Information Technology (IT) and Electronic Commerce (EC) have changed and continue to change the way business is conducted around the world (Takashi, 2001). Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) plays a key role in e-commerce and is becoming a necessary way to do business (Mukhopadhyay, 1993; Scales, 1993). The projected advantages of EDI and the growing interest in e-commerce have produced optimistic forecasts for the rate of EDI adoption (Vijayasarathy and Tyler, 1997). / However, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) tend to implement EDI only to satisfy the initiators requirements, increasing the likelihood that the EDI system will be inefficient and thus not provide returns on investment (Harris et al., 1993). Furthermore, Lummus and Duclos (1995) identified that the use of EDI by SMEs reaped minimal benefits when there is low EDI integration. The lack of EDI capability in small organizations is critical because of the important roles SMEs play in the economy (Iacovou et al., 1995). / This research attempts to fill a number of gaps in the literature. Firstly, there is little research on the relationship between the decision factor to adopt EDI, the degree of EDI adoption/integration and the level of EDI impact. Secondly, there are few empirical research studies on EDI in SMEs (particularly a lack of quantitative research). Finally, it would appear that there has been no research undertaken or published studies on the impacts of EDI on Singaporean SMEs. An EDI adoption process conceptual model is proposed to address these gaps. The adoption of the EDI model may help Singaporean SMEs achieve higher results in their businesses, and may further provide a strategic roadmap for SMEs in other Asian countries. / Based on the literature review of EDI adoption and small business IT, four decision factors that influence Singaporean SMEs to adopt EDI were identified - perceived benefit of EDI, organizational readiness, competitive pressure, and power and inter-organization relationships. Furthermore, EDI volume, diversity, depth and width were also identified as to the degrees of EDI adoption/integration that strongly influence the impact of EDI. Finally, the different levels of EDI impact (transaction benefit, information sharing benefit and competitive benefit) associated with the different degrees of EDI adoption/integration were also identified. These three concepts (EDI decision factor, EDI adoption/integration and EDI impact) form the EDI adoption process conceptual model that provides the framework for this study. / The results of hypotheses testing indicate that: (1) The EDI decision factor has a positive effect on degree of EDI adoption/integration in terms of EDI volume, EDI diversity and EDI breadth but not EDI depth; (2) the degree of EDI adoption/integration positively affects EDI impact in terms of transaction benefit, sharing information benefit and competitive benefit; (3) The level of EDI impact influences the decision factor that causes an organization to further integrate EDI in terms of higher perceived EDI benefit and higher organizational readiness but not lower pressures from competitors and trading partners; and (4) The level of EDI impact is indeed directly affected by the EDI decision factor. / The conceptual model was modified after testing the research hypotheses - some strategies were added to alter the affect of the decision factor and facilitate a more successful implementation of EDI (Iacovou et al., 1995). In essence, the results obtained from the survey demonstrate that the proposed conceptual model can be used to identify the EDI adoption process in Singaporean SMEs. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267317 |
| Creators | Li, Joyce Ping. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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