E-commerce adoption in Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises Practitioner Firms: A revisit on Rogers' model

Abstract

The current climate of business necessitates competitions that are often tough and unpredictable. All organizations, regardless their size and scope of operation, are facing severe competitive challenges. In order to cope with this phenomenon, managers are turning to e-commerce in their respective organizations. The present study hinges upon exploring and explaining the different dimensions of the adoption of e-commerce among Small and medium enterprises, based on the Five Factors of Diffusion of Innovation Model derived by Rogers. In this study, however, we employed the survey methods. A questionnaire was distributed to 1,200 managers and employees in the manufacturing, service and agricultural sectors by email; with a response rate of 10%. The results gleamed from this study posits that relative advantage is influential vis-à-vis e-commerce adoption. Trialability and Observability factors affect the level of confidence of management, which in turn, influences e-commerce adoption. Meanwhile, the existing culture of a company affects the resistance of employees, which in turn negatively effects the e-commerce adoption, while complexity does not significantly influence the e-commerce adoption.

The Effects of Perceived Risk on Social Commerce Adoption Based on Tam Model

“…Modern businesses often use online advertising and marketing, sell goods via the Internet, exchange business information electronically, and offer online auctions. Businesses relying on old methods alone are unlikely to survive 1 . Given the uncertain and turbulent economics, companies need to streamline their operations to reduce costs.…”

“…Drawing upon the theory of diffusion of innovation, Poorrangi et al 1 indicated that IT benefits, testability, top management support, resistant to change, culture, and IT complexity all affect e-commerce acceptance.Similarly, AlGhamdi et al 36 listed resistance to change, lack of clear rules in the field of social commerce, poor infrastructure, traditional ways of shopping, lack of confidence online, and lack of government regulation as the most important factors in the adoption of e-commerce. Tan et al 37 also studied the effective factors of adoption from the B2B perspective and indicated that limited access to computers, lack of trust, lack of a culture of sharing information across the organization, and an inability to deal with rapid changes are the most important factors inhibiting the adoption of e-commerce.…”

“…It includes the lack of testability of a product that leads to customer anxiety and apprehension while shopping 23 . If people can try shopping with new technology before making a decision to buy a product on the Internet, testability is present 1,27,36 ; therefore, we propose the following:…”

“…1 Business owners and marketing managers attempt to use actual customers to influence potential customers and encourage them to buy products. 2 They also provide suitable products by analyzing the information gathered in these networks and analyze the relationships between customers and businesses and the similarities between their behaviors.…”

The practice of e-commerce and its obstacles: A field study on SMEs in the Al-Qassim region

“…management vision, perceived benefits, and management characteristics). Poorangi et al (2013) used Rogers' model (Diffusion and Innovation) to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of e-commerce in SMEs in Malaysia. The conceptual framework of their study was developed based on seven factors: relative advantage of innovation, observability, compatibility, trialability, complexity, management confidence, and employee resistance to change.…”