Electronic Commerce and Market Focus: some findings from a study of Swedish small to medium enterprises

In the past, organisations relied on traditional quantitative metrics, such as return on investment (ROI) to make decisions when investing in technology. With the advent of electronic commerce (EC), these decisions are becoming less reliant on ROI measures. Instead different driving forces are taking precedence in the decision making process. This paper presents the findings of a study of 118 Swedish small to medium enterprises (SMEs) that have adopted EC. The results of the study suggest that improvements to customer service, internal efficiency and organisational competitiveness have become equally important when making EC investment decisions. The study also examined whether major market focus (local, regional, national or international) had an influence on the organisation's decision to adopt EC. Findings indicate no associations between the market focus and the driving forces, however the existence of a fully developed plan for EC adoption and the size of the business were found to be highly associated with the development of new markets as an EC adoption criteria. Disciplines Physical Sciences and Mathematics Publication Details Vrazalic, L., Macgregor, R. C., Bunker, D., Carlsson, S. & Magnusson, M. (2002). Electronic commerce and market focus: some findings from a study of Swedish small to medium enterprises. Proceedings of SME's in a Global Economy Conference: Sustaining SME Innovation, Competitiveness and Development in the Global Economy, 12-13 July, 2002 (pp. 110-119). Wollongong, Australia: Centre for SME Research and Development. This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/infopapers/819 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND MARKET FOCUS: SOME FINDINGS FROM A STUDY OF SWEDISH SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES Lejla VrazalicDepartment ofIS, University ofWollongong, Wollongong 2500, Australia Ph (61 2) 42213750 Fax (612) 4221 4474 [email protected] Robert C MacGregor Department of IS, University ofWollongong, Wollongong 2500, Australia Ph (61 2) 4221 3758 Fax (61 2) 4221 4474 [email protected] Deborah J Bunker School ofIS, Technology and Management, University ofNew South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia Ph (61 2) 93854255 Fax (61 2) 96624061 [email protected] Sten Carlsson Department ofIS, Karlstad University, SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden Ph (4654)70011 35 Fax (46 54)7001446 [email protected] Monika Magnusson , Department ofIS, Karlstad University, 8E-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden Ph (4654) 700 21 70 [email protected] ABSTRACT In the past, organisations relied on traditional quantitative metrics, such as return on investment (ROI) to make decisions when investing in technology. With the advent of electronic commerce (Ee), these decisions are becoming less reliant on ROI measures. Instead different driving forces are taking precedence in the decision making process. This paper presents the findings of a study of 118 Swedish small to medium enterprises (SMEs) that have adopted EC. The results of the study suggest that improvements to customer service, internal efficiency and organisational competitiveness have become equally important when making Ee investment decisions. The stgdy also examined whether l11ajor market focus (local, regional, national or international) had an influence on the organisation's decision to adopt Ee. Findings indicate no associations between the market focus and the driving forces, however the existence of a fully developed plan for EC adoption and the size of the business were found to be highly associated with the development of new markets as an EC adoption criteria.