A study of environmental, organizational and information technology issues in e-business adoption and assimilation in small firms

While the Internet and its associated web technologies have emerged as a key business medium for both large and small firms, research in this area has provided a confounding picture of the e-business environment, particularly for small firms. Through the use of case studies, this study sought to enhance our understanding of adoption, assimilation, and impact of e-business in small firms. There were 3 objectives for this research: (i) to examine key factors affecting adoption of e-business in small firms; (ii) to examine key factors affecting assimilation of e-business in small firms; (iii) to examine the impact of e-business adoption and assimilation on small firms in terms of competitive strategy and firm performance. To this end, eight cases in the travel industry are presented and analyzed. The study found that drivers of technology adoption in the firms studied were both internal and external to the firm. The primary external driver was found to be the industry, through regulatory agencies and reporting requirements. These drivers are primarily geared to the back-office business processes. The primary internal driver was owner desire. Owner-based initiatives are generally focused on customer-facing business processes. However, owners did not want the technology implementation, such as a website, to replace face-to-face interaction with their customers and potential customers. The examination of adoption (planning) and assimilation (implementation) were combined because, in these small businesses, it was not possible to discern the two. The main finding in this area is that small businesses are much more able to use technology to support the firm strategy if they have easy access to technology support. The impacts of the changing business environment on the travel industry have been numerous. There has been a significant drop in the number of travel agencies since 1996. Perhaps more significantly, travel agents have come to realize the value of their knowledge.