Abstract
The adoption and use of EDI in the developing countries seems to be difficult. This paper attempts to propose the possible introductions steps of EDI in ports. To investigate this issue, analysis on the current trends of EDI in 14 countries are carried out and major developing countries in Asia are included in the study together with USA and two countries in Europe. First, 58 ports related EDI systems in 14 countries are extracted and these systems are distinguished by their version. The study examined the characteristics of each EDI system and three main categories are found such as organizations, functions and services. Next, cluster analysis has been used to find the groups and directions of introducing the EDI systems. Then quantification theory has been applied to the EDI systems in order to extract the trends, stages and the underlying factors in the introduction steps. Findings indicate that organizations, services and functions affect the introduction steps of the EDI systems in port.
