Factors affecting take-up of electronic commerce by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the regional community of Hervey Bay, Australia

Pease, Wayne and Rowe, Michelle (2003) Factors affecting take-up of electronic commerce by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the regional community of Hervey Bay, Australia. In: International Telecommunications Society's Asia-Australasia Regional Conference 2003: M-Business, E-Commerce and the Impact of Broadband on Regional Development and Business Prospects , 22-24 Jun 2003, Perth, Australia.

Abstract

E-commerce is considered to provide substantial benefits to business, including SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), largely via improved efficiencies and raised revenue, as well as the creation of opportunities for new businesses. It enables new ways of working to emerge as organisations face the future and embrace the notion of the 'new economy'. A range of factors both internal and external to SMEs have been cited as the main reasons for their reluctance to adopt e-commerce. These will be briefly detailed in this paper. These barriers need to be addressed before SMEs become active participants in ecommerce. A number of initiatives have been introduced in an attempt to bring this about, largely sponsored by government as it actively strives to increase awareness and facilitate the adoption of e-commerce. A clear example of this is seen in investments in the promotion of e-commerce in Australia, for example, via the Networking the Nation project, and the extensive provision of infrastructure by Telstra Country Wide throughout regional Australia. This paper serves to examine the position of SMEs in relation to e-commerce in an exploratory manner by way of three case studies involving SMEs located in a regional area in Queensland, Hervey Bay. The paper will identify the factors leading to their adoption of e-commerce and its impact on each business. It is acknowledged that external factors with respect to the macro-environment, especially in terms of the Hervey Bay region, as well as availability of information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure need to be addressed, and these will be dealt with in this paper.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Commonwealth Reporting Category E) (Paper)
Refereed:	No
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	No evidence of copyright restrictions.
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Business - Department of Information Systems (Up to 31 Mar 2007)
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Business - Department of Information Systems (Up to 31 Mar 2007)
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2007 00:40
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2013 05:30
Uncontrolled Keywords:	information and communications technologies; ICT; electronic commerce; Hervey Bay; small and medium enterprises; SMEs
Fields of Research (2008):	08 Information and Computing Sciences > 0806 Information Systems > 080612 Interorganisational Information Systems and Web Services 16 Studies in Human Society > 1605 Policy and Administration > 160503 Communications and Media Policy 15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services > 1503 Business and Management > 150307 Innovation and Technology Management
Fields of Research (2020):	46 INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES > 4605 Data management and data science > 460507 Information extraction and fusion 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4407 Policy and administration > 440701 Communications and media policy 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3599 Other commerce, management, tourism and services > 359999 Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	E Expanding Knowledge > 97 Expanding Knowledge > 970115 Expanding Knowledge in Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/1343

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