|
...environment, organizational characteristics, strategic orientation, innovative capacity, managers' characteristics, IT equipment possessed and the use made of it). The analytical model developed here on the basis of a sample of 2,038 firms suggests that the factors influencing the adoption decision are different from those that eventually influence the results of firms' commercial operations on the Internet. Likewise, we discuss the contribution of each type of determinant and the implications.
Keywords Internet based e-commerce * firms * IT diffusion
JEL M00 * 032
Introduction
Since the mid 1990s researchers have sought to understand why some firms embark on e-commerce operations on the Internet while others prefer to wait and see how events unfold. We still have to determine which variables contribute to explaining the extent to which firms use e-commerce, given that to date the literature has not yet offered conclusive evidence on this question. The current work aims to provide an integrated vision of the set of factors influencing the e-commerce adoption process. We use a sample of 2,038 firms of all types that trade their products either with other organizations or with end-consumers.
For this purpose, we first identify and evaluate the impact of the internal and external factors leading firms to opt to develop an Internet-based e-commerce capacity. Given that little empirical evidence exists about how companies are managing change in the context of e-commerce (Cope & Waddell, 2001), we also aim to identify the types of factors that, once firms adopt e-commerce, help them to generate a certain volume of business, allowing this medium to achieve a particular importance compared to the other marketing channels that the organization may use. Finally, we aim to evaluate to what extent the types of factors influencing e-commerce adoption and those influencing the subsequent development of e-commerce operations coincide. This will allow us to determine if firms are taking into account in their adoption decisions those elements that will influence the subsequent performance of their e-commerce operations.
Previous Studies on Adoption of Internet as a Marketing Channel
We have been able to identify up to 26 works, described in 30 different articles, which have aimed to study either the factors leading firms to adopt the Internet and e-commerce or those elements influencing its development once the firm has adopted these technologies (see Appendix 1). Much research has focused on specific sectors of the economy, such as commercial distribution (Doherty, Ellis-Chadwick, & Hart, 1999; O'Keefe, O'Connor, & Hsiang-Jui, 1998), industry (Chan & Swatman, 2000; Chaston & Mangles, 2002; Kula & Tatoglu, 2003), the communications sector (Vadapalli & Ramamurthy, 1997), the banking and finance sector (Corbitt, 2000), or tourism (Raymond, 2001; Wang & Cheung, 2004). Researchers have often examined the specific problems faced by SMEs when they adopt and use e-commerce on the Internet (Auger & Gallaugher, 1997; Chappell & Feindt, 2000; Chaston & Mangles, 2002; Daniel, Wilson, & Myers, 2002; Feindt, Jeffcoate, & Chappell, 2002; Fillis, Johannson, & Wagner, 2004; Jeffcoate, Chappell, & Feindt, 2002; Kula & Tatoglu, 2003; Matlay & Addis, 2003; McGowan & Durkin, 2002; O'Keefe et al., 1998; Poon & Swatman, 1997, 1999; Sadowski, Maitland, & Dongen, 2002; Walczuch, Braven, & Lundgren, 2000). And while some studies analyze the determinants of B2B e-commerce operations (Bertschek & Fryges, 2002; Chan & Swatman, 2000; Eid & Trueman, 2004; Eid, Trueman, & Ahmed, 2002), others have preferred to focus on B2C e-commerce (Corbitt, 2000; Doherty et al., 1999; O'Keefe et al., 1998; Raymond, 2001).
The different studies have contemplated numerous and varied factors or determinants: characteristics of the innovation; organizational characteristics; those linked to the firm's competitive environment; managers' characteristics; managers' involvement in the implementation of the innovation, etc. Studies even differ in their definition of the object of study. Thus, a first group of studies aims to explain the decision to adopt e-commerce (Auger & Gallaugher, 1997; O'Keefe et al., 1998, etc.). Another group of studies attempts to explain the adoption process as a whole, from taking the decision to adopt the innovation to the implementation and full development of commercial operations on the Internet. In turn, in this second group we can distinguish between some studies focusing on the process of adopting Internet-based e-commerce (for example, Bertschek & Fryges, 2002), from other (more common) works that focus on the general process of Internet adoption. This latter group of studies contemplates e-commerce as just one of the possible uses of the Internet in the firm (for example, Raymond, 2001; Arnott & Bridgewater, 2002, among others). A third group of studies, meanwhile, analyzes the final result of the adoption process, for which they identify and explain the factors contributing to e-commerce success (Chappell & Feindt, 2000; Eid et al., 2002; Eid & Trueman, 2004; Feindt et al., 2002; Jeffcoate et al., 2002; Sung & Gibson, 2005). Finally, we might mention a few studies that analyze the relation between a specific variable and e-commerce implementation (Chaston & Mangles, 2002; Matlay & Addis, 2003).
