Motivator And Inhibitor Factors Influencing Small Medium Sized Enterprises (Smes) In West Malaysia To Adopt E-Commerce

Penggunaan e-Dagang dalam kalangan perusahaan kecil dan sederhana di Malaysia masih rendah dan belum mencapai sasaran yang ditetapkan oleh pelan kerajaan. Objektif kajian ini ialah untuk mengkaji tahap penggunaan e-dagang dalam kalangan perusahaan kecil dan sederhana (SME), dan memeriksa hubungan antara manfaat, halangan, sokongan pihak pengurusan atasan, kesediaan organisasi, tekanan persaing, sokongan kerajaan serta penggunan e-Dagang. Selain itu, tiga faktor iaitu produktiviti pengurusan, sokongan operasi dan bantuan keputusan strategik dari nilai strategik yang dilihat digunakan untuk kesan keserhanaan ke atas faktor penentu. Hasil kajian menunjukkan penggunaan e-Dagang ialah berkadar sederhana. Faktor penentu kepada SME bersaiz kecil adalah sokongan pihak pengurus atasan, kesediaan organisasi, tekanan daripada pesaing dan sokongan kerajaan. Pada sudut yang lain, faktor penentu untuk SME dari kategori sederhana adalah sokongan pihak pengurusan atasan, tekanan persaingan and sokongan kerajaan. Sokongan operasi (OS) mempunyai kesan keserhanaan ke atas SME bersaiz medium. Kajian ini mengesahkan kepentingan sokongan operasi yang mempunyai pengaruh ke atas pihak pengurusan atasan dan persepsi mereka terhadap teknologi e-Dagang dari sudut implementasi terhadap organisasi mereka untuk meningkatkan kecekapan. The e-Commerce adoption among small and medium sized enterprises in Malaysia is low. It does not reach the target set in government’s plan. The objective of this study is to investigate the level of e-Commerce adoption among SMEs and to examine the relationship between perceived benefits, perceived barriers, top management support, organization readiness, competitor pressure, government support and e-Commerce adoption. Besides that, three variables: managerial productivity (MP), operational support (OS) and strategic decision aids (SD) from Perceived Strategic Value (PSV) are used to study the moderation effects of these determinant variables. The finding shows that the level of e-Commerce adoption is moderate. The determinant variables of small sized SMEs category to e-Commerce adoption are top management support, organization readiness, competitor pressure and government support. On the other hand, the determinant variables for medium sized SMEs category to e-Commerce adoption are top management support, competitor pressure and government support. The OS has moderation effects on medium sized SMEs. This study confirmed that the importance of the OS has influence on top management level or top manager perception of e-Commerce technologies in term of implementation in their organization to increase effectiveness

Determinant Factors of E-commerce Adoption by SMEs in Developing Country: Evidence from Indonesia

The aim of this study is to investigate those factors that influence SMEs in developing countries in adopting e-commerce. This study is motivated by the fact that the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs, especially in developing countries, is still very far behind the adoption by large companies. Yet to be able to survive in the new economic era, which is the information era; businesses, including SMEs, are forced to adopt e-commerce. Non-adopters will be left behind by the adopters. In addition, studies regarding e-commerce adoption by SMEs are rarely found. Therefore, the results of this study provide a timely understanding of e-commerce adoption by SMEs in developing countries. The model developed in this study is based on the TOE framework. Eleven variables are proposed as the factors that influence SMEs in adopting of e-commerce. These are organized into four groups, namely: technological factors, organizational factors, environmental factors and individual factors. Based on a survey of 292 Indonesian SMEs, it was found that perceived benefits, technology readiness, owners’ innovativeness, owners’ IT ability and owners’ IT experience are the determinant factors that influence Indonesian SMEs in their adopting e-commerce

