Net Impact

Key Findings

Research methodology




 Research Methodology

The first Net Impact study project was developed by Hal Varian of the University of
California-Berkeley, Robert E. Litan of The Brookings Institution and Momentum Research Group, and was sponsored by Cisco Systems. It was designed to measure the current and anticipated cost savings and revenue increases that organizations believe have been created by their investment in Internet business solutions. For purposes of the Net Impact studies, Internet business solutions are defined as initiatives that combine the Internet with networking, software and computing hardware technologies to enhance or improve existing business processes or to create new business opportunities. These Internet business solutions are categorized as:

  • Customer Development and e-Marketing


  • Customer Service and Support


  • E-Commerce

Net Impact Study in Canada
  1. Statistics Canada (SEPH) and Industry Canada survey


  2. Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable, Fast Forward 3.0: Maintaining the Momentum, March 2002.


  3. Varian, Hal, Robert E. Litan, Andrew Elder, Jay Shutter, The Net Impact Study: The Projected Economic Benefits of the Internet In the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany, V2.0, January 2002, www.netimpactstudy.com
  • Finance and Accounting
  • Human Resources
  • Procurement and Maintenance, Repair and Operation (MRO)
  • Sales Force Automation
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Enterprise Information Portal
The Canadian study concentrated on assessing the impact of IBS on small and medium-sized enterprises, defined as those having between 50 and 500 full-time employees. A stratified random sample was taken from five industry sectors:
  • Manufacturing
  • Financial Services
  • Retail, Wholesale and Distribution
  • Communications & Internet Service Provider (ISP)
  • Public Service

A total of 1968 firms were contacted by telephone during the summer of 2002. After filtering for firm size and industry sector, 398 firms were randomly selected to participate in the interview. The resulting data were weighted by firm size and industry segment to reflect the overall Canadian SME population.



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