A Managerial Perspective on Electronic Commerce Development in Malaysia

This research investigates the development of electronic commerce in Malaysia. It reviews the nation’s e-commerce readiness and surveys local firms, a majority of them smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), on their Web presence and e-commerce initiatives, management, capabilities and performance. Overall, while e-commerce in Malaysia is in its formative phases, a majority of firms in the survey sample have progressed beyond “brochureware” into the “interactions” phase; few have reached the “e-commerce” phase but many are planning to. They are driven primarily by marketing considerations and have seen the greatest impact of e-commerce on their marketing and overall business operations. Taking the lead are SMEs in IT/Internet services and solutions that see great opportunities in the nation’s need to build the foundation layers for its emerging Internet economy. Most reluctant and least satisfied to date are SMEs in manufacturing that find the business-to-business sector largely undeveloped. The government can take some credits for its leadership in addressing the barriers to e-commerce development but the most significant barriers falls squarely within the private sector’s domain. They will have to be overcome by entrepreneurial talents and management foresight.