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e-Business in the chemical, rubber and plastics industryenhance the –still existing– competitiveadvantage of the European CRP industry. ICTinfrastructure and e-business can be seen asan important factor condition for an economy toachieve competitive advantage, in particular inthe emerging knowledge economy.From a systemic perspective, (European) policymeasures in this field should be embeddedwithin the broader policy framework of theEuropean Commission's DG Enterprise andIndustry for promoting sustainable industrialdevelopment and the competitiveness ofEuropean industry, in which innovation plays acentral role. They should also be linked with therecommendations of the High Level Group(HLG) on the Competitiveness of the EuropeanChemicals Industry, which was set up by theCommission in June 2007.The study proposes four lines of possible actionto enhance and exploit ICT-driven innovationpotential in the CRP industries (see Section6.3):e-Skills related actions (I): improving themanagerial understanding of e-businessamong smaller companiesThe study confirms that there is still a "digitaldivide" between large and small companies ine-business practices, notably when it comes toadvanced forms of data exchange. Casestudies demonstrate that, in smaller companies,the understanding and commitment of themanagement is a critical factor for introducingICT-based innovation in the firm. There is awide range of instruments to raise awarenessand to promote the understanding of e-businessconcepts among this target clientele.The study recommends to support such activities.Possible measures include the collectionand wide dissemination of best e-businesspractices among SMEs in the sector, and grantschemes for SME projects (ideally combinedwith documentation of best practices afterwards).e-Skills related actions (II): strategies andnew educational schemes to ensure theadequate supply of ICT and e-businessprofessionals in EuropeThe study results show the importance of agood skills base. A shortage of ICT and e-business professionals would not only affect theICT industry itself, but also larger companies inthe ICT using sectors. First, they face difficultiesin finding professionals for their own ITdepartments and e-business operations.Second, a shortage of professionals among ICTservice providers negatively affects the qualityof the services offered to their customers. Thestudy recommends a close cooperation ofpolicy, educational organisations and the ICTindustry, typically in the form of "multistakeholder-partnerships",2 to address thischallenge.Further harmonisation of the regulatoryframework for e-business in EuropeIn specific areas, existing regulatory frameworkscan be difficult to apply to new ways ofelectronic data exchange, which can lead tolegal uncertainty for business and hinderinnovation. It is the main responsibility of policyto address such issues and thus create afavourable overall framework for ICT usage.The study recommends to sustain and enhanceexisting efforts to solve related problems, forexample with regard to cross-border e-invoicing.Explore opportunities to facilitate REACHcompliance by use of ICTThe study concludes with a sector-specificrecommendation. It proposes to carefully considerthe potential of ICT to make the technicalimplementation of the REACH regulation asefficient as possible – for both sides, thecompanies and the regulatory authorities. Goalsshould be to ensure that solutions offered byservice providers effectively meet the legalrequirements and are widely used by enterprises,including SMEs. Means to address thisinclude stakeholder coordination initiatives,involving the ICT industry and federations fromthe CRP sector, and the provision of targetedinformation about opportunities to SMEs.2A study by the EC, DG Enterprise and Industry,on "Multi-stakeholder-partnerships for e-skills"(2007) has assessed different approaches,identified best practices and made recommenddationshow to establish and sustain MSPs.9
e-Business in the chemical, rubber and plastics industry1 IntroductionThis study focuses on the adoption and implications of e-business practice in thechemical, rubber and plastics (CRP) industries. It describes how companies in this sectoruse information and communications technology (ICT) for conducting business, assessesthe impact of ICT for firm performance in a context of global competition, and points atpossible implications for policy. The analysis is based on literature, interviews withindustry representatives and experts, company case studies and a telephone surveyamong decision-makers in European enterprises from the CRP industries. The studytakes into account results of earlier sector studies on the CRP industries, published by e-Business W@tch in 2003 and 2004. 3Study structureThe study is structured into six main sections. Chapter 1 explains the background andcontext why this study has been conducted: it introduces the Sectoral e-Business Watch(SeBW) programme of the European Commission, a conceptual framework for theanalysis of e-business, and the specific methodology used for this study. Chapter 2provides some general information and key figures about the CRP industries in Europe.Chapter 3 describes the current state-of-play in e-business in this industry, focusing onspecific ICT-related issues that were found to be particularly relevant to this sector.Chapter 4 assesses the impact of the developments described in chapter 3 on workprocesses and employment, innovation and productivity, and –at sector level– on valuechain characteristics. Chapter 5 presents company case studies. These have beenselected as practical examples and evidence for the issues discussed in chapters 3 and4. Chapter 6, finally, summarises the key findings and draws conclusions on policyimplications that could arise from the observed developments.Combining descriptive and analytical approachesThe study approach is exploratory, descriptive and explanatory, applying a broadmethodological basis: A qualitative case study approach (Chapter 5) is combined with adescriptive presentation of quantitative survey data (Chapter 3) and an economicanalysis of ICT adoption and its impacts (Chapter 4). This threefold approach is meant toproduce an in-depth understanding of current e-business practice in the industry, whilealso assessing the economic effects of this practice, for instance on firm productivity andinnovation. While the results from these different approaches are presented like selfsustainedpieces of research in separate chapters, they are intertwined and crossreferenced.3The previous study reports on the CRP industries are available at the Sectoral e-BusinessWatch website at http://www.ebusiness-watch.org/studies/on_sectors.htm.10
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