Adoption of ICT and e‐commerce in small businesses: an HEI‐based consultancy perspective

Abstract

This article sets out to critically evaluate the impact that higher education institution (HEI)‐based consultancy can have upon the adoption and use of e‐commerce by businesses units operating in the small business sector of the British economy. Anecdotal evidence suggests that “new” (post‐1992) universities are more likely to offer consultancy services to small businesses. It is also claimed that owner/managers seem reluctant to pay full economic prices and would only subscribe to HEI‐based consultancy services if and when these are supported by considerable subsidies. In order to test the owner/manager reluctance hypothesis, 60 matched case studies were conducted, involving small businesses based in the West Midlands region of Great Britain. Preliminary results indicate that most small business owner/managers are aware of the potential benefits accruing from ICT and e‐commerce and tend to use HEI‐based consultancy services as a subsidised access point to e‐markets, involving both their core and peripheral activities. There exists, however, an apparent mismatch between the supply and demand sides of the HEI‐based ICT and e‐commerce consultancy market.

Drivers of E-Marketing Adoption among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Variations with Age of Business Owners

“…However, Chan and Swatman (2000) found that technology intensive industries have reaped the rewards of Internet technology which are yet to be experienced by traditional marketers. These findings are at variance with Matlay and Addis' (2003) suggestion that there is no association between Internet adoption and technological content of a business environment.…”

Empirically Examining Barriers to E‐business Adoption in SMEs in Indonesia

“…SMEs' Characteristics in Adopting New ICT Not surprisingly, some studies suggest that smaller enterprises possess different characteristics compared to larger firms (Fillis and Wagner, 2005;Matlay and Addis, 2003). These different characteristics sometimes serve as a barrier for SMEs to accepting new changes, particularly ICT adoption that requires a certain level of skills and knowledge.…”

“…These different characteristics sometimes serve as a barrier for SMEs to accepting new changes, particularly ICT adoption that requires a certain level of skills and knowledge. SMEs tend to be (1) risk averse with IT adoption in the organization strongly influenced by the owner-manager of the SME (Matlay and Addis, 2003), (2) slow in adopting the new technology due to its unfamiliarity with ICT (Thong, 1999), (3) lacking resources in IT knowledge, personnel and financial resources (Zhu et al, 2002), (4) lacking in control over business environment and power to influence their partners to implement e-business (Zhu et al, 2002) and (5) lacking in investment in sophisticated application or software (Thong, 1999).…”

How do small firms use ICT for business purposes? A study of Swedish technology-based firms

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