60 80 100
Total Pulp & Paper (EU-10)
17
50
Micro (1-9 empl.)
13
36
Small (10-49 empl.)
Medium (50-249 empl.)
14
18
40
49
Large (250+ empl.)
19
54
All 10 sectors (EU-10)
23
47
"Significant part of how w e operate"
"Some part of how w e operate"
Base (100%): Companies using computers (excl. "don't know"). N (for sector, EU-10) = 948.
Weighting: Totals (for the sector and for all 10 sectors) are weighted by employment and should be read as
"enterprises comprising …% of employment in the sector(s)". Figures for size-bands are in % of enterprises
from the size-band. Questionnaire reference: H1
Source: e-Business W@tch (Survey 2006)
This overall assessment also emerges from case studies and interviews with industry
representatives and sector experts conducted for this study (see "References"). As can
be expected, the perceived relevance of e-business increases slightly with firm size, from
about 60% among small companies to nearly 75% of large firms. These figures are in line
with the all sectors average.
Perceived ICT impact on the firm
The business areas where most companies from the P&P industry observe "a positive
influence of ICT", out of a list of seven areas proposed, are "business process
efficiency" (47%), "customer service" (45%) and "internal work organisation" (44% of
firms, see Exhibit 5-2). These findings are similar to those from the other manufacturing
sectors surveyed, with the possible exception of shipbuilding (where the impact on
customer service is less pronounced).
Interestingly, positive ICT effects on procurement costs, which is one of the most
commonly quoted objectives of e-business, appears to be comparatively less relevant in
this industry, as only 35% observe positive effects.
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