With regards to the methodologies employed, we note that some of the works (relatively few) are exclusively theoretical in nature (Eid et al., 2002; Fillis et al., 2004; Kim & Galliers, 2004), while others have opted to use case studies and qualitative methodologies of analysis (Chan & Swatman, 2000; Chappell & Feindt, 2000; Corbitt, 2000; Feindt et al., 2002; Jeffcoate et al., 2002; Matlay & Addis, 2003; Poon & Swatman, 1997, 1999). Empirical works are consequently the most frequent. But with the exception of Bertschek and Fryges (2002), Daniel et al. (2002) and Doherty et al. (1999), who use samples of 3,000, 678 and 330 firms, respectively, all the other authors employ samples of under 300 firms. Moreover, some studies obtain their data exclusively from those firms that have adopted Internet or e-commerce, ignoring those companies preferring not to adopt this marketing channel (Auger & Gallaugher, 1997; Bertschek & Fryges, 2002; Daniel et al., 2002; O'Keefe et al., 1998, among others).
In view of all this, research need to continue advancing in the study of e-commerce adoption, and make contributions that offer broad conclusions about the role played by the characteristics of the firm and its competitive environment, both in the decision to adopt (or not) e-commerce, and in the extent to which e-commerce subsequently develops in the firm. Likewise, it would clearly be useful to cut the varied number of determinants identified up to now to a smaller number of critical factors.
Conceptual Framework
Works that have studied the diffusion and adoption of relatively complex technologies like IT have frequently been framed in the analysis of processes of innovation diffusion and adoption (for example, Grover & Goslar, 1993; King & Teo, 1996; Premkumar, Ramamurthy, & Nilakanta, 1994; Ramamurthy, Premkumar, & Crum, 1999; Thong, 1999). This theoretical basis has allowed researchers to examine the relation between the characteristics of the IT, of its potential adopters, and of the environment, on the one hand, and the speed and extent that firms adopt or implement these innovations, on the other (Premkumar et al., 1994). Hence it is hardly surprising that many studies on the adoption of Internet and e-commerce systems have also resorted to innovation diffusion theory (for example, Corbitt, 2000; Kim & Galliers, 2004; Raymond, 2001). However, it is equally true that researchers have paid relatively less attention to the diffusion of Internet and e-commerce (Kim & Galliers, 2004) than they have to the diffusion of other information and communication technologies. Conceivably, this is largely due to the fact that firms started to use the Internet more recently.
At this point, we might ask if the adoption of e-commerce on the Internet needs to be examined in isolation, as various authors propose (Chan & Swatman, 2000; Kim & Galliers, 2004; Poon & Swatman, 1997, 1999). In this respect, we should note that some researchers (such as Downs & Mohr, 1976; Fichman & Kemerer, 1993; Kimberly & Evanisko, 1981) have questioned the possibility of developing a single theory on adoption and diffusion that can be applied to all types of innovation. According to this stream of opinion, we cannot expect a single theory to adequately explain the adoption of different innovations, with their extremely different contexts of adoption (Thong, 1999). It is precisely this interest in establishing a general theory of innovation diffusion that has, in the opinion of authors such as Fichman and Kemerer (1997), led many researchers to take a theoretical approach, ignoring specific innovations and their particular adoption contexts. As a consequence of this, scholars seem to have put less emphasis on obtaining solid and...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
More articles from International Advances in Economic Research
Henry George: an overlooked free trader., May 01, 2007
Forecasting UHF financial data: realized volatility versus UHF-GARCH m..., May 01, 2007
Determinants of premiums to book value paid in banking mergers., May 01, 2007
Portfolio analysis: example for the Warsaw Stock Exchange., May 01, 2007
The market structure of the US economy., May 01, 2007
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
