Understanding SME Intention to Use the Internet for Managing Supplier Information
New England Journal of
Entrepreneurship
Understanding SME Intention to Use the Internet for Managing Supplier Information
Kevin Celuch 0 1 2
0 Part of the E-Commerce Commons, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons
1 University of Southern Indiana , USA
2 Grand Valley State University
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/neje
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Article 3
here is strong consensus that the Internet has the
potential to positively impact firms, and SMEs in
particular; however, not all firms have realized
benefits from adoption. The present study extends research in
the area by addressing the need to examine the “chain” of
variables explaining Internet adoption. We do this by
exploring SME owner/manager Internet-related usefulness
and ease-of-use cognitions and intention to use the
Internet for supplier information management. We also
explore the influence of behavioral norms and two
broader strategic perspectives, market and learning orientation,
on the Internet-related cognitions. Findings have
implications for researchers and practitioners by identifying
factors that contribute to effectively leveraging the Internet in
an important area for SMEs.
Keywords: Internet use; supplier information; normative
influence, strategic issues
The Internet has changed today’s business landscape. With
compound annual growth rates for U.S. users of 5 to 6 percent
between 2005 and 2010 and growth rates for global users of
10 to 11 percent over the same time period, predictions place
the impact of the Internet as greater than the combined
influence of the phone, TV, and PC over the next 10 to 15 years
(eTForecasts, 2009). As a further testament to the potential of
this business tool, 99 percent of medium to large companies
and 85 percent of small firms are connected to the Internet
(Internet retailer, 2009)
. Indeed, internationally, across
industries, small to medium size enterprise (SME) Internet adoption
has been linked to financial benefits
(Johnston et al., 2007)
.
With the total worldwide value of goods and services of
business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce well into the trillions of
dollars, it is procurement that is driving the vast majority of
transactions in this sector with between 80 to 90 percent of
U.S. companies expecting to purchase online
(Internet
retailer, 2009)
.
Research on SME adoption of IT and, by extension,
Internet adoption has been relatively clear as to the ultimate
reasons why SMEs use the Internet. For example, SMEs have
generally acknowledged the potential importance of
information sharing and relationship building in order to improve
supply chain performance
(c.f., Robeiro and Love, 2003)
.
With respect to SME use of the Internet for supply chain
management, some evidence suggests that SMEs rely on the
Internet primarily for communication purposes while very
small firms (i.e., 10 or less employees) rely on the Internet
primarily for research purposes
(Levenburg, 2005)
. Indeed,
some support has been found for the idea that SME Internet
use related to obtaining and communicating information can
enhance market knowledge and relationships throughout
the supply chain from suppliers to customers
(Caskey et al.,
2001; Robeiro and Love, 2003; Nieto and Fernandez, 2005;
Servais et al., 2007)
.
Despite fairly strong convergence as to the ultimate
purpose of Internet usage, less clarity exists as to the specific
factors that determine usage. Factors that have been identified
in the literature as significantly influencing SME IT adoption,
with particular focus on Internet adoption, include owner
perception of benefits, organizational readiness, owner
innovativeness, organization size, customer pressure, competitive
pressure, supplier pressure, support from IT vendors,
information intensity of products, and low business volumes
(Mehrtens et al., 2001; Belussi, 2005; Al-Qirim, 2005; 2007;
Beckinsale et al., 2006;Archer et al., 2008)
. However, some of
these same studies find few significant differences between
SME adopters and nonadopters (Belussi, 2005) as well as no
support for the influence of suppliers, competition, IT
vendor support, and size
(Al-Qirim, 2007; Beckinsale et al., 2006;
Archer et al., 2008)
. Clearly, there is a need for continued
development of our understanding of the factors affecting
SME Internet usage.
Potential benefits of Internet adoption notwithstanding,
SMEs are left with significant questions that point to the
importance for examining Internet use. First, not all firms
have realized benefits from IT adoption
(Dehning and
Richardson, 2002; Santhanam and Hartono, 2003)
.This is
particularly critical for small firms as, relative to larger firms, they
do not possess slack resources that allow them to over invest
in technologies
(Celuch et al., 2007a)
. Second, many SME
owner/managers have relied heavily on traditional
brick-andmortar “mental models” in developing and maintaining
supplier relations. Further, SME owner/ (...truncated)