Electronic commerce solution for small businesses

Author(s):  
C.M. Ortiz ◽  
L.Z. Granville
Author(s):  
Mohini Singh

Australian small businesses are increasingly adopting the Internet and the World Wide Web as a medium of doing business to reach new customers and suppliers, cut costs and expand business. They also use it to enhance communication between buyers and suppliers. This chapter discusses the findings of an exploratory study in Australia that identified the objectives, opportunities and challenges of e-commerce experienced by small businesses that were mostly early adopters of the Internet as a medium of trade. E-commerce issues presented in this chapter include research findings, supported by theory from literature. Electronic commerce opportunities, challenges and organizational learning by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia indicate that small businesses have created value with e-commerce, although benefits are long term and dependent on a plethora of technological, business and management issues that need to be addressed. Due to the fast-evolving nature of e-business and technological developments that are new to many small businesses, challenges such as managing the expanded flow of information, cross-border taxation, authentication, trust and security, as well as the high costs of acquiring the required technologies and skills, are prevalent. Other challenges of e-commerce range from Web site maintenance to business process reengineering for an integrated environment. Research findings also highlight the fact that small businesses need formal methods of evaluating the performance of e-commerce to realize the benefits of investment and to further expand their e-commerce venture.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Ghobakhloo ◽  
Sai Hong Tang

Purpose – Based on theories from the innovation diffusion literature, the purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated model of electronic commerce (EC) adoption in small businesses (SBs) of developing countries. The research model specifies variables at managerial level as the primary determinants to EC adoption in SBs. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire-based field survey was conducted to collect data from 268 owner/managers of SBs in Iran. The data were analysed using factorial analysis. Subsequently, six hypotheses were derived and tested by hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression analysis. Findings – Perceived benefits, perceived compatibility, perceived risks, perceived costs, and innovativeness were found to be the significant determinants of decision to adopt EC. Likewise, discussion on discriminators between adopters and non-adopters of different EC applications has been provided. Research limitations/implications – Cross-sectional data of this research tends to have certain limitations when it comes to explaining the direction of causality of the relationships between the variables. The study focuses only on the manufacturing SBs of Iran. Practical implications – The research findings have important implications for practising managers, information systems experts, and policy-makers. Governments should follow specific policies to facilitate institutionalisation of EC in SBs. Similarly, EC vendors and technology providers should collaborate with SBs to enhance the compatibility of different EC applications with specific characteristics of these businesses. Originality/value – To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is perhaps one of the first that examines the adoption of EC by SBs in a developing country context, using a research model which tests the effects of owner/managers' attributes on adoption of simple and advanced EC applications.


Author(s):  
Morteza Ghobakhloo ◽  
Tang S.H.

This research examines potential barriers within the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework that affect the decision to adopt Electronic Commerce (EC) and extent of EC adoption within Small Businesses (SBs) in the context of developing countries. This research also signifies the discriminators of adoption and non-adoption of different EC applications. Through a questionnaire-based survey of 268 owners or managers of Iranian manufacturing SBs, initial and post EC adoption by these businesses were found to be hindered by some of barriers existing within technological, organizational, and environmental context including cost of EC, lack of EC compatibility, perceived risk of EC, lack of EC awareness, lack of knowledge, family intervention, lack of external support, lack of government support, and lack of business partners’ EC readiness. Similarly, this study provides discussions on determinants of adoption and non-adoption of different EC applications. Theoretical contribution and managerial implications of this research are discussed which is believed to offer valuable insights to managers, EC experts, and policy makers regarding institutionalization of EC within SBs of developing countries.


Author(s):  
Mohini Singh

Australian small businesses are increasingly adopting the Internet and the World Wide Web as a medium of doing business to reach new customers and suppliers, cut costs and expand business. They also use it to enhance communication between buyers and suppliers. This chapter discusses the findings of an exploratory study in Australia that identified the objectives, opportunities and challenges of e-commerce experienced by small businesses that were mostly early adopters of the Internet as a medium of trade. E-commerce issues presented in this chapter include research findings, supported by theory from literature. Electronic commerce opportunities, challenges and organizational learning by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia indicate that small businesses have created value with e-commerce, although benefits are long term and dependent on a plethora of technological, business and management issues that need to be addressed. Due to the fast-evolving nature of e-business and technological developments that are new to many small businesses, challenges such as managing the expanded flow of information, cross-border taxation, authentication, trust and security, as well as the high costs of acquiring the required technologies and skills, are prevalent. Other challenges of e-commerce range from Web site maintenance to business process re-engineering for an integrated environment. Research findings also highlight the fact that small businesses need formal methods of evaluating the performance of e-commerce to realize the benefits of investment and to further expand their e-commerce venture.


Author(s):  
Robert C. MacGregor

Over the last decade, the Internet and Internet technologies such as electronic commerce have experienced phenomenal growth. However, research shows that small businesses have been slow to adopt and to implement e-commerce due to a variety of barriers or impediments. Our understanding of these barriers and their importance has been fragmented and incomplete. This article presents an exploratory study of regional small businesses in Sweden that aims to improve our knowledge about e-commerce adoption barriers and to determine if there are any differences in the level of importance assigned to different barriers by males and females. The results of the study suggest that e-commerce adoption barriers fall into one of two distinct groupings: too difficult to implement or unsuitable to the business. The results also show that while males rate the difficulties of implementing e-commerce as more important, females indicate more concern about the unsuitability of e-commerce. The results of the study have significant implications for government organizations engaged in promoting e-commerce adoption, particularly among small businesses in regional areas.


