Accurately predicting the success of B2B e-commerce in small and medium enterprises

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 e-commerce 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. The analytical results show that the three most influential factors are management support, industry characteristics and government policies; meanwhile, the three least influential factors are organizational culture, IT integration and firm size. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.