An analysis of factors affecting the adoption of business-to-consumer e-commerce by SMEs in a developing country: Zimbabwe (original) (raw)
Most researchers indicate that electronic-commerce (e-commerce) offers viable solutions for businesses trying to meet the challenges of a changing environment. However, the few available studies concerned with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries show evidence of delays, and failure to adoption. In the past, little research has been done to identify the reasons for this. This study seeks to explore the factors that influence a decision to adopt Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce by SMEs in developing countries, using Zimbabwe as a case study. The 'Tailored Technology-Organization-Environment' model proposed by Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990) was proposed for this study. The exploratory qualitative research uses a single case study approach. Data was collected from eight SMEs through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The general inductive approach to qualitative data analysis by was used to analyse data. Although there is evidence of wide growth in Internet use among SMEs in Zimbabwe, findings revealed that most SMEs that have adopted B2C ecommerce in the country are still in the initial stages of adoption. Several barriers to the adoption of the technology were identified. The barriers were divided into technological, environmental and organizational. Findings indicate that environmental factors make a huge impact on the adoption of B2C e-commerce in the country when compared to technological and organizational factors. The most dominant issues were unfavourable conditions due to the current economic and political status of the country, unreliable network infrastructure and the unreliability of electrical power in the country. Although they cannot fully utilise B2C e-commerce services, SMEs in the country showed a great appreciation of the potential benefits offered by this technology. Research findings indicate that organizations using B2C e-commerce enjoy benefits like cost reduction, security and convenience. External competition and the need to keep up to date with current technologies are the main motivational factors for adopters. This study is intended to be useful to SMEs and supporting organizations in their efforts to augment the adoption of B2C e-commerce technologies, especially those operating in countries with a unique situation like Zimbabwe. 5
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