The Adoption of e-commerce in SMEs: An Empirical Investigation in Egypt

The Adoption of E-commerce in SMEs: An Empirical Investigation in Egypt It is recognised widely that e-commerce can offer substantial opportunities for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to compete in the global market. In developing countries, e-commerce opportunities can be a meaningful approach for SMEs to be able to compete with large businesses and to access, with lowest possible costs, international markets. However, the current situation shows that SMEs continue to lag behind in maximising their capabilities in taking these chances. Universally, they are reported to be slow adopters of new technologies as a result of limited financial resources and lack of expertise. The importance, of SMEs, emerged from their positions since they contributed more than 90% to many developed or developing countries’ economies and they were considered to be the backbone of any economy. Hence, the main purpose, of conducting this research, was to increase the body of knowledge about the process of the adoption of e-commerce. This was done by a primary empirical focus on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt. SMEs represented about 90% of all Egyptian businesses (ITP, 2012). This study aimed to investigate the factors which could influence the SMEs’ adoption of e-commerce. In order to accomplish this objective, the researcher investigated the previous studies, on the same approach, in order to identify the gap, within the literature, regarding the adoption of e-commerce amongst SMEs. Additionally, the researcher integrated existing theories on the adoption of innovation in order to develop a conceptual framework for the determinants of the adoption of e-commerce in the SMEs sector. The researcher reviewed the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI); Resource Based View of the Firm (RBV); Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) Model; and Technology Acceptance Models (TAM) to give constructive information about the firm and decision makers, within the firm, who were believed to have an impact on the adoption of innovation. 3 The proposed model was tested using quantitative research data. The data was collected by means of an online questionnaire survey and, subsequently, due to the high rate of non-respondents, changed to a face-to-face survey. A total of 130 usable responses were generated for purpose of analysis. The study contributed to the existing research by providing valuable information about the factors which influenced the SMEs’ adoption of e-commerce. As the results showed, there were 6 groups of factors which impacted mainly on the adoption processes. Namely, these were: Decision maker characteristics (education level, position within the firm, management support, management attitude); organisational characteristics (firm activity, firm size, firm’s assets/capital, firm age, employee’s IT knowledge, firm marketing capability); innovation characteristics (Perceived Relative Advantage); e-readiness (Individual and organisation e-readiness); government support; and barriers to e-commerce. This study’s findings offered important information for Egyptian government, policy makers and managerial participants; those were the people who encouraged the Egyptian SMEs to adopt e-commerce. These findings could be generalised to be applied to other countries with similar conditions to Egypt, as well as being applicable to Egyptian SMEs in other sectors

Korean SMEs in the Wake of the Financial Crisis: Strategies, Constraints and Performance in a Global Economy

South Korea was one of the most adversely affected economies from the Asian financial and economic crisis of 1997. This paper focuses upon the contribution that the SME sector in this country is making towards the recovery of the economy, and, in particular, focuses upon their contribution in a knowledge-based society. In this paper we present an overview of the contribution and significance of SMEs to the economy. We follow this with a discussion of the impact of the Asian financial crisis on the SME sector. Next, we look at the involvement of SMEs in the global economy, focusing on the globalisation readiness of Korea's SMEs. Based on a recent study of nearly 1,800 SMEs in Korea, we look at the existing impediments in globalising operations, along with areas government should support in assisting SMEs to become globalisation ready. Finally, we present the prospects for Korea's SMEs in the 21st century and the emphasis on venture enterprises as a way to promote the technological competitiveness of SMEs.South Korea, Asian financial crisis, SME sector, economic recovery

A heuristics approach for classroom scheduling using genetic algorithm technique

Reshuffling and arranging classroom based on the capacity of the audience, complete facilities, lecturing time and many more may lead to a complexity of classroom scheduling. While trying to enhance the efficiency in classroom planning, this paper proposes a heuristic approach for timetabling optimization. A new algorithm was produced to take care of the timetabling problem in a university. The proposed of heuristics approach will prompt a superior utilization of the accessible classroom space for a given time table of courses at the university. Genetic Algorithm through Java programming languages were used in this study and aims at reducing the conflicts and optimizes the fitness. The algorithm considered the quantity of students in each class, class time, class size, time accessibility in each class and lecturer who in charge of the classes

Digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce context: A focus on entrepreneurial digital competencies

Purpose – Thepurpose of this paper is to criticallyexplorehow context asan antecedent to entrepreneurial digital competencies (EDCs) influences digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce environment. Design/methodology/approach – The data comprises semi-structured interviews with 16 digital entrepreneurs, as owner-managers of small digital businesses in Cameroon. Findings – The results reveal the ways in which EDCs shape the entry (or start-up) choices and post-entry strategic decisions of digital entrepreneurs in response to context-specific opportunities and challenges associated with digital entrepreneurship. Research limitations/implications – The data comes from one African country and 16 digital businesses thus the research setting limits the generalisability of the results. Practical implications – This paper highlights important implications for encouraging digital entrepreneurship by focussing on institutional, technology and local dimensions of context and measures to develop the entrepreneurial and digital competencies. This includes policy interventions to develop the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, transport and local distribution infrastructure, and training opportunities to develop the EDCs of digital entrepreneurs. Originality/value – Whereas the capabilities to adopt and use ICTs and the internet by small businesses have been examined, this is among the first theoretically sensitised study linking context, EDCs and digital entrepreneurship

