TY - JOUR
T1 - E-commerce for SMEs
T2 - Empirical insights from three countries
AU - Jahanshahi, Asghar Afshar
AU - Zhang, Stephen X.
AU - Brem, Alexander
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to study the benefits that an Asian company can achieve by using e-commerce. Another objective is to identify and rank the barriers influencing the application of e-commerce by innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India, Malaysia, and Iran Design/methodology/approach: The survey design uses a sample of 601 SMEs from three countries. In this study, data were collected by sending out questionnaires electronically and by mail. The Friedman test is used to analyse questionnaire data in conjunction with SPSS 16 software. Findings: The results indicate that an "enhanced company brand and corporate image" is the most important e-commerce advantage from the perspective of East Asian SMEs, whereas "doubts about the security and privacy" is the most important barrier. Research limitations/implications: Differences between the three countries in terms of electronic structure and infrastructure are the most important limitations for the study. Practical implications: As the company brand and the image of the company are very important in this region, companies should strategically invest into these areas. Nowadays, in times of social media, this is not as cost intensive as it was ten years before. So particularly, SMEs have a good chance to succeed in this area. Originality/value: This paper offers researchers a broader and more comprehensive view of the benefits of and barriers to electronic commerce application by SMEs. Researchers, educators, and practitioners will benefit from this paper. The analyses are more complex and varied than the methodologies used in most of the limited previous research.
AB - Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to study the benefits that an Asian company can achieve by using e-commerce. Another objective is to identify and rank the barriers influencing the application of e-commerce by innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India, Malaysia, and Iran Design/methodology/approach: The survey design uses a sample of 601 SMEs from three countries. In this study, data were collected by sending out questionnaires electronically and by mail. The Friedman test is used to analyse questionnaire data in conjunction with SPSS 16 software. Findings: The results indicate that an "enhanced company brand and corporate image" is the most important e-commerce advantage from the perspective of East Asian SMEs, whereas "doubts about the security and privacy" is the most important barrier. Research limitations/implications: Differences between the three countries in terms of electronic structure and infrastructure are the most important limitations for the study. Practical implications: As the company brand and the image of the company are very important in this region, companies should strategically invest into these areas. Nowadays, in times of social media, this is not as cost intensive as it was ten years before. So particularly, SMEs have a good chance to succeed in this area. Originality/value: This paper offers researchers a broader and more comprehensive view of the benefits of and barriers to electronic commerce application by SMEs. Researchers, educators, and practitioners will benefit from this paper. The analyses are more complex and varied than the methodologies used in most of the limited previous research.
KW - Barriers
KW - Benefits
KW - Business
KW - E-commerce
KW - India
KW - Iran
KW - Malaysia
KW - SME
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84888984202&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/JSBED-03-2012-0039
DO - 10.1108/JSBED-03-2012-0039
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84888984202
SN - 1462-6004
VL - 20
SP - 849
EP - 865
JO - Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
JF - Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
IS - 4
ER -