Initial Adoption Versus Institutionalization of E-Procurement in Construction Firms: An Empirical Investigation in Vietnam

Abstract

This study explores the factors that impact the initial adoption and institutionalization of e-procurement in construction firms in developing countries. It proposes a research model based on an interaction perspective that is a combination of the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and the theory of reasoned action (TRA). Data collected from 112 construction businesses in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2012 were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that the government plays an extremely important role in decisionmaking of both initial adoption and institutionalization of e-procurement in individual construction enterprises. Furthermore, the determinants of initial adoption of e-procurement are very different from those of institutionalization of the technology. The experience of the initial adoption of e-procurement is found not to have any significant effect on the decision of subsequent implementation of the technology. Theoretical implications, practical implications, and limitations of the research are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.

Study on E-Commerce Adoption in SMEs Under the Institutional Perspective

“…This finding is completely consistent with the results reported by Molla & Licker (2005). It is also supported by (Tran et al, 2014) when they found that external business characteristics were critical factors affecting the institutionalization of e-procurement in construction industry in Vietnam. They confirmed the importance of meso-level environmental factor in e-commerce adoption, as market forces tend to be relatively specific to a given sector and industry.…”

“…Perceived social awareness of e-commerce was found to have significant impact on institutionalization but not on a decision of initial adoption of e-commerce in SMEs. The result is supported by empirical findings in other developing countries (Tran et al, 2014). This implies that information sharing culture, positive perception of the role of information, and positive attitudes toward IT and e-commerce by people will be critical for SMEs in implementing sophisticatedly e-commerce (Teo et al, 2009).…”

“…Additionally, the existing literature is lacking studies to focus on investigation of various determinants of decisions of e-commerce adoption at the different levels. Tran et al (2014) and Molla & Licker (2005) provided empirical evidence showing that the determinants of initial adoption of e-commerce are very different from those of institutionalization of the technology. The experience of the initial adoption of e-commerce is also found not to have any significant effect on the decision of subsequent implementation of the technology.…”

Contextual Factors and Strategic Consequences of Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Adoption in Malaysian Manufacturing SMEs: A Conceptual Framework

“…IT adoption generally supports firms to achieve a better performance such as to gain market share, higher productivity, better product and services innovation, reliable customer-oriented position and improved response to market changes (Cardona, Kretschmer, and Strobel, 2013;Hall, Lotti, and Mairesse, 2013;Tran et al, 2014). Adopting a new technology is only vital if it really improves the performance of business organisations (Yunis, Tarhini, and Kassar, 2018).…”

Grey Markets in Customer-to-Customer Transaction and Social Networking – The Case of Vietnam

“…In the context of Vietnam, some research (Tran, Zhang, Sun, & Huang, 2014;Han, Nguyen, & Nguyen, 2016) had been conducted to investigate issues related to electronic commerce and mobile commerce. Nonetheless, studies focusing on C2C in general and SMB C2C in particular are still lacking.…”