B2B Website Benefits Realization in Australian SMEs

INTRODUCTION One aspect of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) electronic commerce activity that is acknowledged but rarely examined is their use of websites as they are a critical element of their business growth and competitiveness (Loiacono et al., 2002). Their successful design and use can alter the effectiveness of an SME's venture into electronic commerce. However, SMEs are still lagging behind larger organizations in the adoption and evaluation of their electronic commerce activities despite the benefits it offers (Lin et al., 2007) and in overcoming the potential barriers that hamper their evaluation practices (Standing and Lin, 2007). Understanding the factors used by the SMEs' potential customers to evaluate their website effectiveness can serve as a basis for creating and improving websites (Sim-mons et al., 2007). Moreover, only a handful of studies so far have examined specifically at the issue of (business-to-business) B2B website effectiveness (Berthon et al., 2003). Most of these published academic studies are somewhat limited by their use of B2C websites, student/faculty samples, and small sample sizes (Chakraborty et al., 2002). Very few studies have empirically demonstrated what organizational drivers lead to the effectiveness of a B2B website (Chakraborty et al., 2002). Therefore, the main aim of this research is to examine the relationships between B2B website adoption readiness (WSAR), B2B website adoption barriers (WSAB), IT investment evaluation (ITIE), and B2B benefits (Benefits) in Australian SMEs. A key contribution of the study is the identification of the factors which would influence the realization of B2B website benefits for Australian SMEs.