Commerce at light speed – an international comparative evaluation of CALS strategy and implementation in the USA and Japan

Abstract

This article reports on and compares early activity in the area of electronic business in the USA and Japan arising from the introduction of the Continuous Acquisition and Lifecycle Support (CALS) initiative developed in the USA in 1985, to improve defence procurement and operational support through the use of electronic, rather than paper, media. CALS is possibly the first major e‐business initiative and, as such, it has important lessons to give the present plethora of e‐business activity. Included are an overview of what CALS is and how it was adopted in the two different cultural and industrial contexts. The paper concludes by summarizing possible implications of CALS for the UK.