Critical Factors in E-Commerce Adoption by Construction SMEs

Mahesh Singh

, Manoj Kumar Rao

, Manoj B Pandey

and Abdul Ahad

Swiss Business School, Al Tareeqah Management Studies, U.A.E.

J. D. College of Engineering and Management, India

Jhulelal Institute of Technology, India

Central India College of Business Management and Studies, India

Keywords: E-Commerce, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Electronic Technology (ET), Cronbach Alpha,

Impediments.

Abstract: Electronic technologies (ET) have changed the corporate environment and its competitiveness. It has also

made many companies pay attention to e-commerce approaches, and some have been able to benefit from

them. To compete with large organisations and gain market share, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs)

must embrace ET. Hence, it's essential to investigate these companies' e-commerce challenges. This study

examined the challenges SMEs encounter while using E-commerce. Descriptive survey and correlational

data collection approaches are utilized to give practical implications. At Bushehr, Iran's commercial hub, a

questionnaire was provided to gather managers' and subject-matter specialists' opinions. Cronbach's alpha

was used to determine the content validity and reliability of the questionnaire. The data was analysed using

smart PLS and structural equation modelling with a partial least square approach. The results showed that

organisational, technical, and environmental barriers to technology affect the two initial variables in the

technology acceptance model.

1 INTRODUCTION

E-commerce describes the exchange of goods and

services by companies and their customers using

electronic networks such as the internet and the

World Wide Web. As more company owners use e-

commerce in their businesses, the usage of the web

for commercial contracts has been regarded as a

crucial development (Raharja et al. 2019). SMEs are

critical to social transformation, economic status and

well-being, economic development, and technology.

They also serve as a significant employer (Carnevale

et al. 2020). Small e-commerce businesses are

beginning to see how e-commerce might assist global

growth, but they may still be limited by a lack of

resources, regional biases, where customers value

locally created goods, and a lack of technical

proficiency (Pandey et al. 2022). To enhance and

succeed in business competitiveness and sales

revenue, e-commerce in the business sector must

flourish. E-commerce will be used to show off how

easy it is to engage, how expenses can be reduced,

and how quickly payments can be processed, all of

which improve business and marketing processes

(Rajagopal et al. 2022). When it comes to adopting

commerce, SMEs businesses move far more slowly

than their larger counterparts in industrialised nations.

Iran, one of the developing nations, is preparing to

adopt e - commerce and largely uses it as a marketing

device. Although there may be a situation where

SMEs businesses in Iran would benefit from using e-

commerce, these businesses currently tend to use it

less frequently than the national average, rely more

on internet connections and enterprise software, and

only to a limited extent on strategic and operational

e-commerce. These investing in small- and medium-

sized businesses are not as substantial or appropriate.

Despite the fact that SMEs businesses may benefit

greatly from e-commerce, there are still a number of

barriers preventing its broad adoption and use. The

initial and most crucial stage in preparing for success

in the technology and e-commerce industries is to

determine what the obstacles are to adopting e-

commerce (Tolstoy et al. 2022). Organizations should

be aware of these challenges in order to develop and

enacted proper e-commerce strategy. The factors that

influence, obstruct, and complicate the use of

communication systems should be taken into account

by small and medium-sized businesses. The research

Singh, M., Rao, M., Pandey, M. and Ahad, A.

Critical Factors in E-Commerce Adoption by Construction SMEs.

DOI: 10.5220/0012914700003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 727-730

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

727

paper's goal is to examine several sorts of

impediments that SMEs in developing countries face

while adopting e-commerce.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The study's newly discovered structural and static

obstacles are examined in the research. They are

separated into four themes: expanded entrepreneurial

traits of owner-managers, organization, ecology, and

technology. The article establishes a new conceptual

framework and provides a comprehensive overview

of topics related to contextual barriers for the next

years (Nazir et al. 2020). In the study, specific

analytical methods will be used to assess obstacles to

e-commerce platforms in developing nations. The

current economic examination offers an exhaustive

analysis of the obstacles preventing people from

using e-commerce networks (Yadav et al. 2022). The

study discovered that e-commerce ethics, information

quality, client trust, user interface value, and client

satisfaction were the primary factors influencing e-

consumer devotion. To improve client loyalty,

businesses are recommended to use e-commerce (Al-

Tit et al. 2020). The study examines corporate

strategy from the perspective of economic procedures

and examines the methodology of e-commerce

platform empowerment on SME export growth (Fan,

et al., 2023). The study utilizes structural equation

modelling to investigate when various e-commerce

levels impact a wide variety of competitive edges.

(Hu et al. 2019).

3 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Based on the Technological Acceptance Model, this

research aims to clarify the obstacles to SMEs

adopting e-commerce. The theoretical and empirical

literature on the subject was studied, together with the

findings of earlier studies, to establish the study

hypothesis. These hypotheses were then tested by

acquiring primary data using instruments for data

collection.

H1: The perceived ease of use of E-commerce is

significantly influenced by the organizational

impediments to development.

H2: The perceived utility of E-commerce is

significantly impacted by organization impediments

to development.

H3: The perceived usability of E-commerce is

significantly impacted by technical constraints.

H4: The perceived value of E-commerce is

significantly impacted by its technical limitations.

H5: E-commerce environment restrictions

significantly affect how easy it is to use, according to

users.

H6: E-commerce environment obstacles have a

significant impact on how helpful it is considered to

be.

H7: Perceived utility of E-commerce is

significantly and positively influenced by the

perceived ease of usage.

H8: The attitude towards using E-commerce is

positively and significantly impacted by how easy it is

seen to be to use.

