The influence of B2B e-commerce on SMEs' performance and efficiency: a review of the literature

Abstract

The adoption of Business-to-Business (B2B) systems by enterprises can be expected to improve the efficiency of processes, reduce costs, improve the quality and availability of information, reduce inappropriate behaviour, streamline the supply chain and improve service (Devaraj and Kohli, 2003; Gulati, 2000). B2B systems can provide managers with better control over their enterprise’s functions and activities and their relationship with local and global trading partners and suppliers (Akoh, 2001). Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the internal and external organisational factors that influence adoption of B2B systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through a review of related literature. It also aims to explore the influence of B2B adoption on performance and efficiency in SMEs.