CEOs See E-Commerce As Major Source Of Revenues

Company chief executive officers (CEOs) are optimistic about the growth of their business, even those from Asian companies, and chief executives are especially bullish on the potential of electronic commerce, according to the results of a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.

The survey, released at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, found more than 80 percent of CEOs worldwide are optimistic about the growth of their companies during the next three years. In Asia, where the financial crises of 1998 are just now showing signs of easing, 70 percent of CEOs are optimistic about the future.

CEOs see electronic commerce bringing new competition and significant revenue growth within the next five years. The company heads believe the technology lead currently enjoyed by North American companies is likely to evaporate as more companies come online around the world.

Half of all respondents said that it was extremely or somewhat likely that nontraditional competitors would pose a significant competitive threat using e-business as a main channel to reach customers. From a regional perspective, the threat was seen as most real in Asia (59 percent), and least imminent in Latin America (29 percent).

Chief executives reported, however, that a relatively low percentage of their current revenues are derived from electronic commerce activities; 75 percent said this percentage is in the 0 to 5 percent range. But slightly more than 20 percent of CEOs surveyed saw more than 20 percent of their overall revenues coming from e-business in five years and an additional 19 percent saw e-business revenues in the 11-20 percent range.

The average CEO, the survey found, is becoming an avid web surfer. Two thirds of respondents go online for purposes other than e-mail at least once a month and 25 percent more than ten times per month.