우리나라의 높은 무역 대외의존도, 고비용 수출입 프로세서, 관련 산업의 e-business화 진전 필요성의 증대 등의 추세를 고려할 때 전자무역은 무역프로세서를 중심으로 정부, 무역 유관기관과 기업간의 협업적인 관계에서 필수적으로 시행되어야 할 과제라고 할 수 있다. 그러나 아직 전자무역은 초기 도입단계로서 관련 학문적 연구 및 데이터가 부족하고 특히 기업의 전자무역도입, 전자무역의 활용수준과 성과측면에 대한 연구는 미비한 편이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 우리나라 수출기업이 외부적으로 처해 있는 환경특성요인이 기업의 전자무역 활용수준과 성과에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 규명하고 전자무역활성화를 위한 방안을 제시하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 실증분석을 실시하였으며 빈도분석을 통한 응답기업의 전자무역 활용수준과 성과에 대한 결과 및 기업외부환경특성이 전자무역 활용수준과 성과에 미치는 영향을 분석하기 위하여 구조방정식 모형을 이용하여 분석하였다.

E-trade is expected to dominate the global trade in the 21st century and thus is being introduced as a major policy assignment for each developing country. E-trade has the potential to accelerate existing trends and introduce new ways of conducting trade. It is especially important in Korea, which has a high dependency rate on trade. Faced with structural problems with a high-cost trade system, trade efficiency through the channel of e-trade is an alternative to strengthen international competitiveness of Korean medium and small export and import firms. Therefore, Korea needs to quickly adjust to this new method of e-trade and provide a number of policy suggestions that it can make best use of. the objective of this dissertation is to identify external firm environment factors that influence the usage and performance of e-trade in Korean export firms, and suggest schemes to help successful embodiment and introduction of e-trade in Korea.

E-trade is expected to dominate the global trade in the 21st century and thus is being introduced as a major policy assignment for each developing country. E-trade has the potential to accelerate existing trends and introduce new ways of conducting trade. It is especially important in Korea, which has a high dependency rate on trade. Faced with structural problems with a high-cost trade system, trade efficiency through the channel of e-trade is an alternative to strengthen international competitiveness of Korean medium and small export and import firms. Therefore, Korea needs to quickly adjust to this new method of e-trade and provide a number of policy suggestions that it can make best use of. the objective of this dissertation is to identify external firm environment factors that influence the usage and performance of e-trade in Korean export firms, and suggest schemes to help successful embodiment and introduction of e-trade in Korea.

e-trade, the usage level of e-trade, e-trade performance.