Feasibility of implementing B2B e-commerce in small and medium enterprises

E-commerce has substantially affected the business world in the recent, and its importance is expected to continue increasing in future. Since implementing B2B e-commerce in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a long-term commitment and such enterprises are more limited in terms of resources than large enterprises, the predicted value of successful implementation is extremely useful in deciding whether to initiate B2B e-commerce. This investigation establishes an analytical hierarchy framework to help SMEs predicting implementation success as well as identifying the actions necessary before implementing B2B ecommerce to increase e-commerce initiative feasibility. The consistent fuzzy preference relation is used to improve decision making consistency and effectiveness. A case study involving six influences solicited from a Taiwanese steel company is used to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Key-Words: B2B e-commerce; small and medium enterprises; multi-criteria decision making; consistent fuzzy preference relation