H9: The attitude towards using e-commerce is

positively and significantly impacted by how

beneficial it is seen to be.

H10: A considerable and advantageous influence

on intention to use is provided by views regarding the

usage of e-commerce.

H11: The degree to which someone intends to

engage in e-commerce affects that usage significantly

and positively.

4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Model: The research model (Figure 1) was

produced by Davis using technological development

and usage as well as the results of the preceding

investigations mentioned above. The perception of

the utility of technologies is influenced by outside

variables, according to Davis' model of technological

acceptance.

The organization, technological, and ecological

constraints that had been previously discovered in the

research were taken into consideration as outside

variables in this study. With the collection of relevant

data, this study aims to evaluate theoretical

frameworks and research hypotheses.

Figure 1: External Impediments and the Technology

Adoption Model.

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To select the necessary sample from the general

population and since it was difficult to contact

individuals, convenience sampling was used in the

study. The information was gathered using a survey.

Directors and experts from companies in

Bushehr(Iran), an economic hub, participated in the

research. Around 86 firms are situated in the

industrial city of Bushehr, and these companies

employ more than 280 directors and experts,

according to information gleaned from Bushehr

county organizations. Cochran's estimate of a

constrained population, with a 95% probability value

and a variation of 5%, indicated that the research

sample was greater than 162. In this study, the survey

approach was used since it was not feasible to

produce a complete list of the population from which

to pull the necessary percentages in additional to the

difficult-to-find individuals.

The study is organized into three sections,

demography, questions on the main survey variables,

and an explanation. 58 questions were created by

combining questionnaires with the survey's topic to

assess the six primary survey factors. The research

uses complete five-item variability measurement

items. Data about the questionnaire's design process

is provided in Table 1. Some 163 surveys were finally

gathered after 165 surveys were physically handed to

service users. 157 questionnaires were used for

analysis after 6 surveys were eliminated because

participants had not correctly completed them. The

most used technique for evaluating questionnaire

reliability, Cronbach's alpha value, was employed to

test the questionnaire's dependability. The total

response rate to the survey was 84%, and Cronbach's

alpha values for each component were all higher than

0.7. This is a sign that the accuracy of the survey is at

an acceptable level. The outcomes of the

questionnaire's reliabilities are shown in Table1.

Table 1: Research factors, item-extracting resources, and

data-collecting technology accuracy consequences.

Variable Number of

questions

Cronbach’s alpha

coefficients

Technological

obstacles

10 0.715

Environmental

arriers

18 0.796

Perceived

usefulness

12 0.903

Organizational

arriers

5 0.763

Attitude 3 0.749

Perceived ease of

use

4 0.862

Actual use 3 0.737

Intention to use 3 0.861

Total questionnaire 58 0.845

5 RESULT AND ANALYSIS

Demographic Characteristics of Respondents:

Descriptive statistical analysis was employed to

examine demographic characteristics while assessing

study results. Table 2 details the demographic survey

factors that were examined using 157 questions.

According to Table 2, the majority of participants

were men (63.2%), while the majority of participants

were young adults (20–30 years old) (50.10%),

specialists (80.5%) with the greatest levels of

education, and the steel sector (27.5%) accounted for

the majority of the businesses in Bushehr's industrial

estate.

Table 2: Demographic Details of the Responders.

Demographics

component

Levels Frequency Proportion

fre

uenc

Gender Male 97 63.2

Female 55 37.8

Education Diploma 7 4.5

Undergraduate 124 80.5

Associate 16 10.5

Graduate and

highe

15 8.7

Age Over 50 years 17 3.9

41 to 50 years 19 13.2

30 to 40 years 61 39.3

20 to 30 years 74 50.1

Type of

enterprise

activity

Chemical

usiness

28 18.3

Mining sector 23 15

Metal industry 44 27.5

Service

industries

18 10.7

Critical Factors in E-Commerce Adoption by Construction SMEs

729

Industrial

electricit

15 8

Food industry 25 16.4

Fish processing

industr

14 9.5

Test of Research Model: Structural equation

modelling and smart PLS technology were used to

assess the conceptual model and research

assumptions. The structural equation modelling test

results reveal a considerable strong connection

between components of the various levels of the study

constructs. The t statistics is used in this method to

evaluate all structure and measuring variables. In

accordance with this analysis, unit material and route

coefficients are substantial at a 95% level of certainty

if the value of the t statistic for ways is more than 1.96,

and they are not if the values of the t statistic is less

than 96.1 for ways. The route coefficient and factor

loading are significant at a 99% probability value in

this scenario if the value of the t-statistic is larger than

2.58. By extracting data from the structural equation

framework, we could verify the major research

hypotheses since the overall research model fitness is

excellent and supported. With a confidence level

between 90% and 99%, we may conclude that factors

significantly affect the perceived utility and

simplicity of use factors based on the findings from

the relevant correlations and normal statistical

significance. Also, based on the established

coefficients between the variables of Intention and

actual usage, we should conclude that, with 99%

certainty, overall influence of both the Involved in the

decision making just on real use factor is satisfactory

and substantial.

6 CONCLUSION

The study made an attempt to account for the

difficulties and obstacles that SME adoption of e-

commerce in Bushehr, an economic hub, faced.

Analysis of the theoretical literature and literature

evaluation in this area led to the development of a

recommended methodology for the hypotheses and

investigation. According to the paper's findings, there

are a variety of hypotheses. It was discovered that

there was a growing interest in managing digital

marketing and e-commerce had an impact on how

competitively SME operations performed. The

implementation of e-commerce has significant

obstacles, as this research has shown. The study

aimed to find out more about how SMEs adopted and

used e-business technologies.

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