Electronic commerce development in small and medium sized enterprises: A stage model and its implications

Abstract

The 1990s have witnessed the proliferation and hypergrowth of the Internet which, combined with traditional IT technologies, is creating a global, and cost‐effective platform for businesses to communicate and conduct commerce. Because of today’s shrinking world, companies must create new sources of competitive advantage almost on a daily basis. This fact becomes critical for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because they are considered to be a major component of all economies and are generally considered to be flexible, adaptive and innovative organizations, which appears to make them a good fit for electronic (e)‐commerce. The present study presents an in‐depth analysis of the e‐commerce development stages and the facilitators and barriers for SMEs during each stage.

Citation

Subba Rao, S., Metts, G. and Mora Monge, C.A. (2003), "Electronic commerce development in small and medium sized enterprises: A stage model and its implications", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 11-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/14637150310461378