The extent of e-business usage and perceived cumulative benefits: A survey on small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

Internet-based application (e-business) is well-recognized as a useful mean to extend business efficiency.Owing to the idiosyncratic nature of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), considerable works have been initiated to explain why firms within this sector embrace e-business. Despite extensive research to identify factors that explain the firm’s e-business practice, works are still limited to examining as to what extent the e-business assimilates into business operation. Furthermore, firms would experience varying degrees of benefits by deploying e-business.Therefore, this paper reports intensity of e business usage across various business processes and its relationship with cumulative benefits.A survey of 140 SMEs has revealed the diversity of e-business usage across business processes.A cluster analysis has further proposed three distinct profiles of firms based on the intensity of their e-business usage.Finally, the empirical evidence obtained has also ascertained positive association between the intensity of e-business usage and cumulative e-business benefits. Despite limitations highlighted, this paper provides evidence on the current state of e-business usage across firm operation and its likely impact to the firm operation