B2B Networking, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability

While the benefits and advantages of using renewable energies are remarkable, and their prices have been decreasing dramatically and are expected to fall further, the diffusion and adoption of renewable energies still lag behind fossil energies. This paper improves our understanding regarding the role of the interrelationship among businesses (as an example of B2B networking amongst parent and subsidiary firms). Furthermore, it demonstrates the way/s that such interrelationships can contribute to the diffusion and adoption of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies. This study describes four diffusion channels in the interrelated firms which can help with promoting and using renewable and sustainable energies. The paper also reports the actual share of each diffusion channel contributing to implementing sustainable energy-efficient technologies in practice. The findings suggest that parent organisations enforce the majority (over 50%) of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies implemented in a B2B environment. In comparison, inter-subsidiary relationships are responsible for less than 30% of the implemented sustainable and energy-efficient technologies in organisations. The findings are in line with the forced perspective theory. They could, to some degree, explain the differences in the levels of implementation of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies in practice. These findings can help practitioners prioritise the diffusion channels when they want to facilitate the implementation of new technologies in their organisations. While some organisations may expect a more successful implementation of innovations initiated by subsidiaries than those enforced by parent organisations, the levels of success of the adoption of sustainable and energy-efficient technologies are not examined in this study. Further research is recommended to investigate the extent of association between different diffusion channels and the levels of success in terms of the adoption of innovation. We did not find similar studies to compare the results, which could be one of the limitations of this study

Analysis of SME e-commerce adoption and its relationship with local institutions

Se analiza el grado de adopción del Comercio Electrónico (ACE) de un conjunto de PyMEs de Bahía Blanca, Argentina, vinculadas con organizaciones empresariales o instituciones públicas. El objetivo del trabajo es determinar los niveles de ACE de este grupo de empresas y definir la existencia de cierto perfil organizacional según la institución de referencia. A partir de una muestra de PyMEs se realizó una exploración de sus sitios web y un análisis exploratorio descriptivo mediante tablas de frecuencias y de contingencia entre ACE y la pertenencia a las respectivas instituciones.The degree of Electronic Commerce Adoption (ECA) is analyzed in a group of SMEs from Bahía Blanca, Argentina linked to business organizations or public institutions. The objective of this study is to determine the levels of ECA in this group of companies and define the existence of some organizational profile regarding the type of institution of reference. Based on a sample of SMEs, an exploration of their websites and a explorative-descriptive analysis was carried out by means of frequencies and contingency tables between ECA and the relationship with the corresponding institution.Facultad de Ciencias Económica

Análisis de la adopción del comercio electrónico en Pymes y su vínculo con instituciones locales

Se analiza el grado de adopción del Comercio Electrónico (ACE) de un conjunto de PyMEs de Bahía Blanca, Argentina, vinculadas con organizaciones empresariales o instituciones públicas. El objetivo del trabajo es determinar los niveles de ACE de este grupo de empresas y definir la existencia de cierto perfil organizacional según la institución de referencia. A partir de una muestra de PyMEs se realizó una exploración de sus sitios web y un análisis exploratorio descriptivo mediante tablas de frecuencias y de contingencia entre ACE y la pertenencia a las respectivas instituciones

Information communication technology adoption and business performance of tour operators in malaysia

The survival of tour operators depends very much on their adaptation to changes in tourists’ preferences and demands. Previous studies have shown mixed findings on the adoption ability of tour operators of different adopter categories namely innovator, early adopter, early or late majority, and laggards, to sustain their business performance with changes in information communication technology (ICT). A review of the literature has also indicated a lack of ICT adoption studies that measure adoption ability of tour operators in identifying their varying characteristics that relate to their business performance. Therefore, this research aims to explore the relationships between ICT adoption, company profiles and adoption characteristics of Malaysian tour operators, and their business performance. A quantitative technique of a structured questionnaire was used to elicit five variable parameters namely company profiles, ICT adoption, the contributing factors, adoption characteristics and business performance. A pilot test was conducted to validate the variables that were adapted into a structural scale to assist in data collection. A total of 285 tour operator companies that were identified from the registered members of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) and from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Malaysia answered the questionnaire. Findings showed little difference between new and older tour operators in terms of ICT adoption. However, in the context of ICT adoption and business performance, there were specific divergences between the two, particularly when focusing on company age and adoption characteristics. Findings also suggest that company profiles, particularly age element and adoption characteristics have a large influence on Malaysian tour operators’ ICT adoption towards business performance. Findings also found that there were hidden elements that were not covered in the existing elements of adoption characteristics, namely smartness and the generation gap. This study contributes to the enhancement of the understanding of factors contributing to ICT adoption and business performance among Malaysian tour operators

The adoption behaviour of information technology industry in increasing business-to-business integration sophistication

10.1111/j.1365-2575.2008.00298.xInformation Systems Journal2015-2