IRMA-International.org: Creator of Knowledge
Information Resources Management Association
Advancing the Concepts & Practices of Information Resources Management in Modern Organizations

Electronic Commerce in Small Businesses in New Zealand: A Focus Group Approach

Electronic Commerce in Small Businesses in New Zealand: A Focus Group Approach
View Free PDF
Author(s): Nabeel A.Y. Al-Qirim (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand)
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 4
Source title: Innovations Through Information Technology
Source Editor(s): Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, D.B.A. (Information Resources Management Association, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-261-9.ch225
ISBN13: 9781616921255
EISBN13: 9781466665347

Abstract

This focus group-based research lists a set of factors influencing electronic commerce (EC) adoption in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in New Zealand and attempts to explain the impact and the importance of those factors on EC adoption. The results indicate that EC adoption and its use in business in SMEs is not extensive. Two main issues pertaining to EC adoption emerge. Firstly, SMEs will not risk investing their scant resources on perceived “high-risky” EC projects. For simpler EC technologies, cost and compatibility are not an issue in SME e-Commerce adoption. On the other hand, the drivers for EC adoption did not appear to be highly significant making the attitude amongst the participants toward EC uncritical. Secondly, it is at the more advanced levels of EC initiatives (e.g., interactive Web sites) that the participants started to perceive the importance of EC to their businesses and the significance of the different factors on their adoption decision of EC.

Body Bottom