Electronic Commerce Adoption Barriers in Indonesian Small Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs): An Exploratory Study

This research seeks to explore and detect underlying relationships between identifiable barriers of electronic commerce (ecommerce) adoption in Indonesian small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A quantitative pilot study was conducted through a mail survey to collect the relevant data from several cities in three provinces in Indonesia, namely West Java, Bali and DKI Jakarta. The inter-correlations among the barriers influential to the e-commerce adoption decision demanded the application of principal component analysis to determine the factors perceived to dictate e-commerce adoption decision outcomes. The results of the analysis indicate that correlations between the barriers do exist and that the barriers can be grouped according to four distinct factors: the difficulty of implementing e-commerce, the unsuitability of e-commerce to the business, the uncomfortability in communicating and choosing standards in business online, as well as the inapplicability to the current business needs

Determinants of E-Cmmerce Adoption in SMEs

A deep insight of determinants of e-commerce adoption process is in needed to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to fasten up their e-commerce rush and overcome a great number of existed obstacles. This paper analyzed and classified factors taking effects on SMEs’ e-commerce adoption into four groups, specifically: (1) perceived benefits, (2) organizational readiness, (3) external environment, and (4) leadership attitudes and competences. Especially, the paper also gets an overview on the role of leadership in motivating the uptake of e-commerce within SMEs. Thorough analysis within the research contributes not only a general view about core determinants of e-commerce adoption, but also the engine toward the success of e-commerce distribution channel in SMEs

Aggregation and the Role of Trusted Third Parties in SME E-Business Engagement: A Regional Policy Issue

YesIt is against the background of low engagement by SMEs in e-business that this paper seeks to highlight the potential importance of aggregation and of the role of trusted third parties in facilitating higher levels of involvement. The paper is based on an ongoing SME e-business research programme and reports on some recent research on SMEs that were using high complexity e-business applications and explores the extent to which the research findings could address the core concern of low engagement. This qualitative case study based research includes analysis of data collected from 13 community intermediaries, acting as trusted third parties. It concludes that the role of community intermediaries appears to be central to the adoption of critical e-aggregation applications provided by service providers. For policymakers, this important role of critical e-aggregation applications in facilitating e-business engagement by SMEs has emerged as part of this research but there is limited evidence of policy initiatives that reflect this

A stage-oriented model (SOM) for e-commerce adoption:a study of Saudi Arabian organisations

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to construct a new e-commerce innovation and adoption model that takes into account various stages of e-commerce adoption (interactive, non-interactive and stabilised) and covers technological, organisational and environmental factors. This was tested using data collected from manufacturing and service companies in Saudi Arabia (SA) to reveal inhibitors and catalysts for e-commerce adoption. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses new data from surveys from 202 companies and then uses exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling for analyses. Findings - This study shows that the new stage-oriented model (SOM) is valid and can reveal specific detailed nuances of e-commerce adoption within a particular setting. Surprising results show that SA is not so very different to developed western countries in respect to e-commerce adoption. However there are some important differences which are discussed in detail. Research limitations/implications - A new SOM for e-commerce adoption is provided which may be used by other IS adoption researchers. Practical implications - Managers responsible for the adoption of e-commerce in SA, the Middle East and beyond can learn from these findings to speed up adoption rates and make e-commerce more effective. Social implications - This work may help spread e-commerce use throughout SA, the Middle East and to other developing nations. Originality/value - The results add to the extremely limited number of empirical studies that has been conducted to investigate e-commerce adoption in the context of Arabic countries

An Application Service Provider Perspective of eBusiness Engagement by SME Aggregations

Against a background of the low engagement of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in e-business this paper investigates the application service provider (ASP) perspective. Conducting qualitative case studies based of SMEs using hosted applications and service providers the research highlights the opportunity for ‘one to many’ service delivery to aggregations of SMEs promoted by trusted third parties and the emergence of information repositories

E-commerce adoption issues in Malaysian SMES

E-commerce is said to convey undisputed benefits to companies everywhere, reshaping customer and supplier relationships, streamlining business processes and even restructuring whole industries. Managers are told that e-commerce will give a tremendous boost to their companies, that businesses not involved in e-commerce will be left behind in the global marketplace.Yet, e-commerce is not being adopted readily by SMEs. In fact, some studies claim that trading online by SMEs in some countries is stalling.Not many SMEs are keen to go online and only a few have websites.Drawing on existing research on ICT diffusion by SMEs, this paper explores e-commerce adoption by SMEs in Malaysia.It highlights preliminary findings from explorative telephone interviews with the SME managers.The main findings are that SMEs embrace e-commerce mainly because of pressure from customers.They also seek to improve company image, communications, information flow and contact with government.But many have no better reason for adopting e-commerce than that it is ‘nice to have’.Barriers to adoption include lack of technical knowledge and the failure rate of peers. Many think of e-commerce as ‘fancy stuff’, irrelevant to their sort of business.Implications are discussed

Issues and Challenges of Corporate Change Initiatives in Singapore's Small Business Sector

This paper1 explores the change propensity of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and associated challenges in the Republic of Singapore. Based on both qualitative interviews and quantitative survey research amongst Singapore's SME owners and change advocates, it identifies several critical issues with regard to the successful management of organizational transitions in small firms: "the need to change", "the mindset of small entrepreneurs", "change management know how" and "the value of external consultancy inputs". The data suggest that awareness building measures and educational efforts are necessary to enable more owners of local SMEs to benefit from change management tools and concepts as well as respective external expertise. Change management training and exposure to "best" (sectoral) change management practices and successful projects facilitated by external change agents might help more small entrepreneurs to manage both intra-organizationally and externally induced organizational changes more effectively

Internet marketing benefits for South African SME owner-managers

Published ArticleWith the recent explosion of global marketing strategies, business enterprises have to contend with severe and escalating competition. To sustain competitiveness, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa should produce high-quality, customised goods and services efficiently. Adoption of Internet marketing technologies is fundamental towards meeting this challenge. However, the adoption and diffusion of technologies in marketing practices is the outcome of purposeful processes emanating from the realisation by SMEs that adoption of these technologies yields significant paybacks. The purpose of this study was to establish the managers' perceptions of the benefits of Internet marketing adoption in small and medium enterprises. Using a quantitative approach, a questionnaire was administered to owner-managers of small and medium enterprises in the Vaal Triangle in South Africa. A total of 269 questionnaires were completed, returned and considered useful for the survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis in order to establish the factors considered to be the salient Internet marketing benefits. Four underlying factors were extracted namely: customer relationship building, information gathering, promotion and enhanced productivity. The mean scores indicated that information gathering was perceived as most important, but after sturdier tests for association were applied to the data set, customer relationship management demonstrated the most significant and positive correlation with SME productivity. As such, there is need for the small and medium enterprises to develop strategies to expand and sustain the identified benefits of Internet marketing