Focus of B-to-B e-commerce initiatives and related benefits in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

Empirical research into business-to-business e-commerce issues involving manufacturing small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is still embryonic. In an attempt to partially fill this gap, this paper presents empirical data from an electronic survey conducted among 96 manufacturing SMEs to investigate e-commerce initiatives and their related benefits. E-commerce initiatives are assessed using a set of 36 business processes that can be conducted electronically. These processes were classified according to their focus: customer (downstream), supplier (upstream) or in-house. The research findings point to four main profiles of manufacturing SMEs with different e-commerce focuses. The first group seems to lack any focus or may still be exploring e-commerce opportunities. The second and third groups are supplier-and customer-focused, respectively. The fourth group consists of the more involved SMEs that have leveraged their e-commerce initiatives with

Achieving advantages from business-to-business electronic commerce: an empirical validation of an integrative framework

“…EC usage has a significant impact on business performance Merono-Cerdan and Soto-Acosta, 2005;Ramamurthy and Premkumar, 1995;Shin, 2004;Yao et al, 2002;Wade et al, 2004;Zhu and Kraemer, 2005). EC adoption and use can also lead to cost reductions Bergeron, 1996, 1997;Fruhling and Digman, 2000;Kauffman and Walden, 2001;Elia et al, 2007;Seppanen and Suomala, 2003). Furthermore, EC use can improve the quality of customer services (Margherio et al, 1998;Elia et al, 2007) and products.…”

“…Furthermore, EC use can improve the quality of customer services (Margherio et al, 1998;Elia et al, 2007) and products. Additional advantages obtained from EC use include business growth (Porter, 2001;Elia et al, 2007); organisational and interorganisational productivity Johnston and Vitale, 1988;Teo et al, 1994); and competitive advantage (Amit and Zott, 2001;Chatfield and Yetton, 2000;Chircu and Kauffman, 2000;Ranganathan et al, 2004;Teo and Pian, 2003).…”

Evaluation of E-commerce Performance in SMEs based on Vector Auto Regression Model

“…ElieElia and Louis-A (2007) presented empirical data from an electronic survey conducted among 96 manufacturing SMEs to investigate e-commerce initiatives and their related benefits. The research findings point to four main profiles of manufacturing SMEs with different e-commerce focuses [7].…”

Making Strategic Decisions on B2b E-Commerce Models: An Empirical Study on Australian Agribusinesses

“…The adoption of e-commerce has been stimulated by benefits that may include the ability to address specific, niche-market customer groups using highly customized campaigns, collaboration, quick decision-making and increased flexibility 5,6 . This is particularly evident in the business-to-business (B2B) segment where e-commerce has grown significantly over the years and that organizations have achieved substantial savings by conducting their business activities over the electronic environment 7 .…”