Author(s):  
Sandy Chong

This study surveys the perceptions and experiences of Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the implementation of Internet-based Electronic Commerce (EC) as seen from the perspective of the extent of deployment. With a sample of 115 small businesses in Australia, this article uses regression modelling to explore and establish the factors that are related to the extent of deployment in EC. A multiple regression analysis shows that seven factors: perceived relative advantage, trialability, observability, variety of information sources, communication amount, competitive pressure, and nontrading institutional influences, significantly influence the extent of EC deployment by SMEs in Australia. The managerial implications are discussed.


Author(s):  
Serena Cubico ◽  
Giuseppe Favretto

The role played by small business in economic growth and development in the world is officially recognized, in both the economic literature and in official documents (e.g., Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, European Commission, U.S. Department of State). Information and communication technology connectivity are widespread in all sized businesses, but small businesses seem slower than larger ones to adopt and use ICT and electronic commerce. SMEs (small- to medium-sized enterprises) are independent firms that employ less than 10 (micro), 50 (small), and 250 (medium) employees (European Commission, 2003); the United States includes firms with fewer than 500 employees in the definition of an SME (OECD, 2000a). In Europe, SMEs contribute up to 80% of employment in some industrial sectors (e.g., textiles, construction, furniture), and they are defined as “a major source of entrepreneurial skills, innovation and contribute to economic and social cohesion” (European Commission, 2005, p. 3); in the U.S. economy, small businesses represent 99.7% of all employers and “broaden a base of participation in society, create jobs, decentralize economic power and give people a stake in the future” (U.S. Department of State, 2006, p. 2). To synthesize: more than 95% of OECD enterprises are SMEs, accounting for 60-70% of employment in most countries (OECD, 2000a). The same proportion is indicated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; in fact, SMEs account for 60-70% of all employment in developing countries (UNCTAD, 2002).


Author(s):  
Ephrem Eyob

Telecommunications and networking, two prominent technologies of the information age, have enjoyed substantial investments from industry and government, resulting in unparalleled growth in the transmission of voice, video, and data over wired and wireless media. Since their inception several decades ago, these technologies and their business applications have progressed through several stages. Such progression commenced from the development of the primitive electronic funds transfer (EFT) in which funds could be transferred electronically, to the enormous variety of technologies available today. Several decades ago, the delivery of video, voice, and data was accomplished through three independent networks: television, telephone, and data networks, respectively (Panko, 2007). Today, a convergence of the three networks is occurring. For example, networking technology can deliver video, data, voice (through VoIP), graphics and other multimedia contents at considerable speed. Currently, there are many applications associated with telecommunications and networking technologies. They include electronic mail (e-mail), voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), and videoconferencing. Also, the Internet which was built on the world-wide telecommunications and networking infrastructure gave rise to many applications such as electronic commerce (e-commerce), electronic data interchange (EDI), and several other World Wide Web (Web) applications. Electronic commerce, which is the process of buying, selling, or exchanging products, services, and information via computer networks, has evolved and become an ever-booming enterprise. The advent of broadband digital subscriber line (DSL) and broadband cable has enabled the transmission of data signals through telephone and cable-television (cable-TV) networks. Moreover, broadband technology has made high speed Internet access very affordable for small businesses and individuals. It has also facilitated e-commerce by providing businesses and consumers easy access to the global information super highway. The fact that e-commerce transactions involve the transmission of personal and organization’s proprietary information over the unsecured Internet, make them easy targets for hackers. Therefore, security of electronic communications is a major problem that must be addressed by organizations that engage in e-commerce. This article presents the trends in telecommunications and networking; security problems confronting such technologies and related e-commerce applications; and the management of security issues associated with these technologies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 01022
Author(s):  
Niiara Demiroglu

E-commerce has gained particular importance for the development of small businesses in the past year due to the restrictions imposed due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. The article provides a review of scientific literature in order to generalize the methodology for defining the concept of “electronic commerce”. The main trends in the field of e-commerce in small business are characterized. The data on the development of the e-commerce market are analyzed and the following is emphasized: in the number of purchases from mobile devices has increased; creation and widespread use of social media pages is a key factor in the development of e-commerce by entrepreneurs. The advantages and disadvantages of using electronic commerce by small businesses are systematized. Conclusions are made about the growth in the volume of transactions using Internet technologies, and about the increase in digitalization of small businesses.


Author(s):  
Juan Chávez-Medina ◽  
Isabel Múñiz-Montero ◽  
Víctor Genaro Luna-Fernández

The purpose of this work is to investigate the influence and impact on its sales that have Micro and small companies (Mypes) in the Cholula and Xicotepec de Juárez region of the State of Puebla, Mexico, regarding their patterns of adoption of technologies of information and communications (ICTs), taking into account the dimensions and benefits of them, in this sense, the research examines the nature and extent of the adoption of these technologies by micro and small businesses, as well as digital divisions that have emerged, analyzing the barriers to the adoption of electronic commerce technologies and techniques, together with factors that promote successful adoption and the main role that human capital plays, for this purpose data on these aspects of ICTs were collected. s of 630 Mypes through a survey instrument carrying out research with a quantitative approach, through a tran design sversal-descriptive


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