Understanding small business electronic commerce adoption: An empirical analysis

Several small businesses have adopted electronic commerce but a significant number have not. This paper identifies a discriminant function that can accurately predict adoption of electronic commerce in small businesses. Data for the study was collected through structured interviews with 62 top managers/CEOs of small businesses. Many factors were found to discriminate between adopters and non-adopters of electronic commerce. These included: enthusiasm of the top manager/CEO toward electronic commerce, compatibility of electronic commerce with the work of the company, relative advantage perceived from electronic commerce, and knowledge of the company's employees about computers.