Supporting Exports in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The book “Supporting Exports in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises” provides a significant insight into the internationalization of economic operations of small and medium-sized enterprises, focusing in particular on exports, which can benefit from support instruments and schemes co-financed with public resources. Considerations center around the role of the SMEs in the economy, their internationalization and economic premises of an export promoting policy. An attempt is made to assess the system of State aid in Poland in the light of the EU regulations. The final part provides an overview of institutions and instruments which, to a lesser or greater extent, contribute to the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises.In summing up the considerations of the study devoted to the support to export activities of small and medium-sized enterprises we may formulate the following conclusions: 1. Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in the economy and contribute to the GDP, improved competitiveness and higher employment. 2. SMEs represent a rather high growth dynamics although limited with many economic, administrative and legal factors. 3. Enterprises may grow as a result of expansion consisting in winning new markets, also abroad, i.e. by intensification of cooperation with abroad, e.g., by the exchange of goods and services, which may enhance the growth of a business and improve its competitive position. 4. Export is the most frequent form of SMEs’ internationalisation. 5. Increased engagement of businesses in internationalisation calls for a range of activities that would support the involvement of the sector with foreign markets. 6. There are numerous empirical studies, which demonstrate that many states support export activities. At the same time we should stress positive correlation between export-promoting policy and economic growth. 7. State aid rules and provisions offer preferential treatment to small and medium-sized enterprises compared to large companies and ensure their access to numerous assistance schemes and higher intensity of aid. 8. Relatively friendly regulations and easy access to EU resources have resulted in almost 60% of total State aid in Poland being addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises. 9. Surveys demonstrate that various support instruments addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises may enhance their growth and foster their competitive position in international markets. 10. Enterprises in Poland may benefit from many types of support to their export activities. They include investment, information and promotional measures, which target mainly small and medium-sized enterprises.The publication was financed from the grant for research or development works and associated activities, which is designed to contribute to the development of young researchers and from own resources of the Department of International Trade of the University of Łódź

Developing preparedness for flexible delivery of training in enterprises

On a basis of research and literature review, Smith, in 2001, suggested a model for the development of preparedness of learners and their workplaces to support the flexible delivery of training in enterprises. Using the model as a framework, he then developed a detailed set of strategies that may be used in operating workplaces to develop learners and workplaces for effective flexible delivery. The research reported here was designed to test that strategy set in 12 different enterprises to assess the feasibility of their implementation in operating workplaces. The research shows that a majority of suggested strategies are feasible for implementation; some are feasible with qualification; and a minority were not seen as feasible.<br /

Small and Medium Enterprises in the Agriculture Value Chain: Opportunities and Recommendations

Authored in collaboration with Oxfam, this report analyzes the effectiveness of development programs in addressing the effectiveness of SME agricultural value chains, and dissect whether these interventions would be Social Enterprises (SEs) in agriculture in Asia. The paper makes recommendations for donors and development agencies that seek to support SEs in agriculture

What are the barriers to investing in social enterprises? An investigation into the attitudes and experiences of social entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom

The ongoing global economic crisis and the restrictions that this is having on government expenditure has meant that current UK policy is being directed at trying to end the grant dependency that currently exists in the third sector. One of the key focuses of this policy initiative has been to try to increase the third sector’s access to both debt finance from lending institutions and equity finance from venture capital investors. However, this policy intervention presupposes that the lack of private sector investment in the third sector is a ‘supply-side’ problem caused by limited funds. This ignores the structural problems in the social enterprise sector related to governance and a lack of organisational capacity. Indeed, as of 2011 the ethical investment sector in the UK was worth approximately £9 billion and was spread across 90 ethical investment funds responsible to 700,000 investors. Additionally, social investment (i.e. those funds targeted specifically at third sector organisations) was worth £165 million as of 2011. This suggests that the lack of private sector investment in social enterprises in the UK is not a ‘supply’ side problem but is instead related to the ‘investment readiness’ of social enterprise