Examining the antecedents and consequents of e business assimilation the impact on business process efficiency in small and medium enterprises

Abstract

The two objectives of this research are to identify the factors that influence E-Business assimilation (post-adoption use) and to examine how E-Business assimilation contributes to business process efficiency. The integrated model developed in this study serves to provide a useful framework for the SMEs to decide on the combination of E-Business applications that best suit their goals. The research model examines the collective effect of technological attributes of an innovation, organizational characteristics including the Owner-manager’s characteristics and the Institutional pressures on E-Business assimilation. With the data collected from 255 SME owner-managers and tested using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method, this study revealed that the technological and the organizational attributes take precedence over the environmental determinants in influencing E-Business assimilation in small and medium enterprises. The results demonstrated the importance of organizational readiness towards E-Business assimilation while still reflecting the concept of organizational isomorphism. The findings also help to understand how well the Information Systems experience of the entrepreneur can be a predictor of the firm’s assimilation of E-Business. Together, the results show a combination of institutional and non-institutional forces influence E-Business assimilation in small and medium firms. The study found a positive and significant relationship between E-Business assimilation and business process efficiency showing the potential value of E-Business applications for SMEs. The investigation of antecedents, the wide range of E-Business applications assimilated, and the consequents in an integrated model is a significant contribution of this study to the literature on E-Business, and serves to bridge the gap between E-Business assimilation and the value creation literatures.The exhaustive measurement scale of E-Business assimilation as operationalized by this study can be applied to any industry sector to find how E-Business is being used for various business functions. The research adds to the existing body of knowledge with several theoretical contributions that serve to confirm, clarify and extend previous knowledge in the areas of E-Business and SME literature. This dissertation significantly advances our knowledge by contributing to E-Business research, related to the SME sector in terms of theory development, empirical validation and insights for governments and E-Business specialists.