Small firms and e-business: cautiousness, contingency and cost-benefit

Zheng, Jurong; Caldwell, Nigel; Harland, Christine; Powell, Philip; Woerndl, Maria; Xu, Shunqing

doi:10.1016/j.pursup.2003.11.004

Cited by 61 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Apart from positive impacts which facilitate Pe-P's adoption, a range of authors (e.g., MacManus, 2002;Zheng et al, 2004;Puschmann and Alt, 2005;Tatsis et al, 2006;McConnell, 2009) has identified a number of general inhibitors, which include:…”

Section: P E-p Adoption Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Karjalainen and Kemppainen (2008) used data from Finnish SMEs to conclude that availability of resources, company size and e-systems explained the level of SEM involvement. Also Zheng et al (2004) refer specific inhibitors to SME: lesser resources, smaller infrastructures and company size are the more important constraints in adopting P e-P. Tavares (2010) considers that the lack of know-how and support in the use of these platforms represents one of the biggest inhibitors to P e-P adoption, namely in SME.…”

Section: P E-p Adoption Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public e-procurement impacts in small- and medium-enterprises

Fernandes

Vieira

2015

IJPM

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Abstract:The European Union (EU) created directives to regulate the moving to full Public e-Procurement (Pe-P) for all public purchases by 2016. Despite the undisputable benefits, member states are lagging behind on this paradigm shift. Also Pe-P's scholarly evaluation and theoretical knowledge behind it are still very limited. This paper makes a contribution to the literature gap related to Pe-P's impacts providing preliminary evidence of its adoption in Portugal. Following a case-based approach involving interviews with managers from the Portuguese construction sector, our study aims to understand Pe-P's implementation benefits and barriers in small-and medium-enterprises (SMEs). Results provide relevant information regarding factors affecting Pe-P's adoption forecasting implications for private firms, platform providers and policy makers in the 2016 full moving to Pe-P's throughout the EU.

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Section: P E-p Adoption Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: P E-p Adoption Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public e-procurement impacts in small- and medium-enterprises

Fernandes

Vieira

2015

IJPM

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“…In this study, four large multinationals were selected from the original list of firms identified, as previous studies have suggested that firm size is one of the determinants of adoption of e-commerce technologies (Zheng et al 2004;Joo & Kim, 2004) Another criterion for selection was their level of maturity in ecommerce. All four companies chosen were at least two years into their eprocurement projects, as this would allow an exploration of a range of advanced issues concerning strategy, adoption, successes/failures and relationships.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

E-procurement and its impact on supply management – evidence from industrial case studies

Smart

2010

International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications

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Many buying firms have adopted e-procurement systems, yet the impact of these applications is still being assessed by both academics and practitioners alike. This article examines the use of e-procurement within four multinational firms, to establish the impact of these mechanisms on their approach to the supply market, using thematic parameters derived from the literature. The results indicate that the firms established a clear supply market strategy based on a segmentation model: e-procurement tools were used as tactical means to implement and extend that strategy towards the supply base. In addition, it was observed that tactics within defined segments are developing, as buying firms use eprocurement tools both to reduce supplier numbers and to leverage their volumes in price-competitive markets. Some propositions are offered on the key themes, summarising the findings in the paper and providing further indications for research.

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“…• Their degree of preference for face-to-face communication and associated trust with customers (and suppliers) as their primary competitive advantage over larger firms (Beck et al, 2005;Castleman, 2004;Zheng et al, 2004), whereby owner-managers might be less likely to use blogs if they perceive this tool will risk impersonalising or even damaging relationships.…”

Section: Which Sme Characteristics Are Suited To Blog Use?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• The extent to which SME owner-managers participate in and get their eBusiness adoption and general business advice via informal, often highly social, business networks (Beckinsale et al, 2006;Gibbs et al, 2007;MacGregor & Vrazalic, 2007;Simmons et al, 2008) and/or get advice from family members (Galloway & Mochrie, 2005;Martin & Matlay, 2003;Simpson & Docherty, 2004;Zheng et al, 2004). This suggests SME owner-managers who are members of personal or business networks might be inclined to follow the advice of opinion leaders in or the norms of these networks concerning blog use.…”

Section: Which Sme Characteristics Are Suited To Blog Use?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Types of SMEs Which Could use Blogs as a Marketing Tool: a Proposed Future Research Agenda

Chua

Deans

Parker

2009

AJIS

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Blogs appear to be gaining momentum as a marketing tool which can be used by organisations for such strategies and processes as branding, managing reputation, developing customer trust and loyalty, niche marketing, gathering marketing intelligence and promoting their online presence. There has been limited academic research in this area, and most significantly concerning the types of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for which blogs might have potential as a marketing tool. In an attempt to address the knowledge gap, this paper presents a future research agenda (in the form of research questions) which can guide the eBusiness research community in conducting much needed studies in this area. This paper is particularly novel in that it aims to demonstrate how the heterogeneity of SMEs and their specific business uses of eBusiness technology such as blogs can form the central plank of a future research agenda. This is important because the existing eBusiness literature tends to treat eBusiness collectively rather than focusing on the specific business uses of different eBusiness technologies, and to treat SMEs as a homogeneous group. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this research agenda can form the basis of studies which use a range of different research methods, and how this "big picture" agenda approach might help the eBusiness research community build theory which better explains SME adoption and use of eBusiness.

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Small firms and e-business: cautiousness, contingency and cost-benefit

Cited by 61 publications

References 10 publications

Public e-procurement impacts in small- and medium-enterprises

Public e-procurement impacts in small- and medium-enterprises

E-procurement and its impact on supply management – evidence from industrial case studies

Exploring the Types of SMEs Which Could use Blogs as a Marketing Tool: a Proposed Future Research Agenda

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