The Role of Small Business Strategic Alliances in the Adoption of E-Commerce in Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

Despite advances in Internet technology, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are reporting relatively low rates of e-commerce adoption. In response to this, government organizations are putting in place a number of initiatives to promote e-commerce use by SMEs. One of these initiatives is the formation of strategic alliances between businesses in order to pool resources and facilitate e-commerce adoption. This chapter examines the role of strategic alliances in e-commerce use by SMEs by presenting the results of a study of 313 Swedish businesses and by comparing the e-commerce adoption criteria, benefits, and disadvantages among those who are members of a strategic alliance and those who are not. The results of the study indicate distinct differences between the two groups in relation to specific aspects of e-commerce.

E-commerce performance in hospitality and tourism

“…In particular, E-commerce can improve competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because it can enable efficient collaboration (Kvainauskaite et al, 2005). It is widely recognized that E-commerce, which leads to improved organization image and reputation of SMEs in the global market (Ayeh, 2006;Beckinsale and Levy, 2004;Collins et al, 2003;Kajogbola, 2004;Scarborough and Zimmerer, 2003) and technology diffusion result in SMEs' improved competitive positions (Beatty et al, 2001;Daniel and Wilson, 2002;Kartiwi and MacGregor, 2007;MacGregor, 2004).…”

“…Particular attention was directed to strategic and development implications that follow from E-commerce adoption. For example, E-commerce adoption was shown to improve financial growth at both the top and bottom lines of organizations (Karagozoglu and Lindell, 2004;Straub and Klein, 2001) IJCHM 28,9 and enhance a firm's capability to penetrate international markets through easy information access on a global scale (Jin, 2007;MacGregor, 2004;Zheng et al, 2004). By improving communications with customers, E-commerce strengthens firms' capability of service customization (Pease and Rowe, 2005).…”

“…A number of reasons have been explored to understand business efficiency benefits of E-commerce. For example, adopting E-commerce technology was cited to improve internal efficiency by enabling better order processing, employment growth, inventory control, online staff recruitment, accountability and staff satisfaction (Dyerson and Harindranath, 2007;Harindranath et al, 2008;Kajogbola, 2004;Quayle, 2002), in addition to supporting improved cooperative efficiency of supply chain management (Daniel and Wilson, 2002;MacGregor, 2004;Saffu and Walker, 2008). In particular, E-commerce is recognized for facilitating collaboration and planning among supply chain partners (Quayle, 2002).…”

Internet Adoption by Travel Agents: a Case of Egypt

“…E‐commerce helps SMEs to customize services to customer needs and then gain customer loyalty (Pease and Rowe, ; The e‐Regions Trust, ). Where suppliers are important for SMEs as well as customers, e‐commerce adoption supports SMEs to build effective partnerships with supplier/partners (Daniel et al , ; MacGreogor, ; Usoro, ; Harindranath et al , ). Additional target of SMEs is enhancing staff satisfaction that is supported strongly by e‐commerce adoption (Dyerson and Harindranath, ; Harindranath et al , ).…”

“…Sales and revenue growth is one perceived benefit of e‐commerce adoption in SMEs (Straub and Klein, ; Heung, ; Karagozoglu and Lindell, ). In time travel agents facing strong competition from virtual travel agents, e‐commerce adoption supports and increases their competitive advantages (Bourgouin, ; Karagozoglu and Lindell, ; MacGreogor, ; Kvainauskaite et al , ; Kartiwi and MacGregor, ; Harindranath et al , ). Further benefits of e‐commerce are improving distribution channels of SMEs and establishing reputation in the global markets (Bourgouin, ; Collins et al , ; Scarborough and Zimmerer, ; Beckinsale and Levy, ; Kajogbola, ; Karagozoglu and Lindell, ; Ayeh, ; Saffu and Walker